Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

Anyone who has done any amount of traveling knows that the days where you actually do the traveling suck. Because COVID complicates just about everything, we needed to be at the airport extra early to provide all of our certificates of recovery and negative test results. We had everyone packed up and ready to get in the van when my new dental work that I had put in last summer fell out of my face. Thankfully I was awake and didn’t swallow my thousands of dollars worth of fake tooth. After the initial shock of being down a tooth wore off, I thanked my lucky stars that today would be spent almost entirely behind a mask and we set off for the airport.

The rest of the morning was comparatively uneventful. We made it to the airport, got checked in without any issues, made it through security, booked a dentist appointment in Florida and got on the plane. We landed in Fort Lauderdale where we were met with the longest security line I’ve ever seen. It was so long that they kept us on the plane! When we were finally able to deplane we collected our bags and started snaking our way around the baggage claim area. Two hours later we finally cleared customs. We were landing in Fort Lauderdale but the MacPhee’s van that we were going to be borrowing was in Miami. Our original plan was to just Uber to the other airport but because it took so damn long to get through security we switched plans to take the tri-rail. Before we got on the shuttle to take us to the train we knew we needed to eat something. After two trips up and around the escalators and elevators the only options we could find was a vending machine. $50, several incorrect selections and a half bag of peanuts on the floor later we were headed to the shuttle. We made it on the shuttle, the train, then to the van. The kids were troopers. Nora did the whole thing with a huge blister on the back of her foot and didn’t complain once. They all hauled their own luggage. They were superstars.

Once we piled in the van we set off for Orlando – we finally got in around 1:30am and crashed. Tomorrow is sure to be a quiet day.