When we arrived at the airport I asked one of the Aer Lingus staff to weigh my bag in case I had to repack. Thankfully he was a very understanding sort and after marking my bag with a “heavy” tag, went ahead passed the bag through. We quickly moved through security. Our flight was on time and as we took off, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for the wonderful opportunity we had to visit this very special place. Ireland will forever hold a special place in my heart. I am already looking forward to visiting again!
Once we arrived in Chicago, it was off to get into line to go through security, to another line for customs/US preclearance, and yet another trot through security. On my second round of security, I was pulled aside as something suspicious was seen in my purse by the scanner. The security official asked me if I had crystals or liquids in my purse (since I had everything but the kitchen sink in there – I couldn’t be sure!). He ended up searching my purse and pulled out the offending article – a large rock. (These are the moments that make Will roll his eyes and shake his head.) He gave me a bit of a look, then asked me if I was going to use it to start a fire (what?!) or as a weapon (hardly!). I told the security officer the rock was from a beach walk I had taken and I wanted to bring it back as a memento, paint a shamrock on it and give it to my husband to use as a paper weight (lucky Will!J). After taking the time to warn me about the dangers of carrying a large rock on a plane, he passed me through (meanwhile, an elderly woman was one aisle over going through the body scanner – I’m sure she was singled out because of the significant danger she posed). Honestly, sometimes this security thing lacks just plain common sense.
Meghan had an earlier flight out from Chicago than we did, so after we saw her off we waited for our flight, due to take off at 9:00. It arrived on time and I was very happy to see it – it had been a lo-o-o-ong day. As we were getting ready to board - Bad News - - the maintenance staff had discovered a crack on the windshield of the cockpit and needed to make a quick repair – 20 minute delay at the most. Well, the 20 minute delay stretched to half an hour when an announcement was made that the plane would be taken out of service and another plane coming in from San Francisco at 11:30 would be assigned for our flight to Minneapolis. Sigh. Around 11:00 an announcement was made that the plane coming in from San Francisco was smaller than our original plane and volunteers were needed to take a later flight. To compensate for the inconvenience, United was offering $400 in flight vouchers per ticket for 13 individuals willing to be bumped. Since the later flight was leaving at 12:30, Will and I were at the point of “What’s one more hour in an already long day?” and we jumped at the chance to make $800 thinking it will pay for a few trips home for Meghan when she moves to Pennsylvania later this summer. We finally boarded at 12:30, had an uneventful flight to Minneapolis where our luggage was waiting for us (yay!!) and Brendan at the ready to pick us up at the airport. Out Celtic Adventure 2011 had come to an end and the Irish Travelers were home at last.
Sláinte agus saol fada agat!
(Health and long life to you!)
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