Governor’s Suite

It was the weekend of the San Antonio FlyerTalk gathering so Hunnybear and I booked flights on United to enjoy the November San Antonio weather and the company of old and new FlyerTalk friends. We cabbed it to LAX and went directly to the 1K room to check in where the agent dutifully collected our certs. I asked her about the chances of upgrading our return flight but she said the computer couldn’t tell her how full First Class was until the day of the flight. A sign on her desk said that if you wanted to make changes or future reservations to call the 1K center on the phone because they didn’t want to help you here. We sat in the armchairs in the sparsely furnished room for a few minutes then headed to the gate. I was still boycotting the Red Carpet Club because they don’t give 1Ks complimentary access for domestic flights. I’d show them.

This was our first flight on the new two-class domestic 777, configured as a replacement for the dwindling DC-10 fleet. I was very pleased with the width of the First Class seats as well as the legroom in the bulkhead row. The seats themselves were the new cheap ones with no footrests, personal video, or massage, but with laptop power and adjustable headrest. I find them quite uncomfortable in the upright position but OK when reclined. There was a projection TV, something I thought I’d never see on a new plane, but making the center bulkhead seats the movie-lovers’ delight. We had 1H and J and had a small TV in front of us because we couldn’t see the main screen.

We had preflight drink service and took off on time for Denver. The purser did not take our orders first but both meals were still available when he got to us. We both had the sampler instead of the fruit plate. This one was delicious: a small soufflé with half a stack of banana pancakes, home fries, and a chicken sausage. The pancakes, although a carbo bomb, were wonderful. Video entertainment was an inane sitcom about a UPS driver followed by commercials. We landed on time in Denver and Hunnybear put on some lip balm then offered me the stick. “Balm?” she said in a loud voice. “Shh—don’t joke about things like that!” I said.

We went to the 1K room in Denver where a very nice angel had no problem telling us there was one empty seat in F on our return flight. She must had had a different computer system or been competent or something. I dialed up from one of the many carrels in the large room and caught up on some of my email. Soon it was time to board our flight to San Antonio so we thanked the angel and headed to gate B33. We had seats 1C and D in this 737 because there is a notch in the floor on the right side giving additional legroom that seats 1A and B don’t have. There was no preflight drink service because catering was late. We pushed back on time but waited on the ramp a bit before taking off. The snack on this flight was a choice of chef salad or chicken fondue. We both tried the fondue, a tasty and innovative dish although the fondue sauce was not the best I’d ever had. Dessert was a Mrs. Fields chocolate-chip cookie. As a rule I don’t eat dessert but Hunnybear doesn’t like chocolate chips and I helped her out so as not to insult the chef.

We landed about 10 minutes late in San Antonio and headed to the Avis counter. I had called Centurion travel earlier in the day and booked a mid-size car. When we got to the Avis counter my reservation was listed, but not as President’s Club, so I had to have all the inane conversations and fill out all the forms. They would only upgrade us to a full-size car rather than a Premium. I grumbled about it on the shuttle bus and the driver called in and said they would take care of us at the booth, which they did, letting us pick whatever car we wanted. We chose a Buick Riviera, which had severe scratches and a dent in the back but we took it anyway after noting the damage with the guard. I didn’t particularly care for the way it drove. We headed downtown and found our way to the Westin Riverwalk with no trouble.

We were here on a comp from the Westin due to the hotel being still under construction when we came last year at this time. Well, they pulled out all the stops for us. We were escorted to the 14th floor (of 15) and a double door that led to the Governor’s Suite. We figured if we stayed there till Tuesday there was a chance they might change its name to the Presidential Suite if American voters continue on their current path to destruction. The doors opened to a spacious living room with a dining table for eight, sitting area, wet bar, two balconies overlooking the river, many cabinets and closets, and beautiful artwork on the walls. Not one but two amenity packages awaited us: a tray of wine and chocolates and a Starbucks mug full of candy. The bedroom was also huge with a Heavenly Bed, two more balconies, and bookshelves with real books.

We called Catman and had him come up to share the wine and chocolates with us. Then we went for a stroll on the Riverwalk to stretch our legs. We returned to the Westin to meet up with the whole group, about 15 FlyerTalkers along with five Starwood Preferred Guest angels who I had invited to drive down from Austin and join us. We had a drink in the lobby bar, which no longer had the excellent bartender Richard who was there last year, and then headed to the Riverwalk to walk to dinner.

Our reservations were at Rio Rio, an inexpensive Mexican restaurant on the river. We ordered a few pitchers of Horni Margaritas, made with Hornitos, and everyone ordered whatever they wanted. Hunnybear and I shared an assorted fajitas platter for two that was yummy. Present were PremEx, Catman, Holly, MileCrazy, Sheryl and Jennifer, Beckles, AusTxHiker, Tolarian Wind, Elmhurst Nick, AppleFan, a very nice newlywed couple Blake and Jennifer who don’t have FlyerTalk handles yet, and Pamela, Abel, Adrian, Linda, Jim, and Jae from Starwood. The bill came to only $25 each including tip.

We lost about half the group after dinner but the rest of us went to Durty Nellie’s where we were joined by nj_flyer. This was an Irish pub with great entertainment consisting of an off-color folk singer on the piano. The whole crowd joined in and sang along an the choruses. After that we crawled over to the Marriott Rivercenter and had a drink in their lobby bar. I tried to order a Napoleon martini and was disappointed to learn that they no longer made it until I realized it was actually the Philadelphia Marriott that made that drink. It was getting late so we made plans to meet for brunch tomorrow in the Westin and headed back to a Heavenly sleep.


------------------
I hope you enjoy my Lion Tales. For photos, past travelogues, subscriptions, and more, see www.liontales.com