Purchases completed we hit the road once more for Tampa. Aer John threw a minor wobbly when at 10:10 he learned that the flight was scheduled for noon and decided we were going to miss it! We arrived in the airport some 10 minutes later and checked in via a kiosk but at the bag drop we learned that there had been a security breach and that the airport was closed! [:0] We headed upstairs to find enormous queues for the trains to take us out to the satellites and the longest one for our satellite. This was a pity as Tampa is a very user-friendly airport with nice shopping. There is a shop which sells chocolate alligators so useful for pressies for the kids but today it was not to be. We waited and waited as television cameras roamed the area but at 11:00am the security status was lifted and we were allowed to move. Part of the difficulty was that arriving passengers had been stranded in the satellite areas so as part of crowd control they were only allowing one train to be used for departing passengers although there were two trains going to and from the main area. Equally they were allowing departing passengers to use every third train. It worked. Instead of humongous crowds going through security it was certainly manageable. The agents managed the lines by opening and closing tensa-lines and really were excellent given the conditions. [y]
We were in line for security and many had the clear plastic bags with toiletries which will become familiar to us all from next week. TPA also had complimentary slippers for the shoe circus but there were few takers. Because of the one bag rule in the UK I was taking no chances and had stuffed Aer Johns purchases in my carry-on. We headed through security and I could see the agent scrutinising my bag carefully. As it slid out of the X-ray machine he called out Who has the blue bag? I put up my hand. [:0] Did you get a good deal on them? he asked. I realised he was talking about Aer Johns golf balls and acquiesced. Enjoy them, he called! [^]
By this time it had been exactly one hour since we arrived in TPA and nearly time for boarding. It was called shortly after and because of the security measures the gate area wasnt crowded so that boarding was leisurely. Nevertheless we took off on time with a full load. JetBlue has live TV and offers complimentary headphones. Normally daytime TV is dire but I managed one or two things which were entirely watchable and Aer John caught the end of an episode of CSI-Miami. The cabin crew took drinks orders and then delivered them followed by a basket from which there were such delights as blue crisps, various savoury snacks, chocolate chip cookies and biscotti. We were invited to choose and later they did a second run. Mmmmmm!
The flight arrived slightly early and was altogether a pleasant experience. I have flown jetBlue before and would certainly recommend them
