Aloha

Well, in case you're wondering, I'm currently sitting in the USO at BWI (Baltimore-Washington International). The flight from Offut fell through when I called to confirm the flight for the next day. I was informed that the past three flights to Andrews didn't accept any passengers, and if they did this time, I would be allowed only thirty pounds and one bag- no carry-on. Umm...I think my suitcase weighs thirty pounds when it's empty. So I went to plan B. Which was to break down in tears because I didn't really have a plan B. I got over it pretty quick and immediately got online to see what else was going to Ramstein. Which led me to BWI, so Mom quick called the travel agent (who got us a better deal than Priceline.com, thank you!). I booked a flight for the next day, and there's a flight leaving for Ramstein this evening, so everything is working out better than I could have expected! When I got to Baltimore last night everything was already shut down, which was surprising considering this is a large airport. I had no idea where to stay the night, but they had a big board full of nearby hotels and a toll free phone to check vacancies, so I did that for a while with no luck. I was taking a break to call the off-duty number at the AMC (Air Mobility Command) terminal to check flight statuses when I spotted somebody with a rifle case and a toughbox on a cart. I quickly hung up the payphone and stalked him to his airport shuttle (I figured he had to be staying somewhere). The guy kept turning around just in time to see me dart behind the nearest pole or trash can. Finally he stopped his cart and demanded to know why I was following him. Okay, that didn't really happen, but I did ask him where he was staying and if they had a shuttle, so he let me tag along to the HILTON (all along I was thinking I can't afford this, but I also can't afford to not shower before an overseas flight).

They didn't have any vacancies at the Hilton, but there were several hotels in the neighborhood (You know, like Sheraton, Marriott, other places I can't afford...where's the Super 8 in Baltimore??). I walked across the parking lot to aloft (no capital A!) and was greeted by a cheerful Aloha! I booked the room and yes, it is the most expensive hotel room I've ever paid for to-date. For any City People reading this, pardon my country-girl wonder at fancy, big-city hotels... because yes, I took pictures, and yes, I'm even going to post them on my blog.

Fancy lobby at aloft

More fancy lobby/bar area

Fancy room with cow hair on the wall...

She asked me if a King-size bed was okay, and I said sure. Now, why would you ask that and then give me two beds?? Not that it matters....

Fancy room with flat-screen tv on the wall. And a cordless phone. I can't decide if I'm really that impressed, or they tricked me with bright colors and cow hair on the wall.

Fancy bathroom with....I don't know...bowl sink? big clear shower doors? Eh. I think I'm just upset because I can't see the tv while I put on my makeup. Oh, and the big curtain is the closet, with the coffeepot next to it, and the safe/microwave underneath.

After I put my suitcase in my room, I wandered back downstairs to find some dinner because all I had for lunch was two packets of peanuts (FYI, Delta: 2 packages of dry-roasted peanuts does not make up for the fact that you're giving us dry-roasted peanuts. Where's the pretzels?). I asked the front desk where to go find some food and she said there was a restaurant at the Hilton next door. I wandered over and ordered a beer and some cheese sticks because that's all I could afford on the menu (seafood lasagna for thirty dollars, anyone?). I sat and waited...and waited...and finally my waitress came and said, "They didn't bring you your drink yet?". Well, yeah, they did, I drank it really fast and put the bottle in my purse. Duh. So I waited some more and then a little more, and then I looked around and when my waitress wasn't looking I ran out the front door.

So there I was back at aloft (no capital A), and I decided to ask for the delivery menus. The front desk lady, Tina (with a smiley face :), told me the bartender had them. The bartender, Raymond, is a TV star. I should've gotten my picture with him. He's on Guiding Light, All My Children, and Nike commercials! So anyway, I was staring at Raymond and trying to read the pizza menu osmotically when the guy next to me asked if he could order something at the same time. I said, sure, why not! Then another guy sat on my other side and announced he was STARVING. I told him we were about to make a delivery order and he jumped on board. Right about then Raymond must have started to get uncomfortable with my ogling and suggested (much too strongly if you ask me) that we could take the shuttle to Ruby Tuesdays. So me and my two new friends called the shuttle and went to Ruby Tuesdays. Raymond said he couldn't come. I think he just wouldn't.

Once we got to Ruby's my friends and I started chatting over California Quesadillas (my first time eating avocado in a food, ever- and I liked it!) and started to get to know each other. Chris is a father of two college students who works in the automotive paint industry in Detroit. His wife is a nurse in oncology, they both were born and raised in England, and only moved to America nine years ago. Dan is a transporter of frozen biological research, like from hospitals to the CDC, etc. He lives 3 blocks from the beach in L.A. We chatted and ate and had a great time, and Chris (whose flight had gotten cancelled) bought all of our dinners and would not take no for an answer! He said his night would have been crap without our good company. Only he said it in a very deep accent and there may have also been a reference to Rugby in there. Isn't that nice?

Anyway, we got to talking about our hotel. aloft. Do you call it The Aloft? As in, I'm staying at The Hilton, or The Aloft? That sounds stupid. Or you can say I'm staying at Aloft. We decided that didn't sound much better. We thought they should have just named it Loft. Then you can say I'm staying at The Loft. Doesn't that have a nice ring to it? Although I guess the front desk would have to say "The-loha" when you come in, instead of "A-loha." Hmmm...

Speaking of the front desk, when we came in from Ruby Tuesdays, there was a tall, ditzy looking blonde standing by Raymond. We heard her ask, "Ummm....is the front desk, like, on break or something?" Raymond told her they would be right back. She said, "Well, I have a huge problem. I need to move rooms. There was a cockroach on my face."

Wow. That is a big problem.

We laughed at her expense for a very long time. Not in front of her of course. We think it was probably just her hair tickling her nose. We were chatting with Tina the Front Desk Lady about it, and she told us plenty of other stories about how people would call down and ask if it cost money to use the TV remote. Umm..yeah. Two dollars for every button you push.

Last week she had someone call down and say the microwave wasn't working. Tina was quite confused because there are no microwaves in the rooms. Turns out, he was using the safe to warm up his tea. In his defense, the safe is built into the wall right beneath the coffee maker, and it does have large buttons... People.

So anyway, that's where I'm at up to now. I have several hours of waiting ahead of me, but the USO here is very nice. They have a luggage room so you can leave your bag here all day while you wander around. There's also a sleeping room, a tv room, and free internet, so I should be good to go. Plus I got to spend last night in a fancy hotel, where it doesn't even cost anything to use the remote control. :-)

Next time you hear from me, I should be back in Germany!