#funwitha

[sandjsbeachbumbonanza]

Day 153 – Greenville and dinner with A

We touched down in Chicago in the early morning. There were some peculiar sights. As we were deplaning, we were met by several plain clothed men, who were checking passports. As soon as they saw our blue passports, they waved us through. We did not have to show our health attestations or negative COVID tests. This was a bit surprising.

On our way to passport control, we passed a group of more than 100 people in wheelchairs being cordoned off. They appear to have gotten off a flight from India and it looked like they were going to be quarantined, though we are not sure where.

We were surprised that most people from our plane were going to the green card holder / ESTA line. Only a few people seemed to be going to the US citizens line, so we got through very quickly. While the very serious looking passport control guy was looking at our passports, S joked that his hair was a lot shorter back then. He joked back that J’s hair was also a lot darker back then. He did this with a completely deadpan expression. It was hilarious.

We grabbed our bags, which came off quickly, and headed to baggage recheck. This was just a lady standing next to a belt. We had to take a shuttle bus from the international arrivals terminal to the main American terminal. We made a beeline for the Admirals Club lounge. The international lounge was shut, so we headed to the domestic lounge. J was hankering for some American fast food, so she left S at the lounge and headed to McDonald’s. She learned that what used to be a $1.99 breakfast meal is now a $10 breakfast meal.

Our layover was pretty short, so before we knew it, we had to board our plane for Charlotte. The domestic flight seemed a lot more draconian than we remembered. J got asked to put her mask on between sips of her drink. The flight attendant seemed to be pretty stroppy and preferred sitting on her flight attendant chair looking at her phone to actually serving passengers. We were surprised that no snacks were offered in First Class.

Once we landed in Charlotte, we had a bit of a faff finding our luggage as the baggage collection system isn’t very straightforward. After we found our bags, we met our driver. He had a Lincoln Towncar in which he was able to fit all of our bags in the trunk. We had a comfortable drive to Greenville and checked into our room at the Hyatt. It is a very oddly laid out room, but has enough space for us. It was clear the room had not been occupied for a while as the air conditioner was billowing out hot air and the phones were broken.

Ashley met us a short while later. She took us on a quick driving tour of central Greenville. We then headed to a very early dinner at Willy Taco, a Mexican restaurant. We sat outside and had tacos and an amazing dish called the ‘Tres Amigos’. This was thin corn chips with salsa, queso and guacamole dips. The queso was incredible. The portion sizes were so generous that S could not finish his second taco because he had filled up on chips and dip. J also struggled to finish her salad. We had a lot of fun catching up with A and talking about her plans for her new house. We headed back to the hotel early as A has to teach school in the morning.