November 16, 2019
Alaska Airlines First Class ~ 737-900 ~ New Orleans, LA to Seattle, WA ~ 630p – 925p
Alaska Airlines First Class ~ 737-900 ~ Seattle, WA to Portland, OR ~ 1115p – 1203a

It was about 9:45am when the bus dropped me off at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Since my flight didn’t depart until 6:30 that evening, I rented a car and drove US 90 out along the Gulf Coast to nearby Gulfport, Mississippi where I paid a quick visit to the Mississippi Coast Model Railroad Museum. I’d read about this place in the excursion railroad guidebook I’d purchased to plan the railroad portion of this trip. The museum has numerous model train displays in gauges Z through G in addition to LG scale riding trains. The model trains notwithstanding, perhaps the most amazing part of this museum is its LEGO displays. The Museum is the home of the largest LEGO railroad display in Mississippi but also on display are sets covering everything from Star Wars to pirates to Ghostbusters to the Taj Mahal and more. In all over two million pieces are involved.



Mississippi Coast Model Railroad Museum


I took the Interstate back to New Orleans, checked in my rental car and then headed inside to check out the new airport. I’ve been flying in and out of New Orleans since the ate seventies and over the years I’ve seen a number of refurbishments and additions to the old airport. Over the past couple of years I’d watched with interest as the new airport took shape. It’s located just across the field from the old airport terminal. When the new airport officially opened to the public just a couple of weeks ago, the total price tag was 1.3 billion dollars.

On first impressions, I’d like to think the city got its money’s worth.



Artist’s Rendering of the new Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport


Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Terminal
Photo courtesy of NOLA.com


Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Concourse Commons
Photo courtesy of NOLA.com


All of my lounge memberships notwithstanding, I had nowhere to go here at MSY given that the only facility currently available was a Delta Sky Club. Signage indicated a United Club would soon be opening and early in 2020 a Club MSY. For today however, I was plumb out of luck.

Doing the honors up to Seattle this evening was my old friend 737-990 N494AS. Truth be told, our relationship isn’t all that friendly as I’m trying to fly aboard every jet in Alaska’s fleet, so when I saw ship 494 taxi into gate C3 at MSY I was mildly disappointed. Alaska was the launch customer for the -900 variant of the 737 and currently has 91 737-900s in its fleet. This would be the sixth flight I’ve logged on this particular aircraft. If that sounds like a lot, consider that as I type this I’ve logged 325 flights totaling 422710 miles aboard Alaska 737-900s. I’ve flown aboard all but fifteen of them, with the most flights – 16 – having been logged aboard three different aircraft (N318AS, N319AS & N323AS). In terms of total mileage flown on a unique 737-990, that honor goes to N319AS with 21070 miles logged. In terms of total mileage, my most heavily flown jet in Alaska’s fleet is 737-890 N549AS with 18 flights totaling 27610 miles. In terms of total flights, that honor goes to 737-490 N767AS upon which I’ve logged 33 flights totaling 19220 miles. If you’re wondering how I could log so many flights and yet have less miles flown than some aircraft with less flights, consider that many of my flights aboard ship 767 were within Alaska, specifically on the 60 series flights operating the milkruns up through the southeast such as AS 065 SEA-KTN-WRG-PSG-JNU-ANC or AS 066 ANC-CDV-YAK-JNU-SEA. If you fly aboard AS 64 with three stops and four flights between Anchorage and Ketchikan, your total mileage will come to just 800 miles.

More than a few people have wondered why anyone in their right mind would willingly take such a long flight. Well for starters, if you’re going to Ketchikan you don’t always have a choice depending upon what time of day you want to travel. For me though, one of the great benefits of these milkruns down Alaska’s rugged southeast cost is that because the flights sectors are often so short (Petersburg to Wrangell is just 30 miles) the flights don’t get that high and so offer a wonderful air tour of the region. Check out a couple of pictures that I’ve taken from flights in this area.



Malaspina Glacier as seen between Cordova and Yakutat


Devil’s Thumb as seen between Juneau and Petersburg


Sensible types flying the nonstops between Anchorage or Juneau and Seattle would never get to see these views as nicely presented as this. Then again, they could probably care less so long as they got to their destination as quickly and comfortably as possible. I’ve got no complaints with that approach. It leaves more seats on the milkruns for weirdos like me to better enjoy the view.

The three letter identifier for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is MSY. It stands for Moisant Stock Yards.

Dinner this evening was a choice between a Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole or Soy Glazed Rockfish. I’ve had the enchilada casserole before. It’s not a bad dish but I miss the flavor and texture of meat. Sorry vegetarians, but like the bumper sticker says – If God didn’t want us to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?



Soy Glazed Rockfish


That said, I wasn’t a big fan of the rockfish I was presented tonight. I don’t eat a lot of fish anyway, but when I do it’s usually trout of salmon. Aside from its bland flavor, the stewed/broiled apples accompanying the fish just didn’t work for me. Sometimes it seems like in an effort to please picky vegan and/or "healthy eating" types Alaska’s Inflight Commissary chefs are trying to get cute with an abundance of kale, arugula, those weird egg rounds and things like the stewed/broiled apples accompanying the fish. There are a few good dishes of course such as the Peruvian Chicken, but more and more they seem to be the exception rather than the rule - at least per my relatively omnivorous tastes. Anyway, you'll never please everyone in this regard and quite possibly I'm in the minority with my viewpoint on this latest iteration of Alaska's catering. It would be nice if they had some type of a compromise between one choice of "comfort food" (like a bacon and Tillamook cheddar omelette with fried potatoes, fresh fruit, and a Danish or muffin) and then one of the "weird" choices packed full of kale and arugula. But anyway, now I know with regard to the fish. Next time I’ll go with the Enchilada Casserole.

In Seattle we parked on the North Satellite – Alaska’s main terminal of operations here at SeaTac. As luck would have it my connecting flight down to Portland was departing from just two gates over, leaving me plenty of time to pay a visit to Alaska’s excellent new Alaska Club that opened above the North Satellite this past summer. This lounge seemingly took forever and a day to complete, but when it opened in July, it was well worth the wait.

In particular, I think it offers far and away the finest airline club bar I have ever been to. This includes bars at First Class lounges overseas. While they may have a better selection of spirits, none of them come close on craft beers – many of which are complimentary – or overall ambience. Check it out!



North Satellite Alaska Club Bar at SEA


North Satellite Alaska Club Bar at SEA


North Satellite Alaska Club Bar Menu at SEA


By the way, the reason why I’m continuing on down to Portland for the night is because I’ve come to really like the Rodeway Inn located nearby the airport. Additionally, I’m pushing for Gold status with Choice Hotels, not to mention MVPGold 75K status with Alaska. That I’ll accomplish next week with a final mileage run out to Boston, then down to El Paso, back to Boston and then home to Alaska. The week after that I’ll be flying down to Denver for a lumbar laminectomy in early December. As gimpy as I presently am, there’s no way I’m throwing in the towel. Life goes on and with it quality of life via those hotel and airline status achievements.


November 17, 2019
Alaska Airlines First Class ~ 737-800 ~ Portland, OR to Anchorage, AK ~ 1135a – 235p
Alaska Airlines Economy Class ~ 737-700 ~ Anchorage, AK to Fairbanks, AK ~ 310p – 405p

Another reason I really like transiting through Portland is that my Priority Pass membership allows me up to $28 worth of complimentary dining at Caper’s Restaurant, located in the commons area just beyond security for the A and B concourses. My go-to meal in the morning is either the Veggie Scramble or the Omelet of the day, served with toast, potatoes and delicious coffee. In the evenings they have a salmon and pasta creation that’s to die for. Each of these is well under the $28 limit and is one of my most cherished benefits of having the Priority Pass membership.

Luncheon on today’s three hour and forty minute flight up to Anchorage was a tasty Roasted Pomegranate Glazed Chicken. I don’t recall and apparently did not make note of the alternative entrée choice but no matter – that chicken was quite tasty, especially now that I’ve learned to like Brussel Sprouts.




Roasted Pomegranate Glazed Chicken


Following a short layover in Anchorage, it was on to the final leg of this two and a half month odyssey. As always, while it’s good to be home, I could just as easily take a few days off at home and then start this entire trip all over again, from trains to boats. If you haven’t figured it out by now, allow me to remind you once again of one of if not my favorite and defining travel quotes as penned by the author Robert Louis Stevenson:
...And so, as my journey now comes to an end – at least until next Thursday – so too does yours insofar as this trip report goes. Congratulations on making it all the way to the end. And Thank You as well. I believe this was my second longest report and while 60000 words doesn't compare to "War and Peace" it's definitely quite a long read. Here's hoping you enjoyed it!

Happy Contrails ================================>

And if after reading this report anybody should post “Great report so far! Can’t wait for the next installment!” I’ll take that as a clear indication from the masses that it’s probably well past time for me to permanently retire from trip reporting . Truth be told, it's gonna be a good long while before I write another trip report. What with the Covid-19 virus going full throttle here at home and the ability of not only America but the rest of the world to implement universally safe environments once an effective vaccine is developed, it could be a couple of years before I'll be heading off to any overseas locales. Ideally, once this virus is under control (By all indications, the virus might never be totally eradicated) I would like to fly off in style to Mauritius and the Seychelles Islands for two to three weeks of quality lounging followed by a trip on the luxury Rovos Rail train from Capetown up to Dar es Salaam. Hopefully BA might retain a few of its 747-400s because I am just one intercontinental flight away from having flown over 500000 miles aboard the "Queen of the Skies". Long live the Queen!