Friday, June 17, 2011

A Tale of a Girl Who Went to Atlanta Part 3--The Luggage of Doom

Click here for Parts 1 and 2 of the Altanta Trip Series.

So Gorgeous and I spent the rest of Wednesday evening with his family.  My BIL drove us (Gorgeous, myself, and their sister) around Atlanta, showing us all the sights and finally took us back to his apartment where Gorgeous's mom and grandparents were waiting. 

Obviously, we were still stressed about the incident at the hotel and though Gorgeous's family was very nice and supportive, I don't think we were really able to relax until the next morning.

The evening at the hotel was rife with excitement as Gorgeous and I were repeatedly awoken by gunshots, sirens, and honking horns.  Apparently, this is not a normal occurrence; we were just lucky.  :P  By the time morning came, I think we both might have gotten about four hours of sleep.  Still, there were wonderful plans for the day, so we drank lots of coffee and went to our luggage to get ready.

Yes, THE luggage.  The luggage that cost us $50 to check when just a couple years ago (maybe less) it would have been free.  (obviously, I'm angry at the airline and you'll definitely understand why by the end of this series).  I checked out the garment bag first when it became immediately apparent something was wrong.

The hangar that was supposed to be securely attached to the bag (in order to hang it up) was gone.  I hadn't noticed this the night before because we'd just laid it on the floor.  So, there was damage.  But wait!  I then found a nice little hole ripped in the bag indicating someone had been dragging this bag on the ground (a very light bag that had a total of three dresses in it--I didn't even have to drag it on the ground to carry it).  More damage!  Yay!

And then I opened the other bag.

That hat I'd told you about in Part 1--the victorian-style hat I'd trimmed myself to wear on the day of the wedding--it was totally crushed.  I'd packed everything just right so that the hat would NOT be crushed simply because another piece of luggage was put on top of my bag.

Three instances of damage and I paid them $50 to do it.  I was getting really ticked.  But since this was still supposed to be a wonderful vacation, I tried my best to brush it aside so Gorgeous and I could enjoy the day we had planned with our family.

Breakfast was the first thing planned and my BIL picked us up again in the morning to take us to his apartment so we could wait for his fiance to show up.  When she did, a few of us walked to the restaurant while our grandparents rode in the car.  It was a lovely walk in a very nice neighborhood.  My soon-to-be sister pointed out a plot of land my BIL had dreams of buying one day and I couldn't help but agree with him that it was gorgeous.  It was a huge lot (especially for a city) and completely wooded.  I love the woods and enjoy the conveniences of a city, so I was totally enamored.

The restaurant was a cute little bakery that also had a wide selection of breakfast foods.  Gorgeous, being the eater he is ordered this:

Look at how huge that is!!  And it's got peanut butter in the middle!

And here he is ready to devour it:


He almost ate it all, too.  The waiter was VERY impressed.  He said he'd seen a total of four people ever finish the thing.

All the stresses of the previous day and just a couple hours ago were quickly dwindling away.  I could almost forget my total rage at the airline.  I was even having so much fun, I decided to take a picture of my BIL and his fiance:





I'll pause for the awwws :)  They really are a very cute couple.

So, after a rough start of a vacation, everything finally seemed to be turning around.  We still had a full day ahead of us--the men had to get tuxes and the ladies had a nice night of getting our nails done planned.  But you'll have to wait for Part 4--(title not yet thought of)  ;) to hear about all that!  

Do any of you, dear readers, have any vacation stories to tell?  Any airplane woes? 

8 comments:

  1. Your story is so powerful, I can't wait to read part 4!!
    Airlines are famous to get luggages damaged, especially italian ones (in which you get your luggage and/or the content of it stolen as well!)
    What was the name of the dish your husband ate? I recognized bananas but I can't figure the rest out O_o
    As for the picture, your BIL is really hot, too bad he's already taken lol
    And the lovely bride looks very pretty :)

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  2. hahahahaaaa!!! love the big eating pic! what a ham gorgeous is!
    i think they have to look through everyone's luggage don't they? obvs they just weren't superdeeduper packers like you! :)

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  3. Dude, that's such BS about your luggage. I'd say call and complain, but that won't get your $50 back. Stupid airline. *grumbles* And going off what Miss Vic said, yeah, I think they do random luggage checks now. My own Gorgeous actually was the victim of one of these checks and had $100 worth of comic books stolen out of his luggage. The organization that does luggage checks basically said "sorry, it happens." Yeah. Right.

    In other news, cute pics, and that delicious breakfasty goodness makes me jealous. :-)

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  4. Oh yes, very cute couple. And awww, sorry to hear about your lovely hat & etc. damage. :( That pic of your hubbs is funny!

    My hubby and I haven't done a vacation yet...the summer's ticking right along, so we'd better hurry up and make plans or it'll be September before we know it...

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  5. Love the pics, but I didn't get to read part 2. :(

    What a trip you've been having, had, whatever. Doesn't matter that damage tends to happen. You have a right to expect your luggage to come through without damage. That's not the result of accident; that's not caring, and with the cost of airfare and such, they ought to be caring more.

    I haven't had a really real vacation in quite a while, but Hubbs and I are planning one for next summer to take The Boy to Disney and the Kennedy Space Center. He's really into the idea of being an astronaut when he grows up, so we'd rather go there than Universal Studios. (Can only fit in so much in one trip, and Disney is better for his age.)

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  6. L.C--I did issue a complaint and I'm still waiting to here back from them (though the guy said, "hey, this stuff happens." To which I replied, "not when I'm forced to pay for it.") Ultimately, the whole trip cost me $75 in checked luggage (I had to pay it on the trip back, too). I was hoping they'd waive the fee on the way back after I told them what happened, but they didn't. There was one piece I HAD to check, but we carried the other one. It was just a very sad experience. :(

    And yes! That breakfast was very delicious looking! Gorgeous enjoyed it tremendously. :)

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  7. Jaleh--That trip sounds amazing! How cute that your kiddo wants to be an astronaut. :) I say go for it! :D

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  8. that BIL of yours and his fiancee surely are breathtakingly gorgeous people :)

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