Tuesday, it was time to head home. We got up at 5:30, which hurt a lot. We had a quick breakfast in the lobby, checked out, and rolled our bags over to the bus stop. We didn’t have tickets (the buses are cash-only), so we crossed our fingers and hopped nobody was checking. We bought them at the train station, so I guess we paid retroactively.

The train to the airport was delayed, and absolutely packed when it arrived. We had to cram our bags on there, and then were melting in our jackets on the way to the airport. It took about 20 minutes to get there, and then we had to walk over to Terminal B. We were able to get our boarding passes from the machine, but then there was a very long wait at the bag drop. (Still, it was robotic, so that was pretty exciting.)

We passed through customs, but security was at the gate, which was kind of confusing because I wanted to get water. We got coffee and croissants at Starbucks, then went through security and discovered there was a little shop inside the gate area. We got water there, plus some German chocolate to bring home.

Boarding happened quickly, and we had the same exact seats as on our inbound flight, in a 2-seat row. I was incredibly thankful to not have another overnight flight, because they make me miserable. I was able to knit and watch movies (Cabaret – having just been to Berlin, AAAGH! – and Money Monster, which was not great). Dinner was cheese spaetzle, bread, and crackers with Laughing Cow cheese. I started the movie London Falling, but after 20 minutes it was so bad I had to turn it off. I switched to Midnight Special instead, then the Imitation Game, which I liked a lot. 

Nearing the US, we had the usual customs announcement, which we ignored, since we have Global Entry. Then they passed out a weird delicious folded pizza snack and a mini red velvet cupcake. American Airlines, you’re alright.

We landed 20 minutes late in Charlotte, but Global Entry was easy and our bags arrived quickly. We had enough time to use the restroom, fill water bottles, and board the next flight to Miami. That one took forever, too, because we had to circle due to weather. Thankfully, we still had plenty of time to get down to the bus garage portion of MIA and board our tiny plane to Key West.

You know what’s not hard to return home to? This place!