And the trip ends as it began, with rain

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Geo: 41.975, -88.0072

I would like to point out the advantages of staying in a fancy inn as opposed to a chain hotel. One, the bed is super comfortable and the pillows nice and plentiful. Two, very nice toiletries, like bath salts and face wipes. And finally, a more delicious breakfast than you would get at a Holiday Inn. The Portsmouth Harbor Inn serves at 2 course breakfast at 8:30. Breakfast is served at beautiful wooden dining table where all the guests can eat together. There was only one couple staying at the inn besides me so it was a quiet breakfast. The first course was the fruit course and it consisted of a honey baked or poached (I can't remember) plum topped with mascarpone cheese and pistachios. The second course was a bourbon-caramel croissant bread pudding with bacon. Now fancy breakfast is not my thing and I don't really like bread pudding, but this was delicious! I was pretty sure I would not need any lunch.

I had to head out on my way back to Boston for my flight later that day. My plan was to take the coastal highway and see some of the sights in Salem. Well, I got turned around a few times because of signs and Salem was very busy and I couldn't park so I just continued on to the airport and arrived several hours early. That was ok because there was a lot of traffic and it was nice to not be rushed.

The flight back was much smoother than the flight going. After a while, the pilot came on and said "In case you hadn't noticed, we are turning around due to a storm in Chicago." We turned around a few times before being given the ok to keep going. The landing was very smooth, despite whatever storm was in the area. And then we sat and sat. Lightening had caused all the gates to close because it was unsafe for the ground crew to be out and there was a plane at our gate that couldn't leave. We had to wait for the lightening to let up, the gates to reopen and planes to start moving. I think we arrived at the gate a little over an hour late. I wasn't complaining because planes in front of us had been diverted to Milwaukee so at least we were able to land at the right airport! One advantage of Jet Blue is the TV service and having something to do while sitting and waiting. I also was able to get another bag of chips since it was now way past dinner and Jet Blue has free snacks. I don't know if other airlines would have extra food or even make it available.

So the drive home was stormy as was the drive to Maine. But in between was a wonderful vacation filled with great scenery and mostly great weather. I am ready for my next trip!

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