New Year’s Day started off nippy and sunny, a perfect setting for my wedding to a wonderful man. We married at our home in the presence of just a few family and close friends with my new brother-in-law officiating. Champagne toasts followed the short ceremony, topped off with a New Year’s Day brunch at our local club. All in all, a delightful and intimate start to our marriage.
We should have known better.
No one ever thinks that world events will interrupt one’s life even though history is replete with examples of just that. Certainly, Dennis and I were no different. So, when we woke up on January 3 and headed to the airport for our honeymoon flight to St. Thomas, the invasion in Venezuela never crossed our minds. Well, that’s not exactly true – Dennis wondered if there would be a problem, but when we arrived at the Norfolk airport for our flight to Dulles (and then on to St. Thomas), it was business as usual at the United counter.
We had a pleasant, short flight to DC. Yes, we thought, this is going to be a great trip. That sentiment was short-lived, however, when we got to our gate at Dulles and saw the sign “delayed”. If only that had been true. Within 20 minutes the announcement came: “the FAA has closed the airspace in the Eastern Caribbean due to concern of retaliatory strikes resulting from the Venezuela situation.” And to add insult to injury, we were told that United “might” be able to get us on a flight on Monday. Today was Saturday and we had only clothes for warm weather.
What to do?
What we did was retrieve our luggage, rent a car and drive back to Newport News. It was a very long day.
In all honesty, not everything was a disaster. A disappointment, yes, but a disaster, no. We spent a few days at the lovely Williamsburg Inn and both United and our hotel in St. Thomas gave us a full refund. We found a great French restaurant in Williamsburg, got a couple’s massage at the Inn’s spa, and otherwise enjoyed our time. But, St. Thomas it was not.
Truly, I don’t have room to bitch. God has gifted me with a love I never expected in my 70’s. I don’t need St. Thomas, the Williamsburg Inn, or any other locale to improve the perfection of being married to this man. Still...St. Thomas would have been nice.
