After five days on Captiva Island, it was time
for me to head back home. It was a
gorgeous sunny day with balmy 24° C weather.
I wish I had a bit more time to enjoy the good weather, but I was okay
not spending extra time on Captiva.
Since my flight wasn’t scheduled until 1:40pm EST, a few of my colleagues
and I drove back together around mid-morning to make sure we got there in time
for check-in. During the hour-long
drive, I tried to take in as much of the scenery as possible. Captiva and Sanibel Islands are certainly
interesting islands that are completely different from each other – Captiva
being more of a sleepy retirement community while Sanibel being a busy beach
destination for tourists.
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| Taking the Sanibel Causeway back to the Florida Mainland |
After a quick stop to buy some gas for our
rental car, we finally arrived at the airport around 11:24am EST. Because Southwest Florida International
Airport is relatively small, check-in with Air Canada was extremely quick for
me. While it should have taken me about
5 minutes, I had to fight for my right to waive the $25 baggage fee as an
Aeroplan Visa card holder. It was a
successful fight and only the second time within the past couple years I have
been a member of this program where this benefit has been honoured.
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| Southwest Florida International Airport |
Security took a bit longer than expected, though. There were essentially two lines passengers
could choose from – TSA Pre-Clearance/NEXUS Pass Holders and regular passengers. Since I don’t travel to the United States
enough to justify paying for an annual NEXUS Pass, I had to wait in line with the
regular passengers. That probably took
me about 10 – 15 minutes to get through.
Not too bad of a wait, but still kind of long for a small International
Airport that doesn’t get the same amount of traffic like the airports in Tampa,
Orlando, Fort Lauderdale or Miami do.
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| Southwest Florida International Airport - Concourse B |
With an hour or so to spare before boarding, my
colleagues and I decided to grab some lunch at Beaches Boardwalk Café as it was
the only restaurant in our Concourse that was available. The only other options we had here were
Burger King and a small bakery. Since I
didn’t take any pictures here, I will summarize my experience instead of
posting a separate “Airport Eats” article.
Beaches Boardwalk Café can accommodate up to 60 – 70 people with some
tables available on the outside of the café – like a pseudo-patio within
Concourse B. I ended up eating a Cobb
Salad to tide me over and washed it down with a pint of Hi 5 IPA brewed locally
by the Fort Myers Brewing Company.
Service was kind of slow due to the lunch hour rush, but the television
sets were tuned into European soccer action to keep me occupied – Spanish
league action if I am not mistaken.
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| Getting ready to depart Southwest Florida International Airport |
Following lunch, my colleagues and I headed
towards Gate B3 only to find out we had been moved to Gate B1 instead. It was literally just two gates over, though,
so not really a big deal for us at all. Even
though we boarded on time, there was a 20-minute delay in departure as the
flight crew had to wait for a few late passengers to arrive. A bit irritating for sure, but beyond my
control, of course. The flight
configuration was 3 x 3 – the same as it was on AC 1234. Luckily, there was no one in the middle seat
and the lady who sat along the aisle moved back a few rows to grab an available
window seat. Bonus! I wasn’t expecting to have the entire row all
to myself for the flight home.
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| One final look of Fort Myers before the journey home |
We took off shortly after 2pm, which kind of
scared me a little as we experienced noticeable turbulence for a few minutes. It was kind of like the experience I had in Orlando
the previous year. Once that subsided, I
decided to watch “Battle of the Sexes” again.
Steve Carrell and Emma Stone put in great performances in this one as
Bobby Riggs and Billy Jean King respectively.
While it is labelled a “black comedy,” I didn’t find it to be that funny
as I did entertaining. The style of
filming was a bit unusual for this one until I realized afterwards that it was
directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Ferris – a famous husband-wife duo who
have directed some of the most memorable music videos of the late 1990s and
early 2000s. I have enjoyed some of
their previous work with the Smashing Pumpkins and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
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| Just some of the in-flight "snacks" I had to pass the time |
I was also kind of hungry at this point. Personally, I don’t believe in buying meals
on North American flights. But since I
wasn’t sure what I was going to have for dinner once I got home, I figured it
was best to eat now rather than risk the chance of hunger later on. Since my flight was already paid for, I
decided to go all out and order a trio combo for about $20 CDN. That included a roast beef panini sandwich, a
cup of chicken noodle soup, and a can of Goose Island IPA. I even asked for complimentary water and tomato
juice, which was a bit ridiculous consider how crowded my table tray was at
this point. No complaints about the
panini or the beer on my end, but the soup wasn’t good at all. You could tell that the Air Canada staff just
poured hot water into the container, but the noodles were still stuck together
when I got it.
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| Flying over Downsview Airport upon our descent on Toronto |
We landed just after 4:30pm EST – about 20
minutes early – as the sun started to set.
While going through Customs was relatively quick and easy, there was a
massive lineup and Baggage Claim due to several planes arriving in Toronto
within minutes of each other. I don’t
think I have ever seen Baggage Claims this busy before. It must have taken me at least 10 – 15 minutes
to wait in line before exiting towards the taxi pickup area. Nevertheless, I had arrived safe and sound
back home wondering when my next trip would be.
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| Beautiful Winter sunset over Lester B. Pearson International Airport |
AC 1234 – YYZ to RSW
Operated by: Air Canada
Aircraft:
Airbus A321-200 (twin-jet); Seat: 38A
Cabin:
Business: Meal / Economy: Food
for Sale
Depart: 01:52PM EST – Southwest Florida
International Airport (RSW) – Concourse B, Gate B1
Arrive: 04:39pm
EST – Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) – Terminal 1, Gate F36
Flight Time: 2:47; Non-Stop Flight – 1240
Miles/1995 Kilometers; Date: January 26,
2018
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