Now that I'm slowly recovering from the Catman-Do II, here goes... (warning: very long!)

3/17 UA 692 ORD-LGA (F)

Wearing my green for St. Patty's day (including my luggage), I go to ORD and see that the PremExec/1K line is pretty empty so I check in there (also, I have to check my large, full garment bag). I got a very nice agent also wearing what green she can on a UA uniform and after we chat for a bit, I ask if there are any FC seats available. After a moment she says, sure and confirms me for the return trip also. When she hands me my boarding pass, she smiles & says "Happy St. Patrick's Day" without taking any of my certs! My flight is boarding at the gate right next to a BOS flight, so I see the Business One rep & say Hi quick before boarding (I see her all the time during my work travels). Since the flight isn't very full, we load up the plane quickly but there are pre-flight drinks. One small irritation was that the flight attendants seemed to be taking the coats of the men on the flight while the lady sitting next to me & I weren't even offered. Do some of you other ladies find that to be true sometimes too? I finally got them to take my coat & off we go, a few minutes early. The flight was pretty uneventful with a very tasty breakfast sampler; I've been very pleasantly surprised each time I've gotten this. We arrived in LGA about 15 mins early, having landed not very far from the gate so very little taxiing was needed. I make my way to security where Catman said that he would meet me & look around for a bit with no sign of him. Just as I'm about to head to baggage claim, I see him & Jim_B coming towards security. It seems that, at first, they hadn't realized I landed early but we all met up, got my stuff & headed off to Manhattan in a taxi.

Catman & I got to the Essex House to check in & it is a very nice hotel. I was disappointed to learn, however, that I had not been previously upgraded. When I asked about an upgrade, particularly with a park view, it took some time, but I did get one. It was a small room on a low floor but I did have a park view, I affectionately (sort of) referred to it as my "crackerbox with a park view" since it seemed so small after the suite I had gotten the last time in NYC at the Sheraton Russell. No platinum amenity ever materialized but there were bathrobes. Catman, Jim_B & I met up again and we took the subway over to the Empire State building which was pretty cool (actually, it was darn cold outside) and half of the observation deck was closed off due to high winds. It was very nice, although, I figured that with half of it closed, I should've only had to pay half price. After that, Catman & I got back to the Essex House where I got to finally meet Boomer & see his huge suite (after seeing Catman's huge suite) & chat for a bit. I then left to get ready for dinner at the West Bank Café & Lion King that evening.

I met up with Catman, Boomer & Jim_B in the lobby so that the 4 of us could go to dinner (I was kind of late) so we got a taxi after some time, called the restaurant & they did reserve a table for us so we were seated immediately. I had eaten at this restaurant before during the 1st Catman-Do and the food was very good (as well as the Cosmopolitans (note to TravelWeary: served in the proper glass )). No one wanted dessert, so Catman & I walked over to the theater to see Lion King. The show was simply wonderful! I already loved the movie (one of my favorites) and the show was everything I expected and more! I would highly recommend it, especially with a certain feline companion! Afterwards, we got the subway over to the Oak Room where everyone was supposed to meet for drinks. We saw QuantumLeap & Marie with AustTXHiker outside the entrance and made our way in to find QuietLion & Hunnybear about to leave. I got to meet them finally and we were chatting, about to go back to the Essex House when Mr. Nutz, auh2o, onefreeman & raeban came walking in. The bar was packed so after exchanging hellos, we decided to go to the bar at the Essex House just down the street. We walked over, teeth chattering and all, and went to the bar. After the bar kicked us out, we went up to Catman’s suite where there was a lot of laughing & some picture-taking by yours truly!

Saturday started rather early where a group of us met in the Essex House lobby & walked to get Krispy Kreme donuts. This was to be my first Krispy Kreme experience and they were quite good, but not the nirvana I had been expecting. Still, we managed to polish off almost 2 dozen donuts & got the subway to the remodeled space museum. The group kind of split up from there and Burkey, AustTXHiker, Jim_B & myself went for a walk through Central Park which was very nice, making our way over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We didn’t go in, but were thinking of lunch instead (we were coming down from our sugar highs ) and got a taxi to Punki’s place where we grabbed a deli lunch and had a very nice visit with Punki & Joe. Later, Punki, Joe, Burkey & I walked back over to the Essex House where I showed them my room, then we saw Burkey’s suite (I think I was the only one without one) & paid the Catman a visit. After a bit, I left to prepare for the main event!

Burkey & I shared a taxi to Ruth’s Chris and got to meet many new people as well as seeing quite a few familiar faces. Dinner was a wonderful event (as many others have so eloquently described) and we all had a marvelous time! It seemed to end all too soon but some of us walked back to the Essex House to get some much-needed sleep.

Sunday we met up for brunch where the food was excellent and the company even better! I got to meet still a few new people and talk more to some that I had already met before. Before long, it was time to say good-byes and make my way to the airport.

3/19 UA 679 LGA-ORD (F)

I got to the airport rather early which meant that I was able to get on the flight leaving right before my scheduled one. I wanted to make sure I was still upgraded to FC, as I had been told back at ORD, but the agent said I hadn’t been. He was, however, able to upgrade me on the new flight but took certs this time. We boarded the plane, had pre-flight drinks and taxied out to the runway when ORD put out a traffic hold due to the bad weather they had earlier. This “earlier” flight ended up arriving around the same time my original flight would have arrived with no delay. This was one of the few flights I’ve been on in a while where meal orders were taken by row rather than status. Unfortunately, when they got to me, all that was left was mahi-mahi and I don’t care for fish. I got it anyway, so I could try it (I still didn’t like it) and ate the side items instead. Since this was a FC snack flight, I couldn’t even get a coach replacement because they had nothing. All in all, it was a pretty uneventful flight.

I just want to add my own thanks to Catman for going through so much time & effort to plan this get-together which was just fantastic! I can’t believe that it all stemmed from getting tickets to a show in NYC!


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Regards,
- Anna