Who is going to tell Delta that the world has moved on from Chardonnay. In the 25 years I have been traveling professionally, Delta has offered a single white wine selection on their flights. Heavy, oaky, syrupy, 1980’s style Chardonnay. In that time the Pinot Grigio revolution has swept the nation, then the light and crisp Sauvignon Blanc’s hit the scene; now a myriad of delicate and delicious rosé wines are making their way into US markets. But Delta is holding steady with their Chardonnay. Someone needs to tell them.
At the Crown Room in Detroit’s ‘A’ terminal. It’s huge and as always, is overcrowded. But free drinks and snacks and a place to sit and work/read/write for a bit is welcome.
The wifi password for the Crown Room is ‘happy’. Who the hell is Delta to be forcing their positivity on to me?
Good visit with the family. I’ve been down about every 3 weeks or so for the past couple of months. Huge T-Day dinner at mom’s. Mom, Dad, Shannon, Trent, Terri and Meggie. Larry was at Melissa’s brother’s house but they came after and we played euchre and sequence and snacked on pies and rolls with turkey until around 11:00. My family is so fucking fun it’s criminal. We just always are laughing and goofing. Just the occasional break to get Ed whipped into a frenzy about some social injustice or another. We poked a lot of fun yesterday at Trent—as he tries his best to defend Trump and Republicans against an overwhelming onslaught of common sense.
We drove over to look at Larry’s house in the woods–it’s coming along. Will suit him nicely when finished I think.
My last trip to Perry Country was a whirlwind. I picked up Terri and we headed to Newark where she had a lead on some free or very cheaply priced restaurant equipment. She and Larry were still looking for supplies for their someday to be opened bistro. Just as it is nearly impossible to turn down free drinks in 1st class on a plane, even at 9am, it is impossible to turn away from the offer of free restaurant equipment. So for $200, we loaded up enough dishes, silver, and glasses to feed the army that invaded at Normandy. A truckload, a 10’ trailer, and my car filled to the brim. They bought a nice slicer for $200 and the chef threw in everything else we could get in our rigs. He introduced himself as ‘Chef Robert’. Not Robert, but ‘Chef Robert’. I found that hilarious for some reason and poked a little fun at him, but he just stared blandly at me without a hint of a smile.
Terri and I arrived a few minutes early and tried a little of Chef Robert’s menu items. Not bad. We also had bloody Mary’s which were pretty good. Not spicy enough for Terri, but nothing is.
We left with so much gear that it literally will not fit into the tiny 400sf space they are using for the bistro.
On the way home, Melissa drove my car and I rode with Larry and Terri and Dad in Larry’s truck. Terri sat in the middle and Larry drove. Dad seemed small in the back seat, surrounded by mountain of tools, glassware, and general supplies. I remember when he seemed so much bigger than life—so many years ago when our physical statures were reversed. I think his presence was a little exaggerated when we were young because he wasn’t around much so we never quite got used to him being there. He was mostly there at dinner time, but we never really saw him much otherwise.
On the drive home, we cracked each other up, talking overly loud so Dad could hear in the back.
We always have fun in our family. Not sure how that happened, but it’s a treasure.
We got up Friday morning early, had a quick breakfast and by 8:30 I was on the road. Got home, grabbed a few things and took an Uber to the airport for journey from CLE > DTW > LHR.
Every day, thousands of visitors arrive in London from North America. The planes land mostly between 6am and 9am. So then, we go to our hotel where our room is not ready and we sit, dead as zombies from the overnight flight, waiting for our rooms. Yesterday I got to my hotel (Rubens at the Palace) at 8:00am. I got in to my room only at 1:30. In between I went for some walks, had a lot of coffee, read a bit and mostly just tried to stay awake. By now you think the hotels would have come up with some clever ideas to get rooms ready earlier. But they don’t seem too bothered even while their lobby is full of people sleeping on dining tables and couches.
I finally got into my room about 1:20. Showered, napped a little and felt righted.
The Martini Tales 