Our Wedding Trip--Day One

Hello from Mr. and Mrs. Michael Elliot.

Elisabeth is in the process of changing her name. We've been told that this is A) really old-fashioned and B) nice. Although Elisabeth is melancholy about no longer carrying her father's name, she feels very right about taking her husband's name. After all, she was Graham for the first fifty years of her life and she'll be Elliot for the next fifty.

We left for Boston on Thursday morning, June 10. Our plans to get some sleep before the Red Van picked us up at 3:15am didn't work out so we were pretty punchy. You can pick out the Virgin America counter by the loungy little red LED lamps, and it wasn't even open when we got there. We both use CPAPs for sleep apnea which, according to law, cannot be counted as carry-on bags because they are medical equipment. Elisabeth is all over this idea--she gets to carry-on her purse and her Land's End briefcase along with her CPAP case, which also has just enough room for a little cosmetics bag. Michael, on the other hand, has only his small REI carry-on (with his CPAP in it) and he insists on carrying Elisabeth's CPAP bag just in case an airline official gets huffy about E's three carry-ons. Always avoid bureaucracy when you can.

Like the counter, the plane wishes it was a Las Vegas ultralounge. The lighting alone seems intent on getting you to buy drinks, gamble and pick up babes. Your individual seat monitors even have seat-to-seat chat. VA has pretty good fares as a rule which means of course they charge big-time for everything else. Checked bags ar $25 each--each way, even when you use frequent flier miles (which we did). They charge for headphones to access their extensive entertainment options at your individual seat monitor but you get a choice of red, blue or silver. We brought our own, thanks. There are many movies to choose from--at $8 each and you can't share. Water, juice and soft drinks are free sans peanuts. But you can order peanuts and assorted other snacks and sandwiches for an additional fee. You order them using, yes, your individual seat monitor. Personally, we'd trade a little less self-conscious cool for a little more it's-on-the-house courtesy.

It's overcast throughout the flight so we miss lovely morning-has-broken views of our country. We got our car rental on Priceline as usual and are happy to get National--they always have good, friendly service as well as no-hassle pick-up. Traffic isn't bad at all through Boston's Big Dig. No-frills dinner at the Piccadilly Pub off the Turnpike. We can't check into the timeshare in the Berkshires until the next day so we score a 4-star Sheraton in Springfield on Priceline.  The catch of course with city 4-stars is you pay $10-20 a day for parking. Tonight, we would have been happy with an EconoLodge. We have no need for a sleek lobby or little bottles of stuff--all we want to do is shower and sleep the minute we get there.