by Sunny
follow me on Twitter @sunnylooksleaps
In our constant attempt to save money and travel as much as possible, we often search for deals during a city’s off season to take advantage of low rates and small crowds. Of course, sometimes what we expect to be a relaxing weekend trip shapes up to be a real adventure! Read about our February trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota and see why the massive Mall of America was one of the sanest parts of the trip!
The Week Before – Our plan is to travel President’s Day Weekend. Our school is off on Friday which is when we plan to leave for our trip. We book our hotel through Hotwire (need to write a separate post JUST on booking with Hotwire!) and get an outstanding deal for Friday and Saturday night at the Best Western Plus across the street from MOA. Jimmy finds out he has to work on Sunday, and will have to travel home on Saturday evening. MJ and I plan for some bonding time Saturday night and Sunday in MN.
The Day Before – We hit another snag the day before our trip. Jimmy discovers that the flights on Friday are filling up quickly! (We are the nonrevs, remember? Jimmy is an airline employee so we always fly on the standby list.) He calls me at work to see if we could be ready to leave tonight! Leave for vacation a day early? MJ and I wholeheartedly agree, and I am back on Hotwire booking us a hotel room for Thursday night. We decide to fly to Chicago on Thursday, then on to Minneapolis on Friday morning. Extra room in Chicago is booked (with the promise of Giordano’s pizza from Jimmy), and off we go!
MJ makes a sketch of BB-8 at Disney Store.
Friday and Saturday – We arrive in Minneapolis to negative temperatures and positive attitudes! We are super excited for MJ to visit her 20th state! Our hotel is even better than expected: recently updated rooms, indoor splash park, full size pool, and gigantic hot tub! There is also a restaurant on site, complimentary breakfast in the morning, and shuttle service to the MOA. The first day we laugh off the shuttle. The Mall is right there. We brave the 5 minute walk in the -5 degree sunshine. We decide to take the shuttle from here on out.
MJ and Maryellen in their matching shirts!
We visit American Girl Store, ride the rides, learn to draw BB-8 at the Disney Store, and MJ gets a rock star makeover. We get lost trying to navigate the many floor and wings, visit American Girl Store (again), dine at the Rainforest Café, visit American Girl Store (one more time), play at the Lego store, and eat lots of snacks. After a long day of shopping, the pool calls our name. MJ has a ball playing in the splash park, practicing her cannonball, and relaxing with Mom in the hot tub. We say goodbye to Jimmy on Saturday night. He says, “Your flights still have plenty of seats. See you tomorrow night!” MJ and I respond, “Yes! See you on Valentine’s Day!” MJ and I have a girls date night at the onsite restaurant, eat our dessert in our room, and watch SpongeBob Squarepants until we fall asleep.
Valentine’s Day Breakfast!
Sunday – Valentine’s Day! MJ and I celebrate with strawberry waffles. We get to the airport around noon, ready for our 2pm flight. It is snowing in MN, but these people are pros. Flights depart and arrive. Our flight is delayed. Chicago is getting hammered with winter weather. Gate agents promise news at 3pm. At 3pm, the weather continues. Update again in an hour. 4pm, MJ and I grab a snack, hear an announcement about a gate change, and we are boarding! Plenty of seats available, so we board the plane ready to get home after a fun trip! We buckle up, get comfy, and are ready to pushback when the 2nd most dreaded announcement* comes on: Chicago Midway is closed! Another update in an hour. Lots of moaning and groaning ensues. MJ is a model traveler, taking it all in stride. 5 pm, still no news. Flight attendants allow passengers the option of getting off the plane. MJ is enthralled with a My Little Pony sticker book. We stay put. 6pm, still no news, lots of upset passengers. Some are crying that they are going to miss Valentine’s day with their loved ones. My phone needs a charge. We get off the plane to recharge. MJ practices her roundoffs. I tell her we might have to stay another night. She says, “That’s the spirit, Mom!” We get back on the plane. While we were charging, our connecting flight out of Chicago has canceled for the night. We tell the flight attendants to take us off the manifest and thank them for their hospitality (they made every effort to keep everyone happy with water, coffee, and snacks while we waited). The flight attendants and passengers around us gave MJ a round of applause for being so calm and patient for the last 3 hours. I take out my phone to book a room for the night on…Hotwire! We get an even better deal at a Hilton. Beautiful room, awesome pool and hot tub. MJ is thrilled! We swim, soak, grab ice cream and chips from the sundries shop, and enjoy a Valentine’s “dinner” in bed while watching K.C. Undercover. I am relieved that tomorrow is President’s Day and that we don’t have school or work!
Valentine’s Day Dinner!
Monday – We awake bright and early and ready to finally get home. Jimmy books us an employee fare on another airline that has a nonstop home. We aren’t chancing the Chicago mess this morning. The plan goes off smoothly and we touch down home sweet home with lots of happy memories of what ended up being a wild travel weekend!
Our patient traveler!
In our six years of traveling nonrev, we have never had to stay an extra night at our destination due to weather or full flights until this trip. I find it funny that Sunday’s debacle had nothing to do with being on the standby list, but completely with the weather which of course is out of anyone’s control! Have you had an adventure like mine? How did you handle it?
*For a nonrev, the most dreaded announcement is the one where they pull you off the plane because the person who you thought wasn’t going to show up for their seat, did in fact, show up at the last minute.