After another good night sleep in a large king size bed and
a complimentary breakfast it was about time to leave the hotel. I took the
shuttle back to the airport terminal and transferred to the MARTA train. I rode
the subway for only one station until College Park. There I transferred again
to bus 172 for which I had to wait about 20 minutes. The ride on the bus took
only about 10 minutes. I got off at Delta Blvd home of one of the largest air
carriers, Delta Airlines. I headed straight to the gate just to be advised that
the entrance of the Delta Heritage Museum was around the corner. Around the
corner was about a mile away and there was no sidewalk. I had to walk down the
street with all my baggage at 30 degrees and bright sunshine. This country
certainly is only designed for cars! Also at the museum’s gate I was greeted by
a surprised security guard who perhaps had never before seen somebody arriving
by foot to the museum. Nevertheless, I got access to the museum. The exhibition
was amazing, among many other airline related artifacts they also had a fully
restored Boeing 767-200 on display which visitors could enter. The interesting
story behind this particular aircraft is that it was actually bought by Delta’s
employees in 1982 and handed over to the airline as a gift. Delta had for the
first time in its company history run into a crises and its employees had stood
together and helped the carrier out of the crises by purchasing a brand new
aircraft. After 25 or so years of service the aircraft had been fully restored
and received its original color scheme featuring its name again the Spirit of
Delta. I then got myself some nice souvenirs in the museum shop before
literally hitting the road again and getting back to the bus stop on Virginia
Boulevard. I took the bus 172 and MARTA back to the airport terminal and
finally checked in my baggage and had then lunch before entering the airport
security screening. After standing in line for about an hour and going to an
annoying process of screening and scanning I was happy that this was the only
flight on this entire trip. I only chose to fly from Atlanta to Miami because
the train connection from New Orleans to Miami had been interrupted since
Hurricane Katrina and getting from New Orleans to Miami required a quite large
detour. Nevertheless, I was glad that I had included Atlanta into this trip, a
city I had really enjoyed visiting. I made my way to concourse C where my
departure gate Charlie 12 was located. Luckily I had arrived at the airport
early but even though there wasn’t much time left anymore to discover the
terminal before it was time to board the aircraft. Checking in early had paid
off as I could board the aircraft among the first ones securing myself a nice
window seat on the right side, giving me a good view on the wing and the
airport during take-off. This was my first experience with Southwest Airlines.
I always wanted to experience how it is to fly with Southwest as I had heard so
many different things about this airline. The experience was good, the service
was friendly and there were many extras network carriers do not offer any more
on domestic flights such as free bags, complementary drinks and snacks as well
as free Wi-Fi. The flight was short and we arrived almost 30 minutes ahead
schedule. Well done Southwest! I got my baggage quick and was already on the
way to the bus stop at the time when we were supposed to be landing in Fort Lauderdale.
It took me a while to find out where the public bus was leaving from and in the
end I almost missed it but fortunately the driver still saw me running up and
held the bus for me. It was quite a ride from Fort Lauderdale International
Airport down to Miami Beach. Altogether it took almost three hours on the
public bus and I had to switch buses one time. Luckily the hostel had provided
clear instructions which buses to use and where to board them. In the end the
second bus dropped me right in front of the hostel which was very convenient.
Also I had a nice view from the bus going down all the way by the coast. After
spending such long hours on the train a three hour bus ride didn’t seem long
anymore to me. I checked in and was soon in my room. I met my roommates, four
travelers from Australia, really friendly people. I went out for some dinner
and for a short walk to the beach which was really close, less than 100 meters
away from the hostel.
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| Entrance of the Delta Heritage Museum |
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| Spirit of Delta |
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| Atlanta International Airport |
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