The Princess Goes to Omaha
Nov 9, 2002 | 10:59 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 4,330
The Princess Goes to Omaha
The Princess Goes to Omaha
Ok, so it’s not Paris or London but it is the new home city of my friend Terri. Terri was banished, I mean moved, to Omaha with her now husband about a year ago. Brady, her husband, is an Air Force captain stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha. Terri has come to visit me in New Orleans so it was now my turn to come visit her in the great state of Nebraska. How bad could it be? There is shopping on the base at the BX for cheap and cute Air Force men (gotta love a man in uniform).
Last week I called the travel agent and asked for a ticket from Houston to Omaha where I would be the week before for work. I was booked on Continental airlines. Much to my horror I received my itinerary and learned that I was booked on Continental Express on the dreaded regional jet where the plane is so small you can’t even stand upright, and I was seated in the last row next to the lavatory. Well this just wasn’t going to do. Since I couldn’t change airlines I could at least work on getting a better seat assignment. I called the Platinum Elite Line and was reassigned to 1A. Which is probably the best seat on a regional jet. It is a bulkhead on the single side. Regional jets are set up with one seat on one side and two seats on the other. There is no first class on a regional jet. Boy is this a big change from the 767’s across the “big pond.”
I got to the airport in plenty of time to check my bag since there is no overhead bin large enough for a roll aboard bag. I made it through security quickly and was thankfully not given the full body cavity search. Continental Express flies out of terminal B in Houston. The last time I flew out of B there was not much in the terminal. It looks as though things are improving. They are adding a small food court. The McDonald’s is open and a Shipley Donuts looks like it will be open in the next two weeks. There will also be a Harlon’s BBQ and some sort of Pizza establishment. I didn’t hit the food court but decided to head to the President’s Club for a quick breakfast and to check email. The breakfast spread was full and looked fresh. There was nothing new or spectacular, just the regulars – juices, muffins, donuts, bagels, and fruit. I settled for a donut and a banana.
My plane was scheduled to depart at 9:40am, so I meandered over to the gate around 9:15am to find that general boarding had already began. This was not a problem since I didn’t need to jockey for bin space, because there is no bin space! I chatted with the flight attendant during take off, since her jump seat faced me directly. She was Cleveland based and very friendly. I don’t think the CO Express FA’s are treated very well which is a shame considering there is only one FA on an Express Jet flight.
We departed right on time and beverage service was prompt. Our flight time was under two hours so we only got peanuts and pretzels with our beverage of choice. There was a little blond holy terror on my flight, whose mother did not control this little “angel.” The fact that the mother was knocking back brewski’s at 10 o’clock in the morning could have something to do with her lack on concern for her daughter.
Our flight landed a few minutes early. I called Terri on her mobile and let her know I was in. She was already on her way to the airport to pick me up. Omaha airport has all of 12 gates so it was pretty quick to make it down to baggage claim and pick up my bags. Terri met me at the curb and we were off to beautiful downtown Omaha.
I was prepared for the worst in the weather department. I brought my coat, hat, gloves and scarf. The weather was amazing. It was almost 60 degrees at the warmest part of the day. No need for any of my winter gear today!
Our first stop was lunch! We ate at the Upstream Brewery. We both had the Parmesan basil soup and sandwich. Sufficiently stuffed we walked around the quaint old part of Omaha. I bought a few gifts while Terri lost her keys. We back tracked and found Terri’s keys.
Next on the agenda was shopping at the BX, low prices and no tax! I loaded up on department store makeup and sundries, now the issue is how to get it back home. It was like shopping in Duty Free without the international plane trip. Terri took me on a riding tour of the base. I saw a B-52 and several cute guys in uniform. We are going to head over to the gym on the base tomorrow so I can check out more of the property.”
It was getting late and we had not been to Terri and Brady’s apartment yet to drop off my stuff. So off we went. Terri showed me some of her wedding presents and we proceeded to hit the wine. We marinated the steaks for dinner and started to marinate our livers in wine.
Brady came home and cooked up the steaks and Brady’s cute Air Force navigator friend Scott joined us for dinner. A few more glasses (okay bottles) of wine and a pile of dirty plates later we made our evening plans.
We went and got dressed to head out to experience a bit of Omaha’s nightlife. It’s definitely not Bourbon Street but we had a good time. We went to The Max, which is Omaha’s premier gay dance club. Not being gay I wasn’t really sure that this was really a place we should be hanging out. Brady assured me that since it was one of the few clubs with good dance music that there would be plenty of other straight people there. He was right. The music and the people were entertaining.
The bars close at 1AM so we moved from the club scene to the casinos just across the state line in Iowa. Wow, how lucky can I get visiting Nebraska AND Iowa in one trip. I gambled low (I was in no condition to make major financial decisions) and my net loss was only $15 . Why didn’t I stop when I was up $75????
Sufficiently tired it was time to go home and go to bed. Brady needed to leave at 5AM to deploy for work. I went to bed and didn’t wake till 10AM the next morning.
To be continued.
[This message has been edited by prncess674 (edited 11-10-2002).]
Ok, so it’s not Paris or London but it is the new home city of my friend Terri. Terri was banished, I mean moved, to Omaha with her now husband about a year ago. Brady, her husband, is an Air Force captain stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha. Terri has come to visit me in New Orleans so it was now my turn to come visit her in the great state of Nebraska. How bad could it be? There is shopping on the base at the BX for cheap and cute Air Force men (gotta love a man in uniform).
Last week I called the travel agent and asked for a ticket from Houston to Omaha where I would be the week before for work. I was booked on Continental airlines. Much to my horror I received my itinerary and learned that I was booked on Continental Express on the dreaded regional jet where the plane is so small you can’t even stand upright, and I was seated in the last row next to the lavatory. Well this just wasn’t going to do. Since I couldn’t change airlines I could at least work on getting a better seat assignment. I called the Platinum Elite Line and was reassigned to 1A. Which is probably the best seat on a regional jet. It is a bulkhead on the single side. Regional jets are set up with one seat on one side and two seats on the other. There is no first class on a regional jet. Boy is this a big change from the 767’s across the “big pond.”
I got to the airport in plenty of time to check my bag since there is no overhead bin large enough for a roll aboard bag. I made it through security quickly and was thankfully not given the full body cavity search. Continental Express flies out of terminal B in Houston. The last time I flew out of B there was not much in the terminal. It looks as though things are improving. They are adding a small food court. The McDonald’s is open and a Shipley Donuts looks like it will be open in the next two weeks. There will also be a Harlon’s BBQ and some sort of Pizza establishment. I didn’t hit the food court but decided to head to the President’s Club for a quick breakfast and to check email. The breakfast spread was full and looked fresh. There was nothing new or spectacular, just the regulars – juices, muffins, donuts, bagels, and fruit. I settled for a donut and a banana.
My plane was scheduled to depart at 9:40am, so I meandered over to the gate around 9:15am to find that general boarding had already began. This was not a problem since I didn’t need to jockey for bin space, because there is no bin space! I chatted with the flight attendant during take off, since her jump seat faced me directly. She was Cleveland based and very friendly. I don’t think the CO Express FA’s are treated very well which is a shame considering there is only one FA on an Express Jet flight.
We departed right on time and beverage service was prompt. Our flight time was under two hours so we only got peanuts and pretzels with our beverage of choice. There was a little blond holy terror on my flight, whose mother did not control this little “angel.” The fact that the mother was knocking back brewski’s at 10 o’clock in the morning could have something to do with her lack on concern for her daughter.
Our flight landed a few minutes early. I called Terri on her mobile and let her know I was in. She was already on her way to the airport to pick me up. Omaha airport has all of 12 gates so it was pretty quick to make it down to baggage claim and pick up my bags. Terri met me at the curb and we were off to beautiful downtown Omaha.
I was prepared for the worst in the weather department. I brought my coat, hat, gloves and scarf. The weather was amazing. It was almost 60 degrees at the warmest part of the day. No need for any of my winter gear today!
Our first stop was lunch! We ate at the Upstream Brewery. We both had the Parmesan basil soup and sandwich. Sufficiently stuffed we walked around the quaint old part of Omaha. I bought a few gifts while Terri lost her keys. We back tracked and found Terri’s keys.
Next on the agenda was shopping at the BX, low prices and no tax! I loaded up on department store makeup and sundries, now the issue is how to get it back home. It was like shopping in Duty Free without the international plane trip. Terri took me on a riding tour of the base. I saw a B-52 and several cute guys in uniform. We are going to head over to the gym on the base tomorrow so I can check out more of the property.”
It was getting late and we had not been to Terri and Brady’s apartment yet to drop off my stuff. So off we went. Terri showed me some of her wedding presents and we proceeded to hit the wine. We marinated the steaks for dinner and started to marinate our livers in wine.
Brady came home and cooked up the steaks and Brady’s cute Air Force navigator friend Scott joined us for dinner. A few more glasses (okay bottles) of wine and a pile of dirty plates later we made our evening plans.
We went and got dressed to head out to experience a bit of Omaha’s nightlife. It’s definitely not Bourbon Street but we had a good time. We went to The Max, which is Omaha’s premier gay dance club. Not being gay I wasn’t really sure that this was really a place we should be hanging out. Brady assured me that since it was one of the few clubs with good dance music that there would be plenty of other straight people there. He was right. The music and the people were entertaining.
The bars close at 1AM so we moved from the club scene to the casinos just across the state line in Iowa. Wow, how lucky can I get visiting Nebraska AND Iowa in one trip. I gambled low (I was in no condition to make major financial decisions) and my net loss was only $15 . Why didn’t I stop when I was up $75????
Sufficiently tired it was time to go home and go to bed. Brady needed to leave at 5AM to deploy for work. I went to bed and didn’t wake till 10AM the next morning.
To be continued.
[This message has been edited by prncess674 (edited 11-10-2002).]
Nov 9, 2002 | 5:58 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 4,330
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ElmhurstNick:
So far so good, Princess! Which casino(s) did you hit and did you like them?
</font>
So far so good, Princess! Which casino(s) did you hit and did you like them?
</font>
Nov 10, 2002 | 6:33 am
#4
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Central New Jersey
Programs: UA-Platimum 2 MM, HH-Gold, MR-Lifetime Gold, Hyatt-Discoverist
Posts: 6,238
Great report! Who knows, some of our non US FT'ers may read this and decide to make Omaha a necessary stop on their next trip to our shores. You may be single handedly be responsibile for a sudden surge in Nebraska tourism 
Nov 10, 2002 | 6:46 am
#5
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Posts: 29
Omaha airport has all of 12 gates so it was pretty quick to make it down to baggage claim and pick up my bags
Hopefully a mistype as Omaha has 21 gates (20 with jetways, plus one commuter gate). The north terminal you arrived into only has ten gates, accounting for less than half of the airport.
Hopefully a mistype as Omaha has 21 gates (20 with jetways, plus one commuter gate). The north terminal you arrived into only has ten gates, accounting for less than half of the airport.
Nov 11, 2002 | 4:54 pm
#6
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: 36,000'
Posts: 1,206
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by prncess674:
[b]There is shopping on the base at the BX for cheap and cute Air Force men (gotta love a man in uniform).
</font>
[b]There is shopping on the base at the BX for cheap and cute Air Force men (gotta love a man in uniform).
</font>
Nov 11, 2002 | 4:58 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 4,330
okay the men aren't for sale but the department store cosmetics are cheap. Browsing for Air Force men is free. In fact it netted me quite a few drinks Saturday night
P.S. Why is Uncle Sam hiding such quality good looking men in the corn fields of Nebraska?
P.S. Why is Uncle Sam hiding such quality good looking men in the corn fields of Nebraska?