Florida 2020: Diary – Day 17

New Year’s Day had arrived. We slept in a little later than usual, but we still had a noon flight to catch. We had rationed our breakfast vouchers to ensure we’d have enough for breakfast as well as some snacks to bring with us.

Making Our Way to the Airport

After getting our last breakfast, finishing packing, and checking out, we had to make it to the airport. According to Google Maps there were a few routes and some that didn’t have tolls. We had avoided tolls and the dreaded toll surcharge so far, so it was worthwhile to take the route that was 5 minutes longer to avoid them.

The route we took ended up being quite roundabout. I may have made a wrong turn along the way, but we did manage to make it without paying a toll.

Returning the car was slow but painless. We were able to make it to the United ticketing area to get our boarding passes and check our bags. My wife’s boarding pass wasn’t showing her as PreCheck so I re-entered her account number and that seemed to do the trick. We all had PreCheck now.

It was mid-morning and we decided to get some food in the food court pre-security as we didn’t know what would be open in the terminal. Most of the restaurants were closed, but Chick-Fil-A was open and the boys and I got food there. My wife was going to risk finding something beyond airside.

We ate quickly and made our way to security. The PreCheck line was pretty long, but moved quickly. It was much more convenient compared to having to take all of our electronics out and our shoes off.

Our youngest had a water bottle in his backpack which kept the streak alive of his bag being checked at least once on a trip. He took it in stride this time and didn’t get upset like previous times.

We found our terminal and waited for our boarding time while my wife searched for some lunch. The terminal was busier than Boston was when we had left. Not everyone was physically distancing but we were able to stay away from most people.

Getting Home

The flight was on time and uneventful despite being completely full. While it was cold at home, we were glad to be home after 17 days away. It was the longest trip we’ve ever been on and it had been fun and relaxing.