Bravo, United

Sitting at my desk never felt so good.

After a wonderful short trip to San Diego to visit Nick and accompany him to the HMLA/T-303 Marine Corps Birthday Ball, I knew I had to get back and get packing! After all, the countdown to check out has begun.

As luck would have it, my flight from San Diego to Norfolk (via Chicago) would be drastically delayed. I spent 6 hours at the San Diego Airport. United Airlines assigned us a broken aircraft, there was no back up and no availability on any other flight (what are the odds I visit during a Realtor's conference week?). My only option was to get to Chicago whenever the aircraft was repaired and take a Monday flight to Norfolk. Awesome.

Arrived at the airport and with time to spare, I agreed to a fast food breakfast with my fiance. McDonald's, his favorite. Arrived at the gate and with time to spare, I enjoyed some coffee. Starbucks nonfat latte, my favorite. And as the flight time kept getting pushed back, I had tons of time to spare. Then it was time for lunch.

ENTER: Relevance to food blog --> There is no such thing as eating well or inexpensively when traveling. My options for lunch were $9.78 pizza or $9.78 sandwich. Really? I have yet to be introduced to a sandwich worth the ten dollar bill in my wallet. This sandwich was no exception to that rule, but I was hungry and I knew it was this or airplane peanuts.

This airplane didn't have peanuts. Only $8 snack box options. Really? Eight dollars for the food I used to get for free? I thought everyone shared these sentiments, but apparently not. The gentleman next to me ordered the Luxe snack box and the Original snack box, plus a cheese tray. I laughed to myself at first, but soon realized he must have been in this situation before.

After a long flight, a long walk to the customer service desk at O'Hare, a long line at that desk to get my hotel voucher, and a long wait for the hotel shuttle, I needed dinner. I was starving! I was wishing the guy in 17F would have offered to share his crackers. Anyway, anyone who knows me well, knows that my patience wears thin the longer I go without food. And patience truly is a virtue when you've been traveling for 12 hours, you aren't allowed to collect your luggage until your final destination, and you aren't booked on the first flight to Norfolk, but the second.

So my first question when checking into the hotel was,"where is the restaurant and how long is it open?" I had 15 minutes. Again, I reiterate my first point. There is no such thing as eating well or inexpensively when traveling. My caesar salad and wings were not memorable, and not worth the $25. I did enjoy my company, Alice and Pei Lin, two realtors (probably not a coincidence) I will always remember!

So Monday morning I woke up early, showered with hotel amenities, put on my Sunday clothes and rode back to the airport. I was saying a prayer for an open seat on the first Norfolk flight. It seemed like a three mile walk to gate F12A, only to find out the flight was booked and everyone was checked in. I would only get on the flight if someone didn't board.

The announcement was made and the lucky travelers booked on the first flight walked down the jet way. And then, "Norfolk passenger Bravo, your plane is boarding now." And "Paging Ms. Bravo, your flight to Norfolk is boarding." I was hopeful, but fully expecting this "passenger Bravo" to speed up to the gate at any moment, frazzled and frantic and ready to get to Norfolk. And then she didn't. And I flew home, earlier than expected.

So for dinner last night I made pan-seared NY strip, asparagus, mashed potatoes, and an herb salad. It was delicious. And maybe $12 total.

No thanks to United. My thanks are to Ms. Bravo, for having a case of the Mondays and missing that flight.

And while I was planning on writing about my first meal in San Diego, or the fact that my fiance tried Thai food for the first time, or my delicious homemade sausage gravy and biscuits that are a post-USMC Ball tradition...those events were overshadowed by the 2-day return to the East Coast.