Travel Trouble

We had a rocky start to our family summer vacation destined for a beach house in North Carolina:
The trip there started out fairly well on Friday afternoon with a 4 hour drive to meet the Kalivk Grandparents in K.C. We stayed overnight and left our hotel on a 5:30 am shuttle to catch a 7am flight on Saturday morning. We were to have one (2 hr) layover in Philadelphia before arriving in Wilmington, N.C. at approximately 3:45 pm. Then, the plan was to drive in a car provided by the owner of the beach house the rest of the way to Holden Beach (approximately 45 minutes) However that's not quite how it went.....

Our flight left on time and was a bit turbulent due to storms - Eli had a pretty fussy period that lasted 15-2o minutes letting out a few mama cringing screams before we landed and the flight attendants welcomed us with the predictable routine. Then, just a few minutes later, the captain's voice came over the speaker informing us that we were not in Philadelphia, but Baltimore. Due to heavy air traffic and a low amount of fuel he decided to land there in order to re-fuel. We were there sitting in the airplane for about an hour and then got back in the air for about 30-40 minutes. Not too bad, just annoying.

Next, we de-boardthe plane to find that our next flight had been cancelled and we were being deferred to another flight on standby set to depart at 4:30 - there were already 15 other people on standby for this flight ahead of us - so with our party of 6 that wasn't looking too promising. We began seeking out other options without much help from the airline attendants. The best they were suggesting was waiting to take a flight to Wilmington the NEXT NIGHT - not really an option in our opinion either. Finally, we settled on the best we could find which would be to take a flight set to depart at 4:30 pm that would land in Charlotte and drive a rental car (rented at a ridiculous rate because it's rented without a reservation for one-way travel) the remaining 197 miles to Holden Beach.

So, we made our way to the assigned gate for this new flight after being assured that our baggage would follow us on our new route. We waited about and hour and a few minutes before the plane was to begin boarding when we are informed that the plane is now boarding at a different gate. We quickly gather up our belongings and hustle on over (eli is pretty much melting down at this point because he never got to sit still for an afternoon nap and he finally passes out in my arms for a little while at least). When we arrive at the new gate there is a HUMONGOUS mob of people waiting to board. This was the one benefit to traveling with children we were among the first that were able to board the international flight - sized plane. The plane takes off at 6 pm (an hour and a half later than scheduled). The flight went pretty well - Eli didn't stay asleep - but thankfully Owen slept for most of the flight which he desperately needed because he was on the verge of a major meltdown (due to lack of sleep from being awoken at 5 in the morning and just having to deal with the mess and stress of the day) because he was not sitting by a window.

We arrive in Charlotte at about 8pm local time and, if you're following our luck thus far you can guess what happens next.......yep, no luggage. After some investigation, we are told by an agent that our luggage is still in Philadelphia. It is arranged that when our luggage does make it's way to Wilmington, our original destination, it will be delivered to us.

It's now about 9pm as we're finally making our way to the airport rental car company. We get our vehicle loaded up and install the car seat without too much trouble. After entering our destination into the GPS and getting a quick t0-go bite to eat, we're off again.

2:00 AM - We arrive at the beach house in Wilmington. We're all SO ready to get the kiddos into their own rooms and beds but we can't find the pack and play that is stored by the owners in anywhere in the house!

3:30 AM I finally get Eli settled for the night to sleep in bed with me after being a little jazzed from being woken up from essentially a 3 1/2 hour nap in the car.

7AM the next morning (Sunday) we're told we should get our luggage by 6pm that night.
I go shopping and get a few extra items including a change of clothes for all of us just in case.
Nope, luggage does not arrive as promised. The next time we're given is 10:30 pm.

8AM Monday morning - we find our baggage had been delivered at 3AM.

With 5 days left of our vacaton it can only get better from here, right?