Our weekend started out on a positive note on Friday night with a casual dinner. We spent most of the early evening setting up our living room (we bought a chair and TV stand from HomeGoods!) and ended up scrapping our plans for a nicer date night in favor of grabbing some comfort food at a casual local barbeque restaurant.
Mac’s Speed Shop was highly recommended to us and it didn’t disappoint. We loved the upbeat, friendly atmosphere and had some fabulous pulled pork and cornmeal hush puppies. (The hush puppies were ridiculously delicious and came with honey butter that was perfectly sweet and creamy!)
After dinner, we made our way to Davidson and split a cookie sundae from Ben & Jerry’s!
We ate it outside while listening to live music coming from the back patio of Summit Coffee. It was such a gorgeous evening and there was a slight chill in the air that makes me think crisp autumn temperatures may be on the horizon.
Saturday
On Saturday, I was up early because I had a day of travel ahead. I gave Sadie some love before leaving but she refused to acknowledge me since she could tell I was saying goodbye.
What a stinker.
My Saturday did end up being a day of travel, but I never ended up at my intended destination.
I was supposed to be leaving on a week-long fitness retreat press trip to Nelson, British Columbia with Mountain Trek but after arriving at the Minneapolis airport for my layover, I realized I forgot my passport. I panicked and called my contacts at the resort and the PR agency, embarrassed and totally flustered. I could picture my passport on the kitchen counter as I spoke to them (why I left it on the counter and didn’t pack it in my bag, I’ll never know!) and we talked about many different ways I could possibly make it on the trip (Ryan overnighting my passport, me staying a few nights in Washington and renting a car, etc.) but in the end it was decided that I should just head back to Charlotte. (There were major logistical issues with the shuttle that was supposed to take me and the other guests on a four-hour drive from Spokane, Washington to Nelson. The shuttle only leaves on Saturdays and I would’ve jeopardized everyone’s trip if I went without a passport, among other things.)
I ended up spending the rest of the day in the Minneapolis and Atlanta airports feeling absolutely awful about my mistake. I am obviously incredibly disappointed and bummed about missing the trip since blogging about travel and fitness are two of my favorite things but I am hoping to at least be able to share some of the healthy recipes or workouts from the Mountain Trek team with you guys in the future. I definitely owe a big thank you to Mountain Trek for being so understanding throughout my whole embarrassing debacle.
Two random things I must share from my travels: Everyone (honestly, every single person) I met at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport was so friendly. And I must give a big shout out to Tyrese and Sue from Delta whose customer service was fabulous throughout the whole ordeal. They were both so upbeat, kind and patient and I felt fortunate to have them working with me to change all of my flights and get me back to Charlotte before 10 p.m. It was a mess and I am grateful I had such wonderful people helping me figure everything out when I was feeling so embarrassed and flustered.
Sunday
Sunday was quite a bit more relaxing than Saturday! Since I basically cleared my schedule for the week, Ryan and I had a Sunday with absolutely no plans ahead of us when we woke up. We spent most of the day running house-related errands. For those of you who said that we’d be living at home improvement stores after we closed on our house, you could not be more correct. We’ve been to Lowe’s nearly four times every week!
We also made our way to IKEA and bought a few things. (A quick side note: I cannot tell you how awesome it is to live near so many stores – like IKEA and others – again. I feel so spoiled!) Our day concluded with a sushi dinner and an evening walk with Sadie. Nice and relaxing!
Question of the Morning
- Have you ever experienced a major travel fail like forgetting your passport or something similar? Please tell me I am not alone!
- Can your pets tell when you’re going somewhere? Do they give you the cold shoulder like Sadie?
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Whenever I’m leaving, he will just sit and stare at me. He won’t come when I call him either, lol.
I live in Minneapolis (about 4 miles from the airport, actually)! We ARE very friendly. It’s not just a stereotype of “Minnesota Nice.” It’s true, I’m proud to say! 🙂
Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry that happened to you! I totally would have cried in the airport 🙁
I’m TERRIFIED of forgetting my passport when I travel, I check a bazillion times to make sure I have it. Oof.
Quincy gives me the sad face every morning and it takes him a solid hour or more to love me again when I come home! Also, excellent book choice! “Where’d you go, Bernadette?” starts a little slow, but i ended up LOVING it.
Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! What a stressful day for you! Travel screw-ups are seriously no fun. No you are not alone…years ago I boarded a plan in Atlanta headed to Denver, and we had a layover on the way. We were allowed to get off the plane and walk around the airport during the layover (we were taking the same plane to Denver). I left my luggage on board and brought only my purse. I returned an hour later to an EMPTY waiting area and gate, being told the plane already left! I was going to board at 11:00am Denver time instead of east coast time. So my luggage took off, and I was stuck. SOOO embarrassing and totally humbling…
Nelson, BC is my hometown!! I hope you’ll have the opportunity to take another trip one day!
Let’s see….as a grown gal I’ve done the following moves
– Charlottesville, VA to Atlanta, GA (law school to my attorney life)
– ATL apartment to house outside the city (Avondale Estates; bought a house after renting an apt for a year)
– GA to Quincy, MA (Boston area…moved for the Ex)
– MA to outer suburb of Philadelphia, PA (umm, yeah, a stop back “home” in my 30s….)
– Philly to Central PA (a totally nutty move to be with a boy I met 6 weeks prior….luckily it worked out, it’s 3.5y later and and he’s now the Dear Husband)
Random insight — Paperbacks seem so light that I’ve filled up a whole box….yeah, they get heavy after a while!!)
That is horrible but eveything happens for a reason is the way I look at it!
My dogs just get in my suitcase while I’m packing it!!!! Breaks my heart! They freak when they see my suitcase come out!!
Oh my gosh as a flight attendant for delta and based out of Minneapolis I’m so happy to hear you had a great experience and I cannot believe I missed seeing you in the airport. I will be on the lookout for you in Charlotte as it is one of my favorite layovers.
Ah moments like that are the worst- when you realize you’ve done the silliest thing, forgotten something, etc. I’m glad it worked out and you made it home safely!
I live in Spokane!!!! Sorry you missed our little City. It would have been pretty, even if you just drove through it real quick. Well at least you get a week free and clear to do whatever you want! Have fun!
I’m one of your readers from Mpls/St. Paul, and so happy you had a good experience here. Welcome! Too bad it wasn’t more relaxing, and that you weren’t stopping off to visit the state for awhile – the weather was gorgeous here this weekend! So many great things to do here, outdoors-wise (North Shore/Duluth, Boundary waters, rivers/rivers/rivers, lakes/lakes/lakes – a must for you someday), and such a huge arts community here (example: the most theaters per capita in the country outside of NYC)!
You just moved, so don’t feel too bad about forgetting your passport – it’s a lot to plan for one week after closing on a house and moving in! Silver lining – more Lowe’s! I like to think of these things like “meant-to-bes” rather than “wish-it-hadn’ts”. Cheryl Richardson (author) always says, “the universe is conspiring in your favor.” Maybe you’ve been given the gift of some much needed time to grow into your new home.
When I first skimmed past the little thumbnail print of the photo in this post, I thought Sadie was a kid! lol Which I know, she IS, but I thought she might have been a mini human the way she was sitting. lol
Looking forward to seeing you enjoy your new home – good packing tips! 🙂
from the land of 10,000 lakes,
Kim
I haven’t forgotten my passport on a trip where I would need it, but once went to get it out in preparation for a trip and realized it had expired!! No trip for me!
On a Friday afternoon in 2003, my then-boyfriend and I headed to La Guardia for our trip to Tennessee so he could meet my dad. We go to check in, and my name is not on the flight – in fact, I’m not booked on ANY flight on ANY airline out of NY that day. After several minutes of confusion, I was about to get upset so I called my dad and asked him what I should do since of course he’d be waiting for me and worrying in Tennessee when I didn’t show up. He answered his phone saying “hey honey, what’s up – can you make it quick, i’m in a meeting.” I said of course Dad, but ohmygosh my name isn’t showing up as booked on ANY flight out of NY to TN that day.
My dad paused, and then gently said, “that’s because you’re flight is NEXT Friday.”
I showed up to the airport a week early!
A couple of years later, I missed the SAME NY-TN connection – even though I was literally at the gate well over an hour before the flight took off – because I was too busy instant-message-flirting with my new boyfriend to hear the airline announce the flight, board the plane and then even PAGE me in the airport. Humiliating.
I went to Seattle (from Canada, via Detroit) and had my passport … but I forgot my driver’s liscence (and health card so glad I did not get sick or had an accident) and could not get my rental car as a result.
I was staying in the middle of nowhere as it was cheaper and had to go to a wedding in rural Washington — the car would have gotten me around. My cab to the wedding was $300 round trip. And I left my camera in the cab (which got stolen by the next passenger).
EPIC FAIL….my id was on the kitchen counter like yours was.
So sorry to hear about the passport mix up! I luckily have not forgot my password, but my BIL has before and I graciously drove a few hours (halfway point from where he was crossing the border and where I was) to bring it to him! I think because of that I am extra careful now!! Hope you have a relaxing week as a result of the mix up. Too bad you’re missing BC though. I loved it out there when me and my hubs lived there 3 years ago!
Oh no! That sounds horrible! At least you were able to make the best of it with some free time with Ryan!
My dog, Bella, does seem to know when I’m leaving and ignores me like Sadie does with you. 🙁
Oh my gosh girl, I can only imagine that you had a mini heart attack when you realized that you’d forgotten your passport. Major bummer! But what can ya do? You’ll probably be paranoid checking for your passport the next time you travel internationally!
I feel for you SO much, and you handled this with such grace, as you do everything. One of the million reasons you’re my favorite blogger by mile. My fiancé and I are in the process of moving to Charlotte, and when we were visiting to get a feel for the areas, I told him how you all did the same and how I wish we knew more of your thought process with ruling out certain spots because I really trust your judgment! Lol. Anyways, just wanted to say I feel for you here, and you’re spectacular in all you show with grace. All my best!
I know I am a few days behind but I have a similar story.
We live in Europe and decided to visit home to tell my parents I was expecting. Super long story short. When we left to come back to Europe we flew from Indianapolis to Maryland, after we got off the flight I realized I had forgotten MY WHOLE PURSE, to include my wallet (I had my military ID in my pocket) my passport and SOFA pass. (How does that happen I don’t know…) We had to stay in a hotel and miss our flight but the gate agent had booked us on the next day flight.
After getting my purse the next morning we went back to the airport to check in and come to find out that the agent hadn’t booked us at all! Also, the flight was full. We had to get back that night, we went and waited at the gate for an open seat and after buckets of tears my husband went up and told them our story. We ended up on the flight… in business. Best flight ever. I would of rathered have gotten on the original flight but now the running joke in the family is that “Rachel, do you have your purse?”
Oh the memories!!!
I was studying abroad in Paris and as our first trip in Europe my friend and I decided to go to Venice. We had to be up crazy early and take a bus to one of the random Paris airports. It wasn’t until I got there that I realized I’d forgotten my passport…so I took a cab back to Paris, then another cab back to the airport and missed my flight. I called my parents sobbing, I was so upset and embarrassed! So I feel ya! So sorry that happened to you!
Hi!! Are you wearing reeboks in the picture with Sadie? I think those are the same shoes I recently tried on and I loved them! Are they comfortable? Do they hold up well to a day full of walking around? Thanks!! 🙂
Yes!! And yes!!! They are Reebok Skyscapes and are honestly one of my favorite pairs of shoes EVER. They are SO comfy and I’ve worn them walking around ALL day w/o any issues. LOVE them!
I left my drivers license in my car when we were moving cross country. My husband was driving our car and my daughter and I were flying. Needless to say he had to turn around after making it a state away to get my drivers license to me so I could fly. It was beyond embarrassing!
Hi! I’m so sorry to hear about your travel fail /: But I did want to ask you, did you finish the book, “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” I read it and want to hear what you think! I liked it 🙂
Great pictures. It seems the pictures have a happy mood.