Summer Vacation - Day 1

Its a long way to England...but the trip just got longer thanks to a violent summer storm in Atlanta which closed the airport for almost 2 hours. Do you know how many flights go into and out of Atlanta in 2 hours? Lots...and as I sat in the terminal at Yeager Airport in Charleston, I was assured that I would make my flight to Manchester England with no problem. "Your airplane is circling the airport - unable to land because of the ground delay." Well, okay...but I don't live that far away from the airport - I could go home and sleep in my own bed instead of getting stuck in Atlanta for 24 hours. With the reassurance from the Delta rep...I boarded the flight to Atlanta. I should have stuck with my own instinct...my flight to Manchester left town before I ever set foot in Atlanta. What a nightmare...I had to wait over two hours in line [with scores of tourists in the same predicament as me] to rebook my international flight. By this time it was past 10pm and I left the airport to find transportation to the hotel which the airline graciously booked for me but declined to pay for! Another 2 hour wait [with even MORE tourists who were by this time tired and disgruntled with the haphazard method of finding the shuttle to a specific hotel.] Obviously, my hotel was one of the least efficient...not enough buses etc...I waited and waited and waited. It was 12:30am by the time I got to the hotel.