Even though I didn’t get to see much of it, I
really enjoyed the craziness that is Austin.
Just the food, drink, and nightlife alone make this city a worthwhile
visit. But, I just scratched the surface
here. The museums, parks, and other
attractions that I didn’t get around to on this trip provide a lot more substantial
context to Austin’s story. I have no
idea when I will return, but it will definitely be for a longer visit combined
with a few days in San Antonio. This
part of Texas is just incredibly beautiful and laid back making it a really
relaxing place to vacation.
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| Austin-Bergstrom International Airport |
Right then, so onto to my flight home. I grabbed the first taxi I could find at the
Hyatt Regency since a lot of conference attendees were also making their way
home around the same time as me. With a
late afternoon flight, I left shortly after 2pm CST. I thought this would leave me plenty of time
to check in until we hit some traffic on IH-35.
Fortunately, it only lasted for a couple of minutes. The ride itself only took about 20 minutes,
so I still had more than enough time to check in for my flight. It was a chilly 6°C despite the sunny skies
appearing above Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. I’m just thankful that I got to experience a
few good days while I was here as it could have been much worse.
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| Austin-Bergstrom International Airport |
Check in took only 5 minutes, which gave me
plenty of time to explore the airport if I wanted to. However, since lunch was provided at the end
of our conference, I was both full and exhausted at this point. There definitely were a few interesting
dining options here, but I decided to wait until I got to Houston to eat as I
had a 2 ½ hour layover there. I did take
advantage of the more liberal liquor laws of Texas, though. You can drink alcohol anywhere you want
within Austin-Bergstrom provided you are at least 21 years of age or older. With that being said, I grabbed one more
local Austin beer for the road – an IPA from Infamous Brewing Company – and just
waited at my gate until boarding. This
IPA was very malty and hoppy with flavours of candied yams, lemon custard, and
pepper.
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| Austin-Bergstrom International Airport |
United Airlines Flight #281 had a formation of
2x2 in Business class with three rows in total.
Economy was in a 3x2 formation with 35 rows in total. I sat in the very back in Seat 38F. Upon takeoff, I was a bit unnerved by the
amount of turbulence we encountered. It
seemed much bumpier than usual and I felt as if the tail end of the plane was
going to snap off for some reason. Yes,
I know that sounds silly. But, I have
been noticing lately how much more sensitive I am to the regular nuances of
flight when I am in these smaller planes now.
It gives you a greater appreciation of what these flight crews have to
deal with on a regular basis.
 |
| A beautiful sunny sky en route to Houston |
With a scheduled flight time of 33 minutes, there
wasn’t much time to enjoy this first segment of the trip home. I ended up drifting in and out of sleep
instead, but woke up around the peak of the flight to this gorgeous sunny
sky. It was a nice sendoff for me from
Texas. We had time for one complimentary
drink and a snack, so I grabbed my usual Mott’s Tomato juice with
pretzels. Upon descent on George Bush
Intercontinental Airport, we experienced a dip in the weather as it was cloudy
and 3°C leaving me unable to see the downtown area of Houston. Despite the inclement weather, we had a very
soft landing. Surprisingly, no one clapped
for this great landing like tradition dictates.
In any case, I was here in Houston with more than a couple of hours to
spare before the second segment of my trip home began.
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| George Bush Intercontinental Airport |
UA 281 – AUS to IAH
Operated by: United Airlines
Aircraft:
Airbus A320 (twin-jet)
Depart: 04:11PM CST – Austin-Bergstrom
International Airport (AUS) – Gate 27
Arrive: 05:21PM
CST – Houston Bush International Airport (IAH) – Gate C4
Flight Time: 1:10; Non Stop Flight – 245 Miles/394
Kilometers; Date: November 13, 2018
 |
| Ember - One of the best Airport Restaurants in North America |
Due to the near fatal mistake I made arriving
to Houston a few days earlier, I decided to find my gate first for the flight
home to Toronto before looking for a place to eat. Fortunately, my gate was still in Terminal
C. So, I didn’t have too far to go
to. This time around, I decided to eat
at Ember. It seemed like a fancier place
than Bam Bam and had way better service.
I’ll write a separate review on this restaurant, but it is one of my
favourite North American airport restaurants to date.
 |
| George Bush Intercontinental Airport |
After finishing my dinner, I still had quite a
bit of time to kill before boarding. Rather
than continue to wait it out at Ember, I decided to make my way near the gate
to see if there was a place to charge my phone before boarding. In fact, there was a whole section of tables
with charging stations where people could also order food and drinks while they
are at it. This also included alcohol,
so I decided to have one more Texan beer as a final send off to this great
State. This time I ordered a Pilsner
from B-52 Brewing Company – a local craft brewery just outside of Houston. It was very light, hoppy, and crisp. Not bad for this style of beer!
 |
| Departure information for United Airlines Flight #2420 |
United Airlines Flight #2420 had a 2x2
formation with 4 rows in Business Class with a 3x2 formation in Economy. The Captain announced that the expected
flight time would be a total of 2 hours, 24 minutes with tailwind. This time around I was willing to pay for the
inflight entertainment system. However, I couldn’t reach down to
plug in my ear buds to watch movies. And
I couldn’t ask the elderly Indian man beside me to move so I could
plug them in because there was a severe language barrier here. So, I ended up sleeping for most
of the flight against my better judgment. Not much else to discuss about this flight aside from the rough turbulence we experienced just before landing in Toronto. Everyone was getting tossed around like we
are all riding bumper cars. It was just
a terrible experience. Aside from that, I
was happy to be home, but a little sad as this would be my last flight for 2018.
 |
| Descending upon Toronto |
UA 2420 – IAH to YYZ
Operated by: United Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 (twin-jet); Seat: 24A
Cabin: First
Class – Dinner; Business – Dinner; Economy – Food for Sale
Depart: 07:48PM CST – George Bush Intercontinental
Airport (IAH), Gate C3
Arrive: 11:56PM
EST – Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), Gate 193
Flight
Time: 3:08; Non Stop Flight – 1380 Miles/2221 Kilometers; Date: November 13,
2018
