I decided to go to LIM for Thanksgiving to get out of town since there were going to be a small number of relatives coming home. Here is my first trip report:

I went to bed on the 20th at 11PM after watching the Golden Girls, making a few pre-Holiday greeting calls, and packing up a few things. I slept for 4 hours and was awake at 3:00AM. I finally got out of bed at 3:30 and showered, got dressed, and checked a few things on the Internet before I turned off all electronics. I finished packing my Cabin Bag and my computer bag, grabbed a few DVD’s for the flight, and a bottle of water for the road to the airport. I was out the door at 5:45 and arrived in MEM at 6:30 after flying 85mph on the highway since it was so early in the morning. The airport parking lot was half-empty and I found a pretty close spot and walked into the terminal. I went to the Worldclub and checked in for my flight. The agent was very nice and got my boarding pass from MEM-EWR printed but was unable to print my EWR-LIM pass due to it being greater than 6 hours before the connection and said I would have to obtain that in EWR. I was using an upgrade certificate that had expired for the upgrade to BusinessFirst and I knew NW wouldn’t ask for it but CO would so I was kinda worried about having to fly coach for the first time on a long flight. I was feeling kinda lucky so I didn’t think about it anymore at that point. After checking in, I went over to talk to a friend of mine at another airline counter that I hadn’t seen in a while. We talked for about an hour and since I don’t get to see her that often she went ahead and upgraded me for my Europe flight in January so that made me VERY HAPPY!!! It was now 8:10 and I headed back to the NW terminal to gate 18 and sat down for about 5 minutes before pre-boarding began at 8:27. I was third in line and secured enough overhead space over my seat for my luggage and sat down while I read Entertainment Weekly.

NOV. 21 NW 790 MEM-EWR 8:55A-12:26P DC-9 First Class (2A)

The boarding process went smoothly and it was a pretty full flight. The F/C cabin was full and we pushed backed from the gate on time. We taxied shortly and were cleared for departure. Breakfast service commenced and the menu was as follow:

Scrambled Eggs with Turkey Canadian Bacon, Savory Roasted Potatoes, Bell Peppers, and Onion (my choice)

Or

Breakfast Cereal and Mile with Bananas

Served with:
Bowl of Fresh Fruit

Choice of Bagel or Coffee Cake

Assorted Juices

Caravali Gourmet Coffee

This is the same meal service on all the morning flights everyday so it wasn’t a surprise. I slept after the service was concluded for a bit and listened to some of my CD’s. The DC-9 was so uncomfortable as usual. The flight was pretty smoothed and we landed a few minutes ahead of schedule and parked at gate 40.

EWR CHECKIN

I proceeded to terminal C via the walkway since it was cold and the shuttle buses were running pretty slow. I was completely winded when I got there and finally reached the checkin area. I was going to use the International checkin area but saw the BF checking right ahead of me with about 3 agents talking and one agent on the other end alone looking down. I decided to go to her since she looked kind of clueless. I handed her my passport and told her I was on 734 and she pulled up the reservation and was reading the screen. I made a little small talk about the walk over to the terminal and when they will have the monorail completed and she said she can totally relate and can’t wait for it to be over. She then asked for my upgrade certificate and I handed it over with a little nervousness thinking she would notice the expiration date. She printed out my boarding pass for 1A and I was relieved. She looked at the rules on the certificate twice but never the date. She typed about 8 more minutes of notes in my record and handed me my boarding pass and said I was set to go. My departure gate was C110 so I proceeded to the P-Club right beside the gate. It was my first time in the club. I entered and showed the agent my boarding pass and she welcomed me. I was about 1:30 at this point so I booted up my laptop and played on aol for a while and let my DVD player recharge. At 2:50 the agent announced that boarding had began for the flight so I finished up my phone calls and headed out of the club at 3:05. There were at least 6 agents, the BF concierge, and the red coat guy working the flight. The boarding area was about half full when I boarded but the people were backed up to the door almost on the jetway and they kept calling more rows. Furthermore, it was kind of chilly in the jetway and my coat was in my bag. I finally got into the aircraft 7 minutes later and saw only 2 other people in BF so I sat down in my favorite 1A seat and got settled.

CO 734 EWR-LIM 3:05P-11:30P 757 BusinessFirst (1A)

About 3:15, twelve people began to settle into the BF cabin. I assume one was an employee since the other people in and out of the aircraft made chit chat with her and the remaining people were probably upgraded. Frank, the BF attendant, welcomed me aboard and took my order for an OJ. At 3:28, the door was closed and 1B remained empty. A girl came to the front about 3 minutes later and settled beside me. I think Frank upgraded her but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t look to see if coach was full but I think it was a pretty packed flight. We sat at the gate for a bit and the menus were passed out along with the amenity kits. They had to play the safety video twice and all announcements were made twice. I viewed the Private Screening book to see what to expect for entertainment. We finally took off at 4:00 and I took my shoes off, covered myself with a blanket, and reclined my seat until the meal service began. Three people worked BF: the lead attendant, who was male, Frank, and a female attendant. The two guys did the serving while the girl prepared the food in the galley. The menu is as follow:

To Begin:
Warm roasted nuts with a beverage

Appetizer Cart:
Herbed and peppered smoked salmon lion
Prosciutto with melon
Creamy horseradish sauce

Salad:
Lollo rosso and Boston lettuce served with cucumber and tomato slices,
Offered with balasamic vinaigrette or buttermilk ranch dressing and
Freshly baked bread and assorted rolls with butter

Main Courses:
Chef’s Preference
Grilled New York sirloin steak enhanced by morel sauce and roasted garlic, accompanied by mashed potatoes with minced black truffle Sauteed spinach with butter and Grilled cherry tomatoes

Chicken Breast
Boneless breast of free range chicken served with a ragout of artichoke, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and capers…Toasted polenta…....Grilled asparagus spears

Red Snapper
Fillet of snapper with a corn crust, accented by lemon herb sauce, accompanied by char-grilled jumbo shrimp and ripe plantain Haricots verts, red pepper, and carrot julienne (my choice)

Pasta Bowl
Ravioli filled with mushrooms and goat cheese offered with eggplant arrabbiata sauce with toasted pine nuts...Freshly grated Parmesan cheese will be offered with the pasta

Sauteed mushrooms are available upon request to accompany any entrée

Fruit and Cheese:
Select American and imported cheeses accompanied by fresh seasonal fruit, assorted cheese biscuits and bread offered with aged Port wine

Dessert Cart:
Featuring Mark Alexander Country Fresh vanilla ice cream sundae offered with choice toppings or warmed peach cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream

Freshly brewed Timothy’s Custom Roasted Italian Blend Gourmet Coffee

Premium international teas with a choice of milk or lemon

SKYSNACKS

Snack prior to arrival:
Fresh Seasonal Fruit

Warm turkey sandwich wedge served with pesto mayonnaise

Chocolate

Freshly brewed coffee, tea, and Hot chocolate

The wine list was extensive with a few selections being South America specialties.


The food was just too much but I got through the entire meal service. I was so stuffed. The movies began after the first meal service and I watched the Nutty Professor: The Klumps II on the first bank of movies and Big Momma’s House on the second bank. I have seen both many times but it passed time. I listened to some soft rock music when the movies were over and while I slept. The second meal service began 90 minutes prior to landing. The cabin attendants were constantly checking on us and making sure we were fine. We finally landed at 11:35 and deplaned from L1 and L2. I cleared Immigration and Customs in 5 minutes flat since I had carry on luggage and grabbed a cab for $18 to the Sheraton Lima.

NOV 22-24 SHERATON LIMA

I arrived at 12:10AM and the front desk guy remembered me from April and welcomed me back. Paris checked me in and all my details were in order. They upgraded me to a Towers room but I requested a Jr. Suite, which he gave me instead. I was off to my room to head straight to bed.
While in Lima on Wednesday and Thursday, I basically relaxed. I went to see Charlie’s Angels at Jockey Plaza Mall and Return to Me (AWESOME) at the Larco Mar Shopping Center. I ate at Tony’s Romas and Chilli’s. I slept a good bit too from built up fatigue. The hotel was pretty empty this time frame. The last night I was in town I won $100 at the hotel casino playing Blackjack so that put a smile on my face.
On the 24th, I woke up at 4:00AM to prepare to head to the airport. I checked out at 6:00AM and Paris checked me out. Check out was smooth and they were very friendly. The bellboy called a taxi to the airport and I arrived at 6:30AM.

LIM CHECKIN

I walked into the airport and stood at the BF mat and the security guy released the tape and let me through. I had to clear security so the usual questions and then on to the BF concierge to check in. Marisa pulled up my record and printed my boarding pass out in less than 10 seconds. She didn’t even ask for the certificates nor read my record so I was happy. She then took my $25 departure tax and paid it for me as a courtesy. She then issued me a pass to the VIP lounge where I proceeded to at 6:50 after passing passport control. I had an orange juice and watched The Associate on my DVD player until it was time to go. At 7:20, Marisa came and told me it was time to board and proceeded to gate 5 where almost everyone had boarded. It was a pretty light flight in coach and BF was booked at 9 people with 3 being employees.

NOV 24 LIM-EWR 8:05A-3:45P 757 BusinessFirst (4B)

I settled in and got my OJ to drink. The doors were closed and we were off pretty quickly at 8:10AM. There were two attendants working BF this morning and Breakfast was offered. The menu follows:

To Begin:
Warm roasted nuts with assorted chilled juices, a mimosa, or Champagne

Brunch:
Fresh seasonal fruit

Yogurt

Assorted breads including Danish pastries and croissants, served with butter and strawberry preserves

Main Courses:
Omelette presented with red bell pepper, diced potatoes, and Canadian bacon….Grilled sausage (my choice)

French Toast with Nuts accompanied by breakfast sausage and a fresh fruit brochette…syrup

Cereal served with milk, a banana, and strawberries

Alfajores with manjar blanco, palmier, mini eclairs, and chocolate

Freshly brewed coffee and tea

SKYSNACKS

On arrival:
Hearts of palm and sliced Italian tomato served on a bed of red leaf lettuce, complemented by ravigote dressing

Chicken and red bell pepper brochette, cheese empanada, sausage in a blanket and green tamalito accompanied by a tangy dipping sauce

Tejas de Limones, a traditional Peruvian dessert featuring a sugar-coated lemon filled with manjar blanco

Freshly brewed coffee and tea

The service was very attentive once again. The movies this time were Shaft and What Lies Beneath. We landed at 3:50PM and immigration and customs were a breeze and I was off to Terminal B to NW. I went to the Worldclub for about an hour and checked my mail and made a few calls.

NOV 24 NW 793 5:45P-7:44P DC-9 First Class (2A)

This was a quickly board flight with 7 in F/C and 45 in coach. The dinner choices were a Southern grilled chicken or Penne Pasta so I choose the chicken and passed on the chocolate cake for dessert. I went to sleep for the most part and we landed at 7:30. The airport was very empty in MEM for this time of night. I walked to parking and I was off to head home.

A very nice mini trip and it is good to be back at home. I netted 22,494 total miles.

P.S. I did this on word and pasted so it isn't posted the same way I typed it, so I am not a genius at this cut and paste stuff yet.


[This message has been edited by NW,CO,TW only (edited 11-27-2000).]