Future Mrs. D4L and I went to see the Lord of the Rings musical in absolutely beautiful Newbury, UK last year. Fast forward to present day, the musical moved across the Atlantic to the Windy City. I’m not a LOTR fan. In fact, I’ve seen exactly zero of the 3 movies and haven’t read one word of the books. But future Mrs. D4L is a huge fan, and I actually really enjoyed the musical last year. So I thought it was a good excuse for a fun little weekend getaway for us. With our wedding rapidly approaching and the show closing on Labor Day weekend, there weren’t a lot of weekends that worked for both our schedules. But eventually we settled on one, and I got to planning.

Truth be told, this was as straightforward as trip as I’ve planned in a long time. Southwest was the best and most reasonable option for the weekend, much to the delight of future Mrs. D4L who is a self professed Southwest fangirl. We dipped into her Southwest Rapid Rewards’ points cache to book a late evening non-stop from Houston to Chicago Midway for her and the late evening non-stop from New Orleans to Chicago Midway for me. For our two nights in Chicago, I burned a couple of Category 1-4 certificates for the Hyatt Regency Chicago which was a bargain compared to the $400+ rates that weekend.

I was really looking forward to this little weekend jaunt, which would be our very last before we get married. Work kicked my behind all summer, and I needed something a little stronger than that to cope. Those of y’all who read my past reports know I have a long travel bucket list. One of those bucket list items is visiting all 50 states. At the time, I was just missing Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Chicago just happens to be the perfect launch point to knock those out. I booked one-way rental to Rapid City, South Dakota with National. Future Mrs. D4L couldn’t join me because of work. So I went back to the well and booked her on the evening Southwest non-stop back to Houston.

And of course, I can’t miss my own bachelor’s party, which would be in New Orleans. So I booked a somewhat reasonable United ticket from Rapid City back to New Orleans. And that’s it, folks! Come join me on my last three hurrahs before I sign my life away.


Recent Trip Reports
2024: Trip Report (Taylor’s Version) (SQ/VS J ; UA/SK/BA/DL Y)
2024: The Asia Re-Return (JL F ; OZ/JL/UA J ; AA/NK Y)
2024: The Engagement (AA J ; BA P)
2023: From Shire to Sea (AA F; EI J/Y; BA Y)
2022: The Holy Land and an Irish Wedding (AA/BA/EI J; DL Y)
2022: A Slow Boat and Fast Cars (AA P)
2022: The Dam Weekend (SQ/AA J; U2/AF Y)
2021: Chasing Bourdain and Perfect Tinder Pictures (AA/A3/LH J; BA Y; UA Domestic F)
2021: How The Turntables: MQD Running With My Parents (AA Domestic F; AM J; UA Y)
2020: Purgatory: Tales of Pandemic Travel in the U.S.
2020: The Last Dance (CX F)
2019: An Unexpected Jaunt Around The World (UA/CX/TG/BR/OS J; AK Y)
2018: Pilgrimage to the Fatherland (CX/MU J; CX W; WN/MU Y)
2017: The Ultimate Flake (AA F; SQ F and Suites; CX/MS/CA/MH/KL/JL J; TK Y)