A few years ago, when I was a Customer Service Agent in ABQ, I asked my wife where she would like to go for lunch to celebrate her birthday. She of course said P.F. Chang's, since one had just recently opened in ABQ, and because it was already one of our favorites (lettuce wraps and The Great Wall of Chocolate...yum!). Well, I decided to throw in a surprise and found out where Chang's was in San Diego, reserved a car, and got a flight set up.

The big day came, and shortly after an early breakfast the kids and I told her it was almost time to take her out to lunch. She looked at us a little strangely, but didn't question us too much - it was her birthday after all. So we hopped in the car and headed out. As we got closer to the airport, she realized something was up, and discovered this would be no ordinary birthday lunch.

We arrived in SAN right ontime, picked up the car, and made it to Chang's right as they opened. We enjoyed a fabulous lunch and then spent a glorious afternoon exploring SD's beaches.

From the larger than life seaweed my son found on Mission Beach, to the...ahem..."piggy-backing"...seagulls my little girl spotted in La Jolla cove, to the gorgeous sunset we witnessed as we lifted off from SAN, the Freedom to Fly provided to us by Southwest truly made my wife's birthday special.

And wouldn't you know, her birthday is coming up again in just a few weeks...I think it's time to plan another magical getaway...

Really great post!!
I have a group of friends that I met on a website years ago..For the last 8 or 9 years we have tried to get together at least once a year..These friends are from all over.....Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, New England, Florida, even St. Croix...Just about everywhere...
We plan out our adventure and the night before we all post to each other that we will see each other tomorrow..
We try to arrange our flights as closely together as possible and more times than not we have a big group that manages to meet at the airport of our destination..
Generally we have a member that is the host in their hometown and that gives us the opportunity to experience different places each year..
Within a few hours of leaving our home towns we are together, sitting and drinking margaritas, laughing so hard that we hurt and making memories..
Air travel makes all this possible and brings us all together, our friendships have grown and year after year we seem to add some new faces to our group...
Like you, I love to travel and it always amazes me that within a very short time I can be a world away from my everyday life, experiencing new places and having the time of my life!

David,
What a great blog piece! I'm pleased to see that even people who fly for a living in the front office of the plane don't get jaded by the marvel of air travel. It was always my desire to never take flying for granted, and from my first flight in a plane, which was as an unaccompanied seven-year-old returning to Dallas from Chicago, to my last flight a few weeks ago, I've never lost the thrill of the whole experience.

You're quite right about the ability to experience so many different environments in one day, and in fact, there have been books written about the incredible social impact that commercial flight has had on our culture in the USA. Obviously, with many choices of on-time, short haul flights, Southwest has had a huge impact on life in Texas, much to the dismay of the hotel industry. Years ago, even business trips to cities within the Lone Star State often required overnight stays, but SWA has made it possible to conduct a full day's work elsewhere and still be home at a reasonable time that night.

Although I don't have any especially romantic or glamorous trips to describe for this piece, I will relate two examples of how Southwest made it possible for me to travel many miles very easily. For a number of years, I had two business situations that required me to visit a customer's facility once each month. One of those was in Amarillo and one was in Austin. In addition to my other travel, I always blocked out two days of the month for those trips.

However, the amount of time that I needed to spend at both places was barely an hour. So, I would go to my office in the morning, work until 10:30 am, drive to Love Field and hop on a plane (no luggage and pre-9/11 security lines) and be in either city, sitting in a favorite restaurant having lunch during the noon hour. A short drive to my customer's place, conduct a bit of business, dawdle on my way back to the airport, catch an afternoon flight and be back at my house before the 5:00 rush hour started and in time to play with my kids for a couple of hours before dinnertime.

And all of that was possible thanks to my friends at Southwest!
Kim :)

I know exactly how you feel about the "magic" of travel. I was running in minus 5 degree weather in Berlin, NH one morning, and running on the beach in Honolulu the following afternoon. I often wonder what my Irish ancestors would have made of that. Or my grandfather for that matter.
Even better, I like the idea of a blog about airports.. I often compare the experience of landing in America to my experiences landing in foreign countries, and BOY do we have a lot to learn. I pity the poor person who first arrives in America in Miami airport. It is the worst organized, most un-friendly wretched aiport in America, followed closely by LAX. I'd rather land in Islamabad, at least they have a special line for women!
I've also done my own personal comparison of the friendliness and efficiency of Airport Security folks. The worst is when you arrive early for a flight and TSA hasn't quite woken up yet. I watched them in Logan. 20 of them, with 100 grumpy coffee-less people waiting. They wandered around, drank coffeee, chatted amongst each other and after about 20 minutes, very very slowly began processing the travelers. That's the un-magic part of flying.

Hey "not posted" before you get so critical, try reading correctly. Captain Evans didn't say his son was riding the Vespa in Colorado. Go back and read what he wrote. He said his son was riding his Vespa in Central Texas a few hours after flying home from Colorado.

Methinks the astroturf is in front of your glasses.

Blog Boy

I don't know what made me think of this again now, but anyway, here it is. Last October, I'd arrived back at home from my first of two CSA interviews in CMH. After I'd picked up my check-in bag, I went down to the SWA ticket counter to see my two friends who work there. Later, a man (I'd say he was in his 20s) came to check in with his grandma; they were going to DAL. One of my friends checked them in, & the other had to go up to baggage services. The young man came up, introduced himself, & we visited briefly. I introduced myself, too. He then walked up to the counter for a few minutes, came back, and said, "Here. I want you to have this." He'd written his name, number, & address on a luggage tag! I said, "Okay, thanks" in a surprised voice. I didn't give him mine. Then, he & his grandma headed upstairs to the gate. My friend checking them in saw it, & I later told my other friend about it. I felt like there was something not quite right about the man & am glad I didn't give out my number, etc. My friend who checked them in noticed something different about him, too. I heard a story involving him, & our feelings were right! It was quite interesting!

P.S. I have my pictures taken with some of the whole crew from several of my flights, & some of the pilots are cute! :) One of them even looks like one of our former associate ministers! :)

SWA LUV!

If the plane holds 137 passengers, then why are there usually only 50 seats in the gate area? Wouldnt it be nice if the gate area was a mock up of the 137 seats on the plane, then you would have plenty of time to pre-plan your seating options.

As I think about this insane, spontaneous thought, I astonish myself. Maybe Southwest can help find him; maybe a SW blogger can help.
On Saturday, July 7, 2007 I was traveling on Southwest Airlines from Seattle to Tucson, AZ. While waiting at Sea-Tac terminal I notice a man in a yellow shirt, jeans and nice shoes; with a young boy waiting for the same flight out of Seattle. He surprises me when he tells me (as I find a seat). Ã