After a few days in Phoenix, it was now time
for me to fly back home.There’s
definitely a lot more to Phoenix to discover than I initially thought that I
will have to come back again at some point in the future.But for now, I hopped into an Uber to make my
way to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.The drive to the airport was actually quite
enjoyable.After telling my driver some
of the interesting things I did in Phoenix, including the Chase Field tour, we got
into a discussion about Major League Baseball.As it turns out, Rene, my Uber driver, was family friends with Joe
DiMaggio's cousins.
Passing Downtown Phoenix en route to Sky Harbor International Airport
A year after DiMaggio retired from Major League
Baseball, the Yankees held an exhibition match in Cuba. Rene was just a four-year-old child at the
time, but he vividly remembers watching DiMaggio hit a homerun on the first
pitch. As he rounded the bases, he
tipped his cap one last time to the crowd as this was his swan song to his
professional career. At that precise my
moment, Rene became a lifelong Yankees fan.
As to why he was in Cuba at the time, Rene mentioned to me that his
family worked in the Casino industry in Cuba at the time.
Phoenix Airport Museum - "Memory Arizona" (1991) - Howardena Pindell
He eventually found himself working in Las
Vegas later in life with Mickey Mantle’s brother at one of the casinos. One time when Mickey was visiting his Brother,
Rene arranged to meet him over some drinks.
After telling him how much of a Yankees fan he was, Rene worked up the
courage to ask Mickey Mantle for his autograph.
Unfortunately, all he had available at the time for him to sign was a
cocktail napkin. The next day, Mickey
gave him two autographed Homerun balls he hit. How cool is that! Rene is a really engaging story teller, and
as much as I would love to have heard more of his baseball related stories, we
had already arrived at the airport within 25 minutes.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
There are four Terminals at Phoenix Sky Harbor
International Airport. Terminals 2 – 4 handle
all domestic and International flights while Terminal 1 is reserved for the
American Air force. Because I was flying
with Air Canada, Rene dropped me off at Terminal 4. Check-in took about 30 minutes. The self-check-in kiosks were a bit chaotic
as it some passengers had no clue what they were doing, so a few of us walked
around them to check in with the Air Canada agent instead. This caused a bit of a rift for those who
thought we were budding line. Whatever. As I headed towards Security, I noticed
various pieces of artwork throughout the airport. I was intrigued to learn that the Phoenix
Airport Museum has exhibits throughout the various terminals to entertain
passengers while they look for ways to kill time before boarding their
respective flights. This is the first
time I’ve ever seen such a thing.
Waiting for takeoff at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Finally, I made my way through TSA
Security. Strangely enough, I wasn’t
required to take off my shoes nor take my laptop out of my bag during security
screening. However, as I started to
question the “lax security,” the guy behind me was pulled over to the side as
he was found with a pocket knife within his carry-on luggage. He was extremely upset when TSA told him it
would be confiscated unless he wanted to mailed it home or to his next
destination instead. He couldn’t
understand why his knife was going to be confiscated when he’s brought it on
his carry-on luggage with him countless times before in other International
airports. I couldn’t help but shake my
head and wondered if he was actually hearing the words he was saying. Really?
You can’t understand why you wouldn’t be allowed to bring a pocket knife
on board an airplane departing from the United States? Where have you been for the past 17 years?
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Having cleared security within minutes, I had
more than enough time to grab some lunch before boarding. I ended up eating at Ciao Cowboy as it seemed
to be the best and closest option to my gate.
Following lunch, I made my way to Gate B25 to prepare for boarding. It turns out that AC 1836 was over sold by
one passenger. Yes, one! If someone was willing to give up their spot,
then Air Canada would pay for one night’s accommodation in Phoenix and rebook
you for the same flight 24 hours later.
I was seriously tempted to give up my spot. But not wanting to go through the hassle of rescheduling
my Friday conference calls and the simple fact that I was just completely
exhausted from the past few days in Phoenix, I refrained from giving up my
seat. Fortunately, some lady took the
offer a few minutes later. Right beside
at Gate B26, the WestJet flight to Calgary – WS 1403 – was overbooked by 10
people! It was crazy busy at the airport
today! For a Thursday, I wasn’t
expecting Phoenix Sky Harbor to be this busy at all.
Phoenix, Arizona
Due to the time it took for Air Canada to deal
with the overbooking, our flight was delayed by almost 20 minutes. Once we boarded the Airbus A321, I noticed
that AC 1836 had a 2x2 format in Business Class with about 8 rows. Economy, on the other hand, was in a 3x2
formation that had us all crammed together like a can of sardines. Yeesh!
On top of that, we had a very turbulent takeoff – worse than what I had
experienced in Orlando a year earlier – that was just very bumpy. We had a couple more rough turbulence incidences
– one about three-quarters of the way through the flight that felt like we in a
bumper car and another instance about 15 minutes from landing in Toronto.
Watching "Wonder Woman" on Air Canada Flight #1836
I killed time on the flight by watching a
couple of movies. The first was Wonder
Women. Starring Gal Gadot as the title
character, this movie received a lot of critical praise when it was initially released
in 2017. It’s definitely a bit confusing
as the plot is set during the First World War and somehow combines the events
of the war with how Wonder Woman was brought to Earth from her mythical island
of Themyscira. I never grew up reading
comic books like other children do, so I am sure there’s a lot I missed out on
that prevented me from keeping up with the plot. But the action and cinematography is very
fast paced and engaging and really helped in passing the time more than half of
the flight.
Descending upon Toronto Pearson International Airport
As for the second movie – Entanglement – it took
a bit for me to get into this comedy-drama romance film starring Thomas
Middleditch. The main character – Ben Layten
– finds himself in a downward spiral that leads him to several failed suicide
attempts after becoming divorced and jobless with no direction in life. This all changes once he accidentally finds out
his parents gave up their adopted baby Girl once they were able to conceive Ben
on their own. Ben then goes on a mission
trying to find this “long lost Sister” of his to bring more meaning into his
life.
Dusk setting over Toronto Pearson International Airport
Unfortunately, due to the length of Wonder
Woman, I was only able to watch the first hour of this movie before we landed in
Toronto. While the movie has its
moments, I can’t imagine myself seeking out this movie elsewhere to watch the
remaining 25 minutes that I missed.
Aside from that, there’s not much more to add to this flight report
other than it started to rain once we got closer to Toronto. After several consecutive days of mild dry
heat in Phoenix, it was a bit of shock to the system coming home to this cold,
rainy weather. It honestly felt more
like October than it did May. But I was
back home safe and sound with my next scheduled trip about six weeks away.
Toronto Pearson International Airport
AC 1836 – PHX to YYZ
Operated by: Air Canada Rouge
Aircraft:
Airbus A321 (twin-jet); Seat: 42F
Cabin:
Business – Continental Breakfast; Economy – Food for sale
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is one
of the largest in the United States.Sprawled out across four different terminals, you can find more than
your fair share of in this major hub in the Southwest.With my Air Canada flight scheduled to depart
out Terminal 4, I ended up picking the closest restaurant to my gate – Cowboy Ciao.You gotta love the play-on-words here with
the name of the restaurant.It was a bit
busy with a lineup of several people at front waiting for tables.One could only assume that a busy restaurant
would only equate to great food and service, so I figured I would check it
out.Plus, the interior décor was
visually appealing with several televisions available to occupy my time.
Cowboy Ciao
I noticed that there were some tables at the
back with window views of the tarmac.As
tempting as it would be to have waited for a window seat, I opted to sit at the
bar instead.In hindsight, perhaps
waiting for a table would have been a better option for me as I found the bar
service extremely slow.After waiting
for about 10 minutes, I was finally able to order a Barrio Blonde.Brewed by the Tucson-based Barrio Brewing
Company, this Blonde Ale was very light and crisp with a hint of Malt and a
4.53% ABV.The sweetness was balanced
out by the Czechoslovakian Saaz Hops.Just for fun, I added a Lime in it to give it a bit more flavour.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Since I was exhausted from this trip, I wasn’t
overly hungry.Having looked at the
Specialty entrées on the menu, I opted for the “Cure for the Common Salmon.”For $20 US, it included a quarter-pound,
grilled Salmon atop a chilled orzo/arugula salad.The arugula salad was tossed in lemon and red
chile with avocado, cherry tomatoes, pickled shallots, and spiced/fried corn
kernels.All-in-all, a very light, but
enjoyable lunch and one that I knew I could finish unlike the pastrami-style
smoked short ribs, filet mignon or the exotic mushroom pan fry.And there you have it.If you’re looking for some decent from the
American Southwest with some Italian and Mexican flair, then check out Cowboy
Ciao.
Cure for the Common Salmon with a Barrio Blonde
Cowboy Ciao – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Terminal 4 – After-Security (USA) – Gate B22
Hours of Operation:Sunday – Saturday: 6am PST – 10:00pm PST
Just as quickly as I came home from Boston, I was
quickly out the door to Phoenix for my next work trip.It had been 12 years since my last trip to
Arizona’s capital, which coincidentally was for work.Actually, it was one of the first work trips
I had ever done in my career, so there was a bit of nostalgia returning to one
of the places where it all began.The
last time I was here, it was in the middle of summer and humid as Hell.With this trip occurring around the first
week of May, I wasn’t sure what to expect to be quite honest.
Boarding Air Canada Flight 1837
With an early flight around 9:30am, I had to
leave my condo early enough to avoid Rush Hour.What should be a quick 35 – 40 minute drive to the airport can easily
double in time if I didn’t time my cab pickup correctly.And with it being a Monday morning flight,
that could cause me severe problems as it is one of the busiest times of the week
for departures.Leaving around 6:45am, I
had a little bit of a scare as we ran into slow moving traffic on the
highway.It eventually cleared up so
that I was able to arrive just a bit more than two hours before my scheduled
departure.
Cimarron, Colorado
Check in was uneventful, although it took me
about 50 minutes because I lost some time trying to check in with Air Canada
International Departures instead of USA Departures.Chalking that one up to tiredness as I should
have known better having only being here a little over a week earlier for my
Boston flight.For breakfast, I decided
to give Wahlburger’s a second try.Boy,
was that a mistake!Although the Bartender
served me almost immediately, it still took almost 30 minutes for me to get
Paul’s Crispy Haddock again.After
wolfing my breakfast down as fast as I could and settling my bill, I literally
walked a few feet over to Gate 48 just to see my section being called for
boarding.No more Wahlburger’s for me in
the future – good food, but terrible service.
Thoreau, New Mexico
Finally, I could relax a little as I took my
seat in 49K.I picked this window seat
based on as I would get a great view of Camelback Mountain upon landing.Economy was also in a 2 x 3 x 2 formation
similar to my flight to Barbados.It was
a sunny 9°C in Toronto by the time we departed for the 4 ½ hour flight.Things were seeming to look up for this
flight if it weren’t for the fact that the in-flight Entertainment System
wasn’t working for the first hour of the flight.But that seems typical with my past
experiences with Air Canada.We also had
some turbulence issues once we crossed over Lake Huron, but it settled down
once we entered Michigan airspace.
Snowflake, Arizona
Around this time, I decided to watch Baywatch –
starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron – to pass the time.As with most children of the 90s, I used to
watch the original television series.Back
then, Baywatch was considered a “drama,” but it was a very cheesy one at
best.The movie takes on more of a
comedic approach with a little bit of drama mixed into the plot.Dwayne Johnson plays the role of Mitch Buchannon
– Head Lifeguard of Baywatch – who works with the team to uncover a criminal
plot that threatens the future of the Bay.I definitely had a few chuckles watching this feature film and
appreciated some of the inside jokes and nostalgia thrown into storyline, but
definitely would not have paid to see this in the theaters.It was an okay movie, but not great like the
Lego Movie.
Apache-Sitegreaves National Forest
Once we crossed over Colorado, I kept checking
the scenery every so often.From the
Rocky Mountains to endless miles of desert; from lush National Forests to
random Plateaus caused by Millennia of erosion, the Southwestern United States is
a Photographer’s dream.It was also dry
and humid outside as we got closer and closer to landing.In fact, I may have caught a glimpse of what
appeared to be the beginnings of a wild fire in the Forest Lakes area of Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest with large clouds of smoke just endlessly carrying on for miles.Aside from that once incident, this stretch
of the flight was absolutely stunning.
We arrived at Phoenix Sky Harbor International
Airport about 15 minutes early around 10:34am PST, which is kind of unusual
when travelling from East to West in North America as you are usually flying
into headwinds that slow you down.Whatever gains were made in this early landing were quickly eaten up as
we had to wait ten minutes upon landing for another Air Canada flight to leave
Gate B23 at Terminal 4 before we could disembark.Once we got off the plane, it was straight to
Carousel 1 to pick up my luggage, grab the first taxi available, head to my
hotel to drop of my suitcase, and then head back downtown to catch the last
Chase Field tour of the day.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
AC 1837 – YYZ to PHX
Operated by: Air Canada Rouge
Aircraft:Boeing 767-300 (twin-jet); Seat: 49K
Cabin:Business – Continental Breakfast; Economy – Food for sale
Depart: 09:18AM EST – Toronto Pearson
International Airport (YYZ) – Terminal 1, Gate F68
If you’ve never been to Boston Logan
International Airport, then you are in for a treat!Literally.It seems like no matter where you go, there’s always seafood
available.As a major port off the
Atlantic Ocean, this comes as no surprise.But with nearly three hours to kill before my flight back home to Toronto,
I wanted something slightly different to pass the time other than sampling some
of the freshest and juiciest Atlantic Lobster tails you possibly imagine.And as luck would have it, there was a small
little brew pub at the far East end of Terminal B that had exactly what I was
looking for.
Cisco Brew Pub of Nantucket
Cisco Brew Pub – owned by Nantucket-based Cisco
Brewers – sits quietly near the end of Terminal B surrounded by a couple of
fast food restaurants and retail shops.
My initial plan was to just come in and try some of their flagship brews
as I already ate lunch at my hotel before arriving at the airport. But after plopping myself at the bar in front
of their kitchen, I decided to take a look at their menu. Hmm … lobster roll? Somehow I managed not to try this local
delicacy during my time here in Boston.
And as I stated above, it was impossible not to walk around Terminal B
without running into a couple of seafood restaurants. Given that it would be nearly 8pm before I
would finally get home and I would be too tired to make dinner, I bit the
bullet and ordered an entrée for myself.
A peek inside the Cisco Brew Pub Kitchen
My bartender’s name was Eddie – a tall, stocky
African-American guy who I guessed to be in his 40s. We started talking with each other a little
bit in between him taking drink orders from the wait staff and the handful of
patrons also sitting at his bar. Once he
found out I was from Toronto, he started bringing up the Canadian Football
League. Eddie is a huge football fan and
supporter of Diamond Ferri – a former pro player from Massachusetts who played
most of career in the CFL. He also
wanted to know how he can get a walk-on try out for the CFL, which I thought
was a bit strange given his advanced age.
He was a massive guy that was well built and probably would make an
excellent defensive tackle, but based on our conversations and mannerisms, he gave
me the impression that he was up there in age for a potential walk-on tryout. I could be wrong, though.
New England Lobster Roll
After a few minutes, Eddie came back with my
Lobster roll. For $26.50, it was a
pricey meal. But man, was it great! The lobster was delicate, flaky, and just
perfect, but the bun was a bit greasy for my liking. It also came with a side salad, which was par
for the course. I also ordered a couple of beers to wash down
my meal with. Shark Tracker is a very
light Lager that’s clean and crisp.
Proceeds from each sale benefit shark research, which was the main
reason I decided to start off with this brew.
Sankaty Golden is a Pilsner-style Session beer with subtle Citra and
Palisade hops. It has an astringent
finish to it causing an immediate dry, chalky sensation. One of each were plenty for me.
Shark Tracker Lager
In between bites, Eddie and I also talked about
the origin of Cisco Brewers and the overall lifestyle of Nantucket Island. It sounded like a very posh, exclusive island
similar to Captiva Island, but one that I might actually enjoy visiting one
day. They even distill their own Craft
Gin and Rum, which he showed me samples of.
At this point, the time had come for me to settle up the bill so that I
would arrive at my gate on time for boarding.
Thanks to Eddie, I will have to return to New England for a more
extensive trip as there is a lot of interesting history and cuisine to discover
here in this little section of the United States.
Nantucket Craft Gin & Rum
Cisco Brew Pub – Boston Logan International Airport
Boston Logan International Airport
Terminal B – After-Security (USA) – Gates B30 –
B36
Hours of Operation:
Monday – Thursday: 10am EST – 30 Minutes before
Last Departure
Friday:
9am EST – 30 Minutes before Last Departure
Saturday:
8am – 30 Minutes before Last Departure
Sunday:
10:30am – 30 Minutes before Last Departure
After an eventful trip to Boston, it was time
for me to head back home to Toronto.My
flight wasn’t scheduled until 4:55pm EST, but seeing how bad traffic can be
around Boston the past few days, I didn’t want to chance it and decided to get
to the airport about three hours early instead of the recommended two.It was definitely a good call on two fronts.First, there was a bit of a traffic jam on
the highway about halfway through my Uber ride.Secondly, once I checked in for my flight, I realized Gate B2 was
completely isolated from the rest of Terminal B.
Downtown Boston
In all my years of flying, I have never experienced
a situation like this before.No
stores.No washrooms.No restaurants.Just a small section of an airport staring
out onto the tarmac with the beautiful Boston skyline in the background
completely cutoff from the rest of the terminal it was located in.It turns out that Boston Logan International
Airport is in the midst of a major renovation that will be completed in
2019.Fortunately, the TSA are very
mindful of the situation and allowed us to leave through the Emergency Door
exit so we can browse around for food or shopping.It meant I had to check in again through
security, but it was much better option than staring out at the tarmac for
three solid hours.
Boston Logan International Airport
As I was walking around Terminal B looking for
something to eat, I passed by the American Airlines gate.It suddenly dawned on me that this is where
9/11 began.I’m not sure exactly which
gate American Airlines Flight #11 – the first plane to hit the World Trade
Centre – departed from, but it was definitely somewhere in Terminal B as this
is where domestic American Airlines flights depart from Boston.Just thinking about those innocent victims
who had stood in the same spot as I was almost 17 years ago sent shivers down
my spine.
Cisco Brew Pub of Nantucket
After wandering around the terminal a bit, I
eventually ended up at Cisco Brew Pub.It was a great way to kill off some
time before my flight, albeit expensive, but I’ll go into more detail about it in an
upcoming “Airport Eats” review. Returning back to Gate B2, I managed to go
through Security within five minutes.Only three gates exist in this section of Terminal B – Gates B1 through
B3 – but only two Air Canada flights had scheduled flights around this time –
AC 7607 to Toronto and Jazz Air 8465 to Montreal.While watching the planes getting ready on the tarmac in front of us for a few
minutes, my name was called on the PA system to check in with my gate.I’m not sure exactly sure why it happened,
but I was one of a few people who were upgraded to Business Class.I can’t even remember the last time I was ever
given an upgrade, so this was a nice little surprise for my flight home. Air Canada gave me Seat 4D in Business Class.While it meant I was no longer going to have a window seat, I wasn’t going to complain about it.
View from Seat 4D - My upgrade to Business Class
Once I boarded the plane, I was enamoured
with the extra space in Business Class.A 2 x
1 formation, I had way more leg room than I would have had in Economy even
though that section was in a 2 x 2 formation.Each leather seat in Business Class came with a complimentary pillow for
lower back comfort.A Stewardess
approached me within minutes of sitting down with a bottle of water and a
headset for the In-flight Entertainment system.She also took my drink order pre-takeoff. There was a little bit of turbulence during
takeoff, but it only lasted for a few minutes.After the Pilot got us to cruising altitude, the Stewardess came back to
give me a hot towel.Man that felt so
great on my face that had started to feel a little grimy.At this point, I gazed around Business Class
to take it all in.All 12 seats were
full on this flight, yet it still felt very spacious.
Fabrez Montmayou Reserva Cabernet Franc 2015
The Stewardess came back with a couple packs
of Roasted salted peanuts and a beautiful glass of Fabrez Montmayou Reserva
Cabernet Franc 2015. With an intense red colour, this Cabernet Franc
had an exuberant nose with red and black fruit aromas and a hint of mint.On the palate, it was fresh and well balanced
with a long finish and round tannins.It
was by far one of the best Red wines I ever had.However, I was shocked to find out it was
produced in Mendoza.What a fabulous Argentine
wine!It was so good that I ended up
having a couple more glasses of it for the flight home.Probably a bit excessive as the Stewardess
asked me how I was feeling after I requested my third glass within an
hour.Whoops. To pass the time, I decided to watch Coco – a
Pixar animated film about a 12 year old boy who is stuck in the Land of the
Dead and needs the help of his deceased ancestors to return home. With an all Latino cast, it was quite
entertaining, albeit a little sappy and sentimental. However, it definitely deserves the praise it
has received from Hollywood.
Enjoying my Fabrez Montmayou while watching Coco
Sadly, all good things must come to an
end as we landed in Toronto about 15 minutes earlier under inclement weather. And just like that, my experience
in Business Class was over. Hands down,
this has been the most memorable Air Canada flight that I have taken in years
and one I won’t soon forget. I’m not
sure how I am going to adjust to sitting back in Economy again after this
little bit of luxury. But, kudos to Air
Canada. You really outdid yourselves
here. Looking forward to my next flight
with you as shocking as that may seem.
Back home in rainy Toronto
AC 7607 – BOS to YYZ
Operated by: Air Canada
Cabin:
Business: Snack or Brunch /
Economy: No Meal; Seat 4D
Depart: 04:47PM EST – Boston Logan
International Airport (BOS) – Terminal B, Gate B2
Arrive:
06:38PM EST – Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) – Terminal 1,
Gate F66
