New Jersey New York

The Newark New Jersey Airport (EWR) has some of the slowest baggage handlers of any airport I have ever been to! I just spent over an hour waiting for my bags!! First I waited for about 20 minutes on the jetway for a duffel bag which I gate checked because there was no room left on the plane... What can I say I was a little tardy :) long after everone including the pilots had deplaned I was still waiting, along with my fellow tardy oversided bag toting travelers. Finally my gate checked bag appeared and i was free to embark on my journey to baggage claim... If you happen to be a member of the Alaska Airlines Board Room or Continentals Presidents Club then if u can find it... It's a great place to stop for a quick drink and a view of the runways on your way out of the airport... At this point in my journey I was to frazzled by my experience with the gate check a drink at the Presidents Club "at the airport" was the last thing on my mind! I just wanted to get my other bag and get the hell out of EWR. However as I passed by the Presidents Club and made my way to baggage I noticed that the other travelers from my flight that had been fortunate enough to find a spot for their carry on bags and had avoided the 20 minute gate check wait were still waiting for their checked bags! No problem I thought I’ll just get my ground transportation to Manhattan taken care of and by that time my bag will be here... Well after getting my shuttle ticket, eating the rest of my left over Chicken Caesar and searching far and wide for a rest room I still had to wait another 20 minutes for my bag to appear. As I type this (the time is 5:49 EST) I am now finally in route to the Double Tree Suites in Time Square where I will ask for a room upgrade, drop my bags and head out into the fray of time square in search of the drink (the free drink) that I skipped at the Presidents Club... More to come later as I am in Manhattan for 2 weeks i will be posting some pictures and perhaps a few audio clips of my “Manhattan Project”.

'Toine (pronounced twon)