Spring Break in Florida - Day Six

 

Day six was a short one in Florida as we had flights to catch early in the afternoon.

One last look from our hotel balcony.

We did a little exploring in the morning.

All packed up and ready to go.

Our flight to Chicago was easy, but was running a bit behind and once we arrived, the chaos began.  We were seated at the back of the plane so it took us quite a while to get off.  We left Florida at 2:35 and we were all thinking that our flight in Chicago was departing at 5:35, but in fact it had a departure time of 5:15.  (This apparently means that they stop boarding at 5:00, but we didn't know this and our flight that was suppose to arrive at 4:35 didn't arrive until nearly 5:00.)  After running through the airport with kids and bags, we arrived at the gate at 5:08 and were told that boarding was done, the gate was closed, they would not open the door, and we would have to go to another spot to book different flights.  There were no other flights to Manhattan that day, so this would have meant finding a flight to Kansas City and then trying to figure out how to get back from Kansas City with no vehicle and no carseats.  Riley and Brett went to check on other flights while Charla and I stood near our closed gate.  A few minutes later, we decided Charla should go help with flights as she's not one to let anyone push her around.  So I was standing there with 4 kids, tons of luggage, and probably looking pretty pitiful.  Another passenger approached the counter and started talking with staff about her missing the flight too.  I think her mom or somebody was already on the flight, but I overhead them say they will only open the doors if there are more than 10 people.  I piped up saying that my group of 8 just ran through the airport with 4 kids and they won't let us on either.  Suddenly several other employees showed up and were on phones, one lady looked up at me and asked if the rest of my group could get back here fast.  I immediately called Riley and told them that they were letting us on so they needed to run.  Needless to say, they got a little exercise that day.  As we walked on the plane, the pilot and airline attendants were standing out to meet us saying that they were so glad they let us on and that it was silly to not let us on.  It was a whirlwind, but we were so glad to have made it on the flight and not have to deal with finding alternative travel plans.