My flight back from Seattle was absolutely flawless. Seriously. We left on time, there were no issues in the air, and we arrived a bit early. Really, there’s not much more I could have asked for, other than getting upgraded again. That didn’t happen, but I had the exit row seat right where the door is, so I had tons of room in front of me. I got one of the cheese and fruit plates, which I’ve gotten before on US Airways and enjoyed. This one was also fine, but amongst the strawberries, one of them was visibly moldy. The other ones were perfect though, and also ripe. Everything else was fine too.

I also started reading another food related book, Cod. It’s all about the history of cod. Who knew this fish had such a tumultuous and fascinating history? It’s a quick read, and a pretty small and short book, so if you end up happening by it some time, give it a whirl! So the next time you have some fish and chips made of cod, you might appreciate it a little more.

So I just went another work trip to Seattle and had the worst flight experience ever. Yes, I said ever. In all my years of flying, I’ve experienced cancellations and delays to no end, but this one blew my mind. I was supposed to get to seattle at 6:55PM. I arrived at 1:30AM. In all, I boarded the plane twice and exited the plane twice. Yes, it was only one flight. I guess I shouldn’t complain, since we did eventually make it, even if 6 1/2 hours later. So during the first stint on the plane, where we probably waited for several hours, I finished reading the Sushi Economy. It was an excellent book and it makes me think just a bit more every time I have sushi now. It’s pretty complex and amazing how that tuna lands on your plate. All I had to eat were a bag of chips and a little biscotti. And this is only because I happened to be in first class. The coach people got bubkus.
After being 6th in line for takeoff, then having to go back to the gate, getting off the plane, and getting back on, it got to be so darn late, 9PM actually, that everyone was cranky and starving. And on a Sunday night at 9PM in PHL Terminal A, there isn’t much foodage to be had. So I ended up going to some horrible place and picking up a wrap that was who knows how old, some fruit salad, and a tastykake pie. Ok, this pie was gross. I remember liking these back in the day, but I guess my palate has changed. The fruit salad was also terrible. The wrap actually was a nice surprise. It wasn’t the greatest, but it was definitely more than meets the eye. You’d think it was just a boring turkey wrap, but it was more like a thanksgiving wrap. There was turkey, some cranberry type of spread, and brie cheese! If it wasn’t for the fact that it was super old and the lettuce wilted and brown, the rest of it was quite fine. The brie was a lovely touch!
Finally, probably at about 10 or 10:30 or so, we actually took off. Once airborne, the flight was flawless. It’s just the taking off part that always gets you. Much of the second hunk of waiting time was due to waiting for catering. Again, since I was in first class, I did get fed a real meal. Coach people, if they were still hungry, could purchase a meal. Man, if I was in coach, and I had to purchase a meal after waiting for 6-7 hours, I would have blown my friggin my top. Anyhoo, I was lucky. It was a simple fetuccini alfredo with some roasted red peppers. There was optional salmon, but most of us opted out of it. It was fine! The salad was fine too and the warm roll was really good.
And man, they really did it again with their cookie. I don’t know who makes these or what recipe they use, but it’s so good! And they serve it to you warm and ooey gooey with the chocolate. Maybe if they kept on giving these to me the whole entire flight, I could have possibly forgotten about that unacceptably long delay, but I don’t think so. Excuse me while I write my formal complaint letter…

I had a layover in Denver and I almost got stuck there. I was so close to being very depressed about this. Luckily, the mechanics saved the day and we did end up taking off. Before we did, I had plenty of time to eat. Way too much time actually. They actually have a decent array of food options at the Denver airport, and I ended up going to this itza wrap! itza bowl! place and got a teriyaki bowl. It was brown rice with some steamed veggies and chicken with some sauce poured over it. Pretty simple really. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t that great either. The rice and veggies and sauce were fine, but the chicken was blah. Again, similar to my Boston’s chicken that was in my salad, this chicken was really blah. It seemed boiled again. It would have been so great if it had actually been grilled with some teriyaki sauce. While I was there, I also got a fruit cup to go. I got to enjoy this on my flight home. This was a surprisingly good fruit cup. Everything was ripe and fresh. The coolest thing about it was that the cup the actual fruit came in, it was made from corn! Ok, so I couldn’t eat the cup, but because it was made from corn, it was biodegradable and compostable. Cool, huh? I thought so. I also started reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love. Yeah, I know, I’m super late on reading this best seller, but it’s better late than never. The book is very entertaining, especially the first third which is dedicated to her time in Italy, where pretty much all she did was stuff her face. Sounds like a dream!