After my kinda-big-night in Nashville it was a shame knowing my time in TN was drawing to a close. I got up the next day for an early breakfast and with a 12 noon checkout, laid around and enjoyed the comforts of the room without worrying about luggage/flights/transportation.
My shuttle was picking me up at 3.30pm to check in with plenty of time to spare and it was too cold to go exploring and to tell you the truth, I couldn’t really be bothered as I was tired from Saturday night. So I basically became a loiterer in the foyer of the HI Express. I made use of the free internet, hung out reading every Nashville tourist brochure and writing notes in my journal. I then ventured down to the local Maccas and the only thing close by for a quick bite.
After ordering my cheeseburger and sundae and waiting for ages (in the US, Maccas/Mickey D’s isn’t fast food at all) I found a table in front of the flatscreen tv (yes even in Maccas, there are great TVs to watch the Anna-Nicole case!) I looked around and realised… I was the only non-homeless person there. But in reality – I was actually homeless for that period of time.
There were two guys on the next table trying to secure a room at what sounded like some halfway house accommodation. Obviously with the bitter cold, finding a bed was hard. It sat there playing Tetris on my phone and understanding how slow time goes when you want it to go quick when one of the guys at that table came up to ask me how to use his phone. I didn’t want to be rude but when I travel alone, my guard is up 24 hours a day and I don’t like to draw attention to the fact that a) I am not a local and b) I am in unfamiliar surrounds. He pulled out his cell phone and explained to me that he just got it (has a phone, but no bed) and has received a message but didn’t know how to retrieve it. I showed him how to get it and what the symbols meant and he went off on his way! Then before I knew it he was back – I paniced! (See what happens when you watch too much America’s Most Wanted?) He leaned towards me and then said “Ma’am I just wanted to come back and tell you that you have the most beautiful voice I have ever heard..” Awwww! I went on to explain that I was from Australia and found out he had never met anyone from Australia before and he was hoping I was enjoying my time in Nashville.
Note to self: Sometimes it helps to let your guard down!
I made it to the airport and was charged excess baggage fees even though I was 1.5kgs over and I was on an international ticket. What annoyed me was getting this reaction from AA which is a One World airline and considering I was on my way home, it was rubbish. Nashville airport was the pits. It is being renovated and there is *nothing* to do. Throughout this trip, when it comes to flying everything I take on board, and I mean everything I have carried and worn has been exactly the same as the day I flew out of Melbourne. Basically I allocated one packing cube in my suitcase to flying. I carried the same stuff on board, wore the same (washed) clothes and kept everything the same. I do this as I means I can keep track of what I am carrying and I find it lessens my chance of losing anything. The security area was packed at Nashville and as I went through the metal detector it went off. I hate the security areas – especially on my own. I am trying to watch my bag, get everything sorted, watch my bag, get lost in the queue of the slow people who have no idea and then continue to keep watch on my bag.
The xray went crazy beeping and I didn’t even have my shoes on. The guard yelled at me in the meanest way “GET YOUR WATCH AND BRACELET OFF – IT HAS TO BE THAT!” And I politely commented to him that it is impossible seeing as I had been through about 5,000 in the past three weeks (well it felt like it) wearing this same watch and bracelet (the only jewelery I had on) so it must be a problem with something else. So he made me take my Tiffany bracelet off (which is hell to get off in a hurry) and my watch and put it on the conveyor belt. Well der we know that after the conveyor belt is the rolley thingys. So what happens? My bracelet and watch slip through the rolley thingys and end up in the black hole of Nashville airport – UNDER THE XRAY!
Here I was, on my hands and knees, while he was yelling at me to move forward and I was yelling back “JUST YOU HANG ON !!! MY BRACELET HAS GONE THROUGH THE ROLLEY THING WITH MY WATCHHHHHH!!!!!” I had lost the plot – scrounging around with my bum in the air, trying to fit my hands through the bottom of the xray table to find my bracelet. It was a lost property wonderland under that table – credit cards had slipped through, loose change and bits and pieces. THEN after all that they then try and tell me there is something in my bag that wasn’t right. Well that is a possibility seeing it has been out of my view for what felt like an eternity – they have no comprehension of just how difficult it is trying to keep track of everything and pay attention to what they are saying. How interesting after carrying the EXACT same bags and wearing the EXACT same clothes and accessories now on my 2nd last flight I am getting picked on. Their attitude sucked in a major way and I wish Keith Urban was there to do some damage with his guitar! Well not surprisingly nothing showed up – I asked the guy how all of a sudden I could beep and something be wrong in my bags after eight flights and no hassles and he couldn’t give me an answer and I still can’t explain it. What worries me is maybe I was meant to beep and be suspicious on all those other eight flights and no machine or person picked up on it.
I had two hours to kill in a newsagency that had no decent mags and at a BBQ place that was full of greasy fare. I learnt at the gate that this AA flight, even though it was nearly 5 hours long would not have any catering. Yet on the 7 hour flight with AA from Heathrow I got enough food for a 18 hour flight. Still loving international AA!! At the boarding gate there was two kids running around like maniacs and screaming (I was happy for them to use all their energy before the flight) and then three people with babies. The flight was going to be full. We boarded and was told there was a problem with some light on board and there would be some delay. Two hours later we were STILL sitting at the gate. And the problem – the three babies had been screaming at the TOP of THEIR LUNGS for the whole two hours. I had my earplugs and my Bose headphones on and I could *still* hear them. We eventually took off, two hours late and the babies screamed for the next three hours straight. NON-STOP SCREAMING HYSTERICALLY! I really felt for the parents but at the same time it equated to a hellish ride after a positively very average day.
There was a bright point to this flight – two passengers in front of me were APPLE DEVELOPERS! They had the Apple gear on (the Apple polar fleeces are gorgeous) and were just oozing Macbook/iPod/iMac/iEverything Appleness!
Landing at LAX was uneventful but the Super Shuttle ride through LA was exciting as we had one drop off at the apartments where they film my favourite MTV show, The Hills!
By the time I got to the Hollywood Celebrity hotel it was midnight. With my 1.5kg extra of excess luggage I nearly cried when I saw the stairs up to the foyer of the hotel. America is the leader in accessibility and the one time where I would have loved a ramp, it was nowhere to be found. After seeing my struggle the desk guy thankfully put me in a room just down the hall… as there were no lifts in the hotel either. Bless first floor rooms – even if they are close to the vending machine – cans of coke are so noisy when they drop to the bottom!
I was in LA and I was also nearly home.
Love Junk – Diesel