I decided to fly to New York last weekend to visit friends. I have been working in Mississippi and it was a nice break from being away from home and working a lot.

I flew Southwest so I could book without risking losing $$ if I was unable to make the trip due to work or other logistics. Southwest does not fly directly from Jackson to New York, they connect you through their hive at Midway in Chicago.

The trip there went without a hitch. I left Jackson at 7:30am and arrived in New York at 3pm. An hour on the m60 across Queens and into Harlem and I was there.

The food highlight was cake from Kitchenette. I somehow managed to avoid taking a photo of it.

The architecture highlight was photos of Broken Angel:

The story is sad though, take some time to read it.

The trip back, from New York to Jackson was another story. We were delayed at LaGuardia because of a maintenance problem. This caused me to miss my connection from Midway to Jackson. Southwest was not sympathetic. The woman at the counter booked me standby on the first morning flight and gave me the number of the airport hotel. She further told me it was unlikely that I could get my checked bags.

Remember that I didn’t have so much as toothpaste as current travel restrictions exclude anything resembling liquid– toothpaste or plastique, the difference is subtle.

I stopped down at the Southwest baggage office to grovel. They immediately informed me that I should wait at carousel 7, my bags would be up any minute. An hour and a half later I went back and was assured they were coming. An hour and a half after that I went back.. They called down and the person on the other end told them he’d send them right up and they did. This of course makes me wonder why they didn’t call when I first came in 3 hours ago.

I find it amazing that an airline that can book online as efficiently as Southwest, offer refunds and credits without so much as a hesitation can’t seem to manage to put my bag on a conveyor belt in less than 3 hours.

I am told that there is an excellent Mexican restaurant across from Midway. I didn’t get a chance to visit but I will go next time.