~Sunday~ I used the alarm clock on my BlackBerry for the first time, and it woke us up at 8:30. We were going to stop by Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast on the way to the airport, but Lisa remembered the complimentary hotel breakfast that went until 9:30, and we ate that instead.
There was a completely inane talk show on the television in the breakfast area, in which the hostess—who instantly grated on my nerves—tried unsuccessfully to banter with some guy—also part of the show who was sort of in the audience with headphones on—and in a way reminded me of Paul Shaffer on Letterman—the role he plays, not in terms of looking like him.
I thought, “This is so pathetic. How can people watch this stuff?” I made a mental note of the host’s name so that I could Google her to mention here, but can now only remember “Bonnie.” A quick search of “Bonnie talk show host cable” yielded this article: Final episode of “Bonnie Hunt” airs today. There is a God.
We checked out of the hotel without incident and stopped to gas up on the way to the airport. I’ve never had a rental car place tell me before when electing to fill up the car myself before bringing it back, “Fill it up at a gas station within 10 miles of the airport and bring us the receipt.” Of course, I complied.
On the short ride to the airport, I asked Lisa what her favorite moment of the weekend was, and after some contemplation and pretty much not being able to narrow it down to one by either one of us, we each shared two:
- Hers
- That moment seeing her son Christopher’s hair in Uncle Rene’s wavy hair when she first saw him
- Feeling the tangible love of the Lachapelles
- Mine
- That kiss on the cheek from my cousin Bobby
- Being a part of the entire weekend, including seeing my aunt, uncle, and cousins again, and meeting my cousin’s children
We arrived at the airport right at 10:00, and since Lisa’s flight to Atlanta was leaving at 10:55, I dropped her off at Delta Airlines, and then went to return the car. I was going to try and meet her at her gate, but since her flight was supposed to start boarding at 10:25 and it was doubtful that I could return the car, check in for my own flight, get through security, and make it to her gate before then, we said our goodbyes then.
I watched the guy returning his car before me and noted that attendant asked him if he’d filled up the car within ten miles of the airport, to which the guy replied in the affirmative and for which he was taken at his word. When the attendant asked me, I handed him my receipt. Don’t ask me to follow a process for nothing.
I arrived at my gate at about 10:40 for my 12:00 flight, and I found a plug and fired up my laptop, thrilled to find free wireless in the Ft. Myers airport. After about ten minutes, I looked up, and who should be walking to the seats just in front of me, but Bobby and Pam! Their flight back to Providence was laid over in Charlotte, too. Sweet!
After they finished their breakfast, or early lunch, we had a nice chat until it was time to board. They sat three rows ahead of me, Bobby in the same aisle seat I was in, with Pam across from him in the aisle seat on the opposite side. In Charlotte, they deplaned first and at the arrival gate, waited to say goodbye to me. Good people.
I only had a 40-minute layover, and I grabbed a sandwich at Burger King on the way to the departing gate for the Raleigh-Durham flight. Their flight to Providence wasn’t until 4:00, and I presume that they spent their longer layover time in the US Airways Club.
In Raleigh, Joe was waiting for my arrival call at the airport Sheetz, where he’d been for only a few minutes, en route home from his weekend spent in Charlotte. We went to his house, where my car was, and after having a couple of Bloody Marys and firming up our plans for the evening, I headed home.
On the way, I checked in by phone with Lisa just to confirm that all had gone smoothly with her flights and to see if she was “out on the boat” yet, enjoying her return home. Before we hung up she said, “You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about the feeling that we both experienced this weekend, that tangible feeling from the Lachapelles, and I have a theory as to what it might be.”
“Oh yeah?” I said. “Do tell!”
“I think it might be that we both felt total acceptance from them. What do you think of that?”
After a little thought—about my being gay and her being adopted and the feeling of being “outsiders” that can come with being each of those—I replied, “I think you may have hit the nail on the head.” I did feel completely accepted there, and I’m so grateful for that.
Joe and I met out later at The Borough, where we had dinner and a few drinks before heading over to Flex for scareyoke. It was pretty festive there, as tomorrow is a holiday, and it just kept getting busier as the night went on.
At some point, I introduced myself to “Kelly,” who was standing next to me and billed himself as “looking for talent for Carnival Cruise Lines.” And a little later, the three of us, and Paul (the Michael Bublé, Frank Sinatra, and “Fever” singer), left Flex and went over to Legends, where the “talent scout” announced that he’d “forgotten his wallet” and “wondered if anyone would cover his cover charge.”
We caught the tail end of the drag show there, but truth be told, I didn’t see very much of it. I spent some time talking to David (Santiago’s former partner) and at one point I asked him about a friend of his named Tara and he told me enough interesting stuff about her that I want to Google her to see what’s up with her. I have an e-mail in to him to remind me of her last name.
And finally, at one point in the evening out in the patio area of Legends—for the second time in as many weeks—someone came up to me and asked me if I had a blog on LiveJournal! It was schleppn02, who’s been following my blog for a while now and threatening to introduce himself to me in person, and I’m glad that he finally did. 🙂 Nice to meet you, my friend!