We got into port around 7 AM. It was still dark.
Our flight wasn't until 5:30 PM so we booked an excursion to the Everglades, something we had never seen before.
We disembarked. They have new passport face reading technology, we just had to scan our face and we easily got through customs- it was awesome!
We boarded our bus and took about an hour drive to the Everglades. It was raining the whole time. I didn't think much about it, but a friend from our ward who also happened to be on the same cruise texted me to let me know all flights were delayed by 4 hours because of the storm Since our flight wasn't until 5:30, our flight wasn't showing any delays, so we weren't too concerned.
We went to the Everglades! It was all of our first time there, and it was simply awesome- even if it was wet. We only saw one alligator, but we were OK with that. They scare us!
Here's the gator, zoomed in:
Do you see the gator- right next to the tree?
Driving through the glades:
Then we saw a Gator Show. It was great, but I need to be honest: this guy maybe loves the gators a little too much!
Then we went to the airport which is where our real adventure began. Our flight was, indeed, delayed- so much so we would miss our connecting flight from Atlanta to Denver.
We waited in an hour long line (which was fine, we had 6 hours until our flight so we had nothing better to do) and changed to an earlier flight, that was also delayed but would still get us to our connecting flight one time. We went through security and quickly decided we do not like the Miami airport! It is a disaster!
Anyway, we quickly found out that our flight was delayed until the next morning. Oh, no! It was North Carolina all over again!
We were flying Delta. I quickly found a customer service number and began texting. Thankfully, they were quick to respond. We decided to switch to a flight that left out of Ft. Lauderdale, about a 45 minute away. It was set to leave in two hours, and would get us to Atlanta in time. We entered a stage of The Amazing Race, trusting this would work!
We ran to a Taxi, and hopped on. We told the driver we were in a hurry, and he was awesome- he got us where we needed to go!
The Ft. Lauderdale was supposed to leave at 2:30, but it had also been delayed and left at 5:30- the original time of our original flight. Luckily, unlike Miami, Ft. Lauderdale recovered from the storms and flights were taking off.
We boarded the plane!
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
The pilot came on, "well, folks, it's been that kind of a day where everything has gone wrong. If you look our your window on the right, you'll see that there is a VIP grounding us."
Yes. Vice President Kamala Harris was in Fort Lauderdale for a campaign event, and Air Force II was needing to take off, so all flights were delayed. AGAIN!
I started to get a little anxious, but we still had an hour in between flights, so I trusted we would be OK.
We got to Atlanta. Delta had a snack station set up for everyone to have free snacks after our difficulties in traveling. We very quickly grabbed snacks, and then raced to our connecting flight.
We made it with time to spare! It was such a huge blessing!
At 10:30 PM we gratefully landed in Denver.
Our luggage didn't, of course. It was still in Miami. We went to their baggage claim office and filed a claim. It came to our house the next night- we were so grateful, and so incredibly impressed with Delta. They had actually given us a hotel voucher for Miami, even though the delays were weather related. They had the free snack cart. They were easy to text with to make multiple changes to our flight so we could get home. Then, getting our baggage delivered TO OUR HOUSE was easy and painless. They were in constant communication with us.
To put it bluntly, they were wonderful. We are so grateful we were flying with Delta!
