Classic Trip: Wrapping it All Up With a Bow...and a Fake Evacuation: St. Croix, The Finale

There is is again. Barely audible but after craning for a few minutes, the message is clear...

"Attention. An emergency has occurred. Please evacuate the terminal area immediately."

We had gotten to the airport extra early at the advice of American Express so we could deal with the rental car damage with the local Hertz office. Didn't really need the extra time, it turns out, but we're still here in this sleepy, little airport.

There's us and one other family waiting in the terminal. Most of the airline counters aren't even open yet.

"Did you hear that?" I ask the dad of the other family. We all stay silent and listen again...

"Attention. An emergency has occurred. Please evacuate the terminal area immediately."

Yes, that's exactly what it said but none of the workers are paying it any heed. We decide to move ourselves and our luggage back outside to the sidewalk.

The alert keeps playing but, so far, there's only us and the other family of travelers doing anything about it. Everybody else at the airport ignores it.

Seeing a policewoman, the mom in the other family goes to ask what's going on and what we should do. The cop listens closely, says she'll find out.

A minute later, we're told that the alarm company is working on the system and they're testing it. Ignore it.  

It's a little disconcerting but we do. The alarm goes off several times that day and we decide we'll start moving when we see the airport workers and security move.

Now that we're here, we've got time to think back on the week. While I'll always remember the beauty of St. Croix, the food, the drink, and the fun activities; what I'll cherish most is the people. It's always best when the locals treat you like one of their own...

A woman on our first day just relaxing on the waterfront, texting on her iPhone, engaging us in a long conversation ending with "I hope you enjoy my island."

The server at the roadside burger shack who encounters us later in the week, "it's you!" and asks us how our time on the island is going (I confess, I didn't recognize her but she sure knew us). "Enjoy your time on our island," she exclaims after bidding us farewell.

Melrose Maynard, the busser at the hotel's breakfast bar who introduced himself to us at the beginning of the trip. When I'd see him in the morning and ask how we was doing, he'd always say "top of the mountain!" with a big grin on his face.

Nadia, the front desk manager who made sure we had a room suitable for our needs, especially when I was so worried we wouldn't get one.

The bartender at Captain Morgan Distillery who dished on moving here from San Francisco to be with her dad and told us about her housewarming party, ending with...of course..."enjoy your time on our island."

The Hertz manager, when confronted with the car damage I inflicted..."no problem, we'll just fill out this form and you'll be on your way. Did you enjoy your time on my island?"

Yes, I assure him.

"I'm glad...I hope to see you here again."

I hope to see you all again too.

I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as we did.

Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Classic Trip: Bad Omens and Good Luck in the Virgin Islands...St. Croix, Part 2

We’re on the runway at Miami International, engines powering up, about to take the final flight to St. Croix when the pilot comes on the intercom as the engines wind down.

“Folks, we’re going to have to return to the gate. The second button on the radio is not working and FAA regulations say we can’t fly without it. Hopefully, this will be a quick fix and we can be in the air shortly.”

Uh oh, I’m already nervous about this trip, booking an unbelievably cheap trip to St. Croix in the U. S. Virgin Islands and crossing my fingers, hoping that the hotel will really have an accessible room for us. Is this a bad omen?

We crawl back to the gate. A mechanic soon appears up front and walks out with a box. We can see him get in a truck on the tarmac and drive away.

“Folks,” (they always start that way…a real folksy, aw shucks, wouldn’t you just know it, kind of quality in their voice) “the mechanic has just taken the entire radio and is heading to supply to see if they have a replacement in stock. We’ll let you know what happens as soon as we can.”

Our 4:20 flight is supposed to have us on the island at 7:00pm. Even though our package came with taxi vouchers to and from the airport, I have decided to rent a car so we can explore the island at our leisure. Besides, it just might give us somewhere to sleep if no room is available…will the Hertz office still be open when we get there? They close at 9:00pm.

Wouldn’t you know it…15 minutes later, the truck returns. The mechanic plugs in a new radio and leaves the plane…a hero to cheers from the main cabin.

“Folks, this is your captain speaking…that has to be the quickest repair in my history of flying planes. We’ll close the doors and be in the air as quick as we can.”

Just a little over an hour late, we’re wheels up from Miami. Now, I’m just wondering if I’ll make it to the car rental counter in time.

We touch down in St. Croix at 8:20pm. Since we need the aisle chair, we have to deplane last. You never realize how slow people can get off of a plane when you’re in a hurry and have to wait. You’re sitting there thinking “pull your suitcase, don’t push it; did you not know the plane landed? You’re just now getting your case out of the overhead?”

Sometimes, I'm not just thinking it...

St. Croix is too small for jetways, so we have to deplane using a very slow lift. We’re on the tarmac at 8:45pm. The plan is for Letty to go to baggage claim while I hustle to Hertz.

Luckily, they’re next door to each other and I make to the counter with a few minutes to spare. Our “minivan” turns out to be a Ford Flex, nice car but a real minivan would work better for us. We’ll make it work.

Letty makes quick work of the luggage and a taxi driver with our name on a board appears. I tell him we don’t need a ride but since we did pay for a voucher, would he mind driving to the Buccaneer and I’ll follow? No problem…we have a lead car to the hotel. Thirty minutes later, we’re there.

I tip the driver and head in…this is my biggest fear. Would we get the room promised? We hand the front desk clerk our voucher, fill out the form, and he hands us the key.

“Your room is just around the corner; would you like me to show you the way?”

Sure, why not? The moment of truth, what would the room be like and how accessible is it?

Four doors down from the main entrance, he opens the door for room 104…or I should say suite 104. There are no steps. There is plenty of room. The bathroom is accessible (tub, shower chair, and grab bars…no roll in here but not necessary for us) or I should say THIS bathroom is accessible. Yes, we have two.

It’s a full suite with a separate bedroom featuring a king-size bed, a huge ocean view terrace, two bathrooms (one accessible), three sinks (one in a separate dressing area), a large walk-in closet, safe, refrigerator, two flat-screen TVs, DVD player, a living room with a day bed couch that Tim will sleep on, a bucket filled with ice and a water pitcher.

Finally, my fears of sleeping in the car or on the beach are subsided. It’s time to enjoy this luxury but low-budget vacation.

It’s been a long, anxious day of traveling so we’ll hit the sack and take up the beautiful island of St. Croix starting in the morning.

Darryl

Copyright 2013 – Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

Travel Fatigue

When you travel a lot like us, at some point you will get it...travel fatigue. Travel is supposed to be fun, fulfilling, educational, eye opening, rejuvenating but sometimes you get to the point where it is almost more work and frustration than fun.

That's the point where I was at recently when I ticked off in my mind all the things that tick me off about travel...

The desk clerk that doubles as the restaurant's chef, has to consult a 'how to' guide to make our meal, take an hour to do it, and still get it wrong.

The many, many times we've had a guaranteed accessible room only to arrive and find there's none available.

The time I had a car rental reservation, started to take an Uber there, only to get a call saying they had no more cars (and pissing off the Uber driver mightily when I cancelled the ride).

The Uber driver who ran a red light and almost got us t-boned.

Airlines that assign us seats way in the back of the plane where Tim has to get bumped and banged up as they drag him on that aisle chair to the back.

Aisle chairs that are not maintained.

Airport ground crew that don't know how to use the aisle chair.

Other passengers cutting in front of you in line when you're trying to get a gate check tag for your chair.

Passengers that show up 10 seconds before they're going to close the plane's door.

When TSA agents try to ignore you because they know they're going to have to take extra time to search you while the rest of your party has already cleared the checkpoint 15 minutes ago.

Non-revenue passengers (i.e., crew members on their vacation) getting to sit in first class while the paying passengers that could be upgraded are crammed into steerage.

When even the Motel 6 is approaching $200 per night.

When you return to your room at 5pm and notice housekeeping hasn't even glanced in its direction.

Ticket sellers that don't tell you about discounts.

Ticket sellers that don't tell you that personal assistants aren't charged for admission.

Accessible seating at events where your view is blocked by columns, overhangs, or other architectural impediments.

Accessible seating at events where you're stuck sitting behind a hundred standing fans.

Rental companies that don't have to provide wheelchair accessible vehicles.

Those few rental companies that do charging about 5 times as much because it's accessible (and no unlimited mileage).

Excursions that charge extra for wheelchair users (a problem in other countries).

Paratransit that is almost impossible to use when normal transit is not accessible.

Hotels thinking that a double bed is big enough for two people.

Hotels where their accessible rooms will only hold two people and you have three.

Missing the time when a hundred dollars a night would net you a pretty sweet room.

Being told something is accessible then "you only have to go up a few stairs."

Hearing "you wheelchair users don't have anymore problems now that the ADA has passed."

Having to hunt down the hotel maintenance person because they remove the power from the hotel's pool lift.

Pets masquerading as service animals.

Parents pretending their little darlings are not misbehaving.

Resorts with a thousand guests and 200 pool or beach chairs.

Getting to a street corner where one side has a ramp and the other side doesn't.

Stadium style seating in theaters.

People looking at you funny because you're filling up two plates at the buffet and you have to explain you're getting a meal for another person that can't do it themselves.

Hotels where the accessible room is in the back, has no view, and is the worst maintained room on the property.

Train platforms that don't match the level of the train doors.

Bus drivers that refuse to operate the perfectly operating wheelchair lift on their bus

Servers in restaurants simply ignoring you.

Having the handicapped parking blocked by non-handicapped drivers.

Having the handicapped parking blocked by the business itself when they are having an outdoor function.

Having the handicapped parking blocked by the armored truck making a pickup.

Loud air conditioners in hotel rooms.

Loud guests in hotel rooms.

Airlines that try to split up your group even when you explain to them that you have a disabled passenger and he needs to have an attendant by his side the entire flight.

Ground crews that don't show up when it's time to board you on the aisle chair.

Paying extra to upgrade to a 'suite' when you find out that the only thing that makes the room a suite is the 3 foot high wall between the bed and the couch.

Large, single rooms being called suites.

Being told just because something's old, like a building with three steps or a train, it can't be made accessible even when you've been to another attraction exactly like it that has been made accessible with a ramp or lift.

Paying full price to go into an amusement park only to find that you can't get on any of the rides there.

Did I miss any?  Now that I've got that off my chest, it's time to plan another trip.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

TRAVEL TIPS: What if there is no accessible transit available?

Though we fly to about half of our destinations, most of our trips turn out to be road trips once we get there.  We'll also end up in places that have no decent accessible public transportation, usually in rural areas.  Places like Montana, Kansas, Maine, etc. 

Watch the Video!

At that point, we recognize that we need to have a rental car.  Accessible vans are available from companies like Wheelchair Getaways and Wheelchair Van Rentals but the cost...with mileage, tax, gas added...can come up to around $200 a day.  That's a big budget buster.

In our case, we decide before we leave if the local transportation at our destination will be friendly for a power chair.  If it is not, or we have any doubt at all, we'll leave the power chair at home and take Tim's manual chair.  When we do that and we need a car, we'll rent a standard car, put the manual chair in the trunk, and Tim will ride in the front seat.

The major drawbacks to this are that a) Tim needs to be lifted in to and out of the car; b) we need to get a large enough car, meaning it costs more than a basic rental; and c) I need to push Tim everywhere...he loses his independence with the manual chair.  The tradeoff is that we are free to come and go as we please (not dependent on transit schedules) and the cost is less than half of the wheelchair van.

(Edited to add that Tim has since acquired a lightweight, folding power chair so he can now have some of that independence back - Ed)

The video above demonstrates how we do this on a trip.  I'm not saying it'll work for all disabled people, but this is how we solve the problem.


-Darryl
Copyright 2010 - Darryl Musick