[Augusta, ME and Atlanta, GA, Sep 24-26, 2024]

After all the fun, it was time to actually go on the work trip that this whole thing started from. I was headed to Atlanta, GA, for the annual board meeting of the professional organization I am a part of, while Ash headed home. We chose to fly out of Boston so we could fly non-stop to our respective destinations. It was a 6-hour drive, not including traffic and stops.

In Augusta, Maine, which was about the half-way point of the drive, we stopped to stretch our legs and check out the state capitol. We had done that on our Spring trip when we stopped at the Arkansas state capitol. While I am not officially collecting visits to all the state capitols, they are always fun to see. There was a small park here, too, which we walked around before going inside the capitol building.

After passing airport-style security inside, we checked out the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The rest of our drive as uneventful. We didn’t encounter any traffic and our flights took off without a hitch.

In Atlanta, my board meeting lasted a day and a half. The first day started off dry. I took the opportunity to walk around in the morning before being stuck inside all day. I used to live in Georgia so I’ve been to Atlanta a number of times. However, it had probably been at least 15 years since my last visit. It was good to be back.

Later that day, a storm passed through and it started raining. This was immediately followed up by hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida the night I flew out of Atlanta. You probably know the rest from the news… The back-to-back storms wreaked havoc on Georgia and western North Carolina and caused unimaginable flooding and damage in and around Asheville, NC. I still know a lot of people in Augusta, GA from when I lived there. They were also not spared the hurricane’s wrath. Tons of trees came down and damaged a lot of homes.

Anyway, I knew the incoming hurricane could mess up the flights. I entered my flight number on Flightaware and used the “where is my plane now” feature. My plane was coming from LA, landing at my departure gate a good 90 minutes before my takeoff. Everything looked good until the last minute when “my” plane landed at a different gate, and my outbound flight was suddenly delayed by 90 minutes.

It was clear that my incoming plane was repurposed for some other flight. I kept refreshing Flightaware until it showed my new plane was another flight from LA and was set to land in 90 minutes. With the turnover time, my flight ended up being delayed over 2 hours. Delta was kind enough to bring in a cart with snacks and water – apparently something they do for delays over 90 minutes.

Besides refreshing Flightaware, I was also keeping tabs on the hurricane. In the end, I flew out 2 hours late just as Helene was making landfall in Florida. Whew!