It was only a thirty minute ride to our local airport. A tiny place with just two destinations and a few flights per day. Friendly faces greet you at the check-in, the same faces run the departure gate and load bags on the small plane. It reminded me of the circus. Thankfully the pilot was not a clown, we took off only fifteen minutes late.

Stormy weather brought the thrills of a very bumpy ride. The pilot did his best to skirt round the worst weather. We landed safely in Charlotte. Our connecting gate was a short walk away leaving us almost an hour to relax in the Centurion lounge. Despite being crowded, we were able to find seats and grab a quick drink and a hot bite. Lounges are great places for people watching, if the laptop is out, its invariably a business person sipping iced water. Vacationers are the ones sampling every free food item and pounding down free drinks faster than a drunken sailor.

Our flight to London was boarding when we reached the gate. The first 30 minutes was a treasure hunt combined with a dexterity test. I eventually found the socket for my headphones hidden under the armrest and managed to thread the needle and plug them in at the 39th attempt. After takeoff the flight attendants force feed you alcoholic beverages and hot rubber chicken dinner at lightening speed. Most folks nod off during the after dinner movie. The flight attendants all gather at the back of the plane to chat and relax having put the entire passenger list into a food coma. I woke up feeling dehydrated but only 1200 miles from our destination. The inflight data showed our airspeed to be 539 miles per hour. I don’t think I had ever moved so fast around planet earth. We had left home exactly 11 hours ago. I tried to sleep for the last two hours of the flight but failed miserably. My food baby welcomed the inflight breakfast which was really a 1am snack for my biological clock. It was my fifth meal of that day. Travel broadens your mind and your waistline.

What else is there to do during a 7 hour layover at Heathrow other than hydrate and eat. We soon met up with our good friends Norbie and Maria who had flown in from Miami to join us on this adventure. Time flies when you are having fun with friends and shortly after we were boarding our third and final flight of the outbound journey.

Upon arrival at Manchester we picked up a rental car and headed north. Driving on the left side of the road requires concentration especially when travel fatigue sets in.

An hour later we pulled up outside my sister’s house near the lake district to be greeted with overdue hugs celebrating our first family reunion since 2019 thanks to Covid travel bans.

Liverpool were playing Chelsea in the FA cup and we watched the second half on TV. The game was tied even after extra time so it went to a penalty shootout. It was 5-5 after the 13th penalty kick and Liverpool would win the FA cup if they scored next. Adrenalin masked our travel fatigue and hearts raced when the winning goal was scored. Liverpool had won the FA cup.

We all hugged again in celebration before spending the rest of the afternoon catching up on lost time.

We ended our first day in England drinking warm beer at the Canal Turn local pub, reflecting on the 24 hour journey back to my homeland.