--March 17, 2004 – Long Beach, CA--
Finally, a vacation, everything that I was going to do was planned by me and me alone. I walked outside of the terminal into the brilliant California Sunshine and breathed in hot air. I had a feeling today was going to be a good day. My row mate from the flight was right, there was no problems getting a cab. There were over 20 lined up and the cabbies even had an argument over who got my fare. I ended up in a minivan cab (for just me and my one bag) which I rode to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Once there, I purchased a ticket for both the Aquarium and the Queen Mary for the reasonable sum of $34. Now, this is what I call an aquarium, it was large with lots of different exhibits. These included ones based on Sea Otters, Sea Lions, Sharks and Jelly Fish and others based on certain areas of the world including Australia and Baja, CA. The only drawback with me showing up on a Wednesday meant that nearly every school in Southern California sent a few busses over. This resulted in me having to wade through throngs of children and deal with “BUT I WANT CANDY!!!!”

After I had my fare share of Clown Fish, I headed across the street to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. which provided me with a very enjoyable meal. To celebrate my Jewish Heritage I went with a Pork Sandwich. I was a little miffed by the high level of service I received. Firstly, when I asked for a table for one, the hostess said “do you have a girlfriend who would mind if I joined you for lunch?” As she delivered this without a smile or a laugh I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or get her number. I ended up doing the former. Later while eating my sandwich I saw a hand reaching for my face and I instinctively flinched. It turned out it was just a waitress trying to get some BBQ sauce off my face. Where I come from (NY) we aren’t this touchy unless we have six inches of pure steel to back it up!

After my meal I began a nice slow trek over a causeway to get to the QM. As I had nothing to do and all day to do it and the weather was beautiful I took my time. While walking along the coast of a bay I began to reflect. Although I was alone and it would have been nice to have someone to talk to, being alone did gave me a sense of freedom. If I felt like sitting on the grass and watching the sun shine on the downtown buildings, I could do that. If I felt like eating at 2 instead of 1 PM, I could do it. And if I felt like pouring strawberry ice cream on my head and letting the seagulls pick it off, I could do that too. Sometimes it’s just nice to be in a new place by your lonesome, I certainly enjoyed it.

Once at the QM, I noticed there was a Russian Submarine docked along side it, now this was a treat! I happen to find submarines extremely fascinating. I’ve been on the USS Nautilus in Groton, CT and that sparked me to start reading books about submarines ( On the Beach by Nevil Shute is a great choice). I immediately paid $10 and clambered aboard a Foxtrot Class Russian Sub (non-Nuclear) Scorpion (ironically there is a Scorpion in On the Beach too ). The submarine was set up so you could take a self-tour; along the walls were P/A speakers that had a recording detailing every room in a faux Russian accent. The only drawback was that this Submarine was set up the same was it was when it was built in 1974. To get from compartment to compartment you had to go through a hole that was 2 feet off the ground and only came up to 4 and a half feet. To manage this I had to grasp the top of the portal and stick one leg through at a time, not an easy task when you’re 6 feet 1, 208 pounds and carrying a backpack!

Once done with my underwater experience I embarked on the Queen Mary. As my mom had pointed out the night before, she had taken me onboard this same ship back in 1986, this time I remembered a lot more. The QM was great fun, I walked all over it, viewed the exhibitions they had and took in Long Beach from up high. Once done with my Ocean Cruise, I walked over to the Coast Hotel where I enjoyed a dinner at their restaurant. After ordering my meal the waiter asked me “do you work for Skywest?” I was temped to say yes and get a $5 discount, but I didn’t want to have to call up my parents and say “yeah I’m in jail in California because I impersonated a pilot.” After being fed and watered, I ordered a Supershuttle. It shortly thereafter arrived and was piloted by a very jovial and entertaining driver who regaled me with talks of driving to Palm Springs and 200 car pile ups on the 405. But then I was back at LGB and it was time to go home.

Preflight
American Flight 294
LGB-JFK
Scheduled Departure: 9:15 PM
Scheduled Board: 8:45 PM

I felt as we pulled up at the Long Beach terminal that I should have been emerging from a 1936 Ford. I should also be wearing a brown pinstripe suit, with a hat. My breast pocket should contain a handwritten ticket for a DC-2 making 2 stops on its way up to San Francisco. Instead I was in a Supershuttle van wearing khakis and a polo shirt, about to board a 757 nonstop to New York Idlewild, I mean JFK. Seeing the terminal was like looking back in time to the golden days of air travel where I wasn’t holding an E-ticket and didn’t have the option to check in with a machine. To celebrate this thought, I checked in at the counter before taking a walk around the terminal. For a small airport it had a decent amount of concessions. These included a small snack bar on the ground floor where I tried my hand at CA Lottery. There was also a souvenir shop and a restaurant upstairs. After poking around until 7:45, I decided to go to the secure area and sit down and read. Even though it was only an hour until boarding, I found the security line empty. This was explained by the screeners caution that there was nothing to do in the gate area. She was absolutely correct. There were two other people in the gate area which housed HP, AS and AA’s gates plus a stray B6 gate. In a corner was a closed snack cart and a bathroom. In the opposite corner was a TV displaying scenes from the Aquarium of the Pacific. After a while a 757 from DFW arrived and discharged its passengers and then people began to filter in for the JFK flight. Unfortunately our plane got delayed ex-JFK so a slight delay ensued. I became a bit annoyed as I had to meet someone at JFK and I hate being late more then I hate LRTC. Eventually the door was opened and we all made the trek to:

Flying
Gate 23
Seat 10A Main Cabin – Exit Row
757-200
Actual Board: 9:05 PM
Actual Depart: 9:30 PM – 15 Minutes Delayed
Take off 8 minutes after departure

The trek out to our plane was a long trek indeed. We had to circle the 757 which would be doing the early DFW flight and we ended up about 1000 feet from the terminal. This was out near a bunch of parked service trucks. Once again the kind of camaraderie I’ve seen from delayed passengers prevailed. We boarded quickly and stowed ourselves quickly. During boarding, I said to the F/a standing by Row 9 “didn’t you operate AA 291 this morning?” and she said “yes, what are you doing back so soon?” I could only respond with “quick trip.”

During pushback, I thought I’d made some above god happy as 10B and C were open ensuring a quiet night’s sleep. Of course at the last second a mother traveling with six kids moved herself and the fattest of the children next to me. I was not pleased but I just nodded at them and smiled. Once airborne while eating the usual redeye snack (two crackers, triangle of cheese and Milanos cookies) I reflected that I have now used all six airports that have transcon AA service to JFK (those being LAX, LGB, SAN, SFO, SJC and SNA). To compliment that, I have used all airports with 757 redeye’s (LGB, SAN and SNA). I say someone should find a Gold Medal and give it to me, I’ve earned it.

Musing and snacking aside, I slipped U2 into my CD player and put my face mask on to attempt the flight to dreamland. It was then that I realized AA decided to show “Duplex” on this flight. This meant that every few seconds I’d here “AHAHAHAHA that’s great!” from either the people on my right, in front of me or behind me. Honestly, couldn’t they have played the most boring, laugh free movie they could find? “The English Patient” would have sufficed. After a while right as “The Incredible Fire” was ending I managed to drift off to sleep. As has become standard with me, I woke up with “Flight Attendants prepare for arrival.” Groggily I stared out the window to see we were about to cross the coast at Rockaway before landing at JFK. Once on the ground we had the long taxi around Terminals 5 through 7 until parking back at 8. On the way out the flight attendants gave out leftover F class cookies and they told me not to get on another plane anytime soon. If only that was the case.
Scheduled Arrival: 5:11 AM
Actual Arrival: 5:15 AM
Gate 3