Flying to Long Beach

Why is it so much harder to wake up early when you are officially on vacation than when I have to get up for work?

We made it in good time to Seattle, even considering the heavy rush hour traffic.

We checked into our hotel around 4:30 pm and we went to our room and noticed a strange odor but just opened the windows hoping that in time the smell would leave.

Dinner was in order, we were starving.  We went and had a nice meal and then stopped at Target and then Total Wine.  Bernie wanted to stop at Total Wine to pick up his favorite Scotch an 18 year old Glenmorangie that is a special item.  

He has been wanting this for a while and since it is so much cheaper in the US and hard to find at home he treated himself.  We are not taking it on the trip, it is staying with the car to take home.

When we returned to the room the odor was still strong.  Not sure what it was, but it smelled chemical in nature, kind of like if you were trying to spray a cleaner/deodorizer but I knew we culdn’t spend the night there.  A quick visit to the front desk and they accommodated us with a new room.  Great Service here.

We are exhausted!  I am trying to stay awake but by 8 pm I can not resist sleep any longer.  Although even with being so tired both of us had a restless sleep.  Has to be because of the strange environment and knowing we have to wake early for our flight, or maybe we are just excited.

Anyhow the alarm went off at 4 am only to realize the darn alarm clock was actually 20 minutes early in it’s time!  Oh well we are up now.

There is a Starbucks right beside the hotel and I know it opens early but after walking over there I see it doesn’t open till 5 am on Saturdays, 4 am on weekdays.  Sad face…. 

Oh well will have to wait until we get to the airport.

We catch the 5 am shuttle to the airport and with our Nexus card we get to go thru the TSA approved line and thru security within two minutes.  A record I think.

STARBUCKS – and we both need a heavy dose of caffeine.  We also grab a quick meal and by the time we are done we are ready for boarding.

We are flying Jet Blue.  This is our second time flying with them and love their first bag free deal.  Plus as soon as we are up in the air we find out they offer free wifi!  Seriously!

It isn’t long before we are touching down at Long Beach Airport.  We quickly grab our bags and walk out to the taxi line.  Long Beach is so much more civilized and actually nice to fly in to.  The taxi ride is about 15 minutes and it is a flat rate of $45 to San Pedro terminal.

We are at the pier around 10:30 and drop off our bag with the porters.  We then head out on foot to town.

We stop and get an amazing Mexican meal at Tacos y Mariscos.  

                      

We then walk over to Off the Vine for some wine.  The owners are a lovely couple that are so very helpful.  We buy two bottles to take on with us.  Off the Vine