The first time I flew in an airplane, I was 27 years old. My family simply didn't fly. Even when we visited Arizona back in 1979, we took the train. Other than that, we drove. Imagine three kids in the vinyl backseat of a 1982 Ford Fairmont that has a faulty air conditioner on a trip from Pennsylvania to Orlando, Florida, and you get the picture of hell.
I thought about this fact as I we packed the kids onto the plane for what seemed like the 100th time. For our five year old, it really has been close to a dozen trips. Maybe more.
I remember that first flight, because I was a starving graduate student and it was on Southwest Airlines and while Southwest may be fine for short hops, on cross-country trips they tend to stop you a few times. I vowed at that point never to fly Southwest again. And I haven't.
A few years later, I had a job that required occasional air travel. I flew to Kansas City, Houston, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. The first two were pits I never ever ever in my life want to visit again, especially Houston. Phoenix is bearable only because I have a good friend in Phoenix. Las Vegas on the other hand was tremendous.
All of this allows me to compile a list of places I've flown to, some multiple times:
Good:
San Francisco
Seattle
Paris
Dublin
LA (but never to stay in LA)
Las Vegas
Cleveland (!)
Chicago
Minneapolis (en route to Saint Cloud, MN)
New Orleans
Phoenix
Miserable:
Atlanta (I've driven there, too)
Houston
Kansas City
4 comments:
I had to fly to Cleveland on business once, for two days. I liked it. For all the flak it takes, it really isn't a bad city. Windy, though.
London Heathrow is good too. Athens, Greece is okay. Denver, Colorado was good. I'm going to have to think about this.
Oh yeah...I forgot about Denver. Flew into Denver once for a conference...
I feel the same way about Airtran. I swore I would never fly them again when I was stuck in BWI waiting for a plane that was not fly-able, according to the pilot who stormed off the plane in a huff. I've not "saved money" the same way since, but what price sanity?
I rather like Hartsfield, but it feels like a second home at this point more than an airport. Also large props to Charlotte, which is a nice one. Booooo to Chicago. Boo. Both of 'em.
Post a Comment