A Return to the Gulf Coast

American and BA are members of the One World Alliance making booking US domestic seats a breeze.

It was time to head back to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi for another visit with our longtime friends. Not only was I looking forward to seeing them once again but I was particularly excited to take to the skies after being “grounded” for so long since the start of the pandemic. I booked us some First Class seats on American Airlines through their Charlotte hub using miles from my Avios account with their OneWorld partner British Airways. If you have BA miles and live on this side of the Atlantic, booking travel on American is a good use of your Avios points, as premium transatlantic redemptions on BA are hard to find and require absurdly inflated “surcharges.” I was able to confirm 2 roundtrip tickets in First for 65,000 points each and a total of $22.60 in taxes. And I completed the booking online in short order without having to wait an interminable length of time for someone to answer the phone as was typically the case. It seems that British Airways has improved their Executive Club customer experience.

Like all of us, flight crews are required to wear face coverings in airports but are permitted to remove them in the cockpit during flight if they so choose.

Navigating the Raleigh-Durham Airport is always a pleasure and Terminal 2 wasn’t very crowded on that Monday morning. Of course, face coverings are now required for everyone at every airport and during your flight, regardless of which carrier you fly. Remember, you’ll need to pull your face covering down so the TSA agents can verify your identity at the security checkpoint. One other small change to mention. I packed an 8-ounce bottle of hand sanitizer in my carry-on bag but neglected to place it inside a clear plastic bag for separate screening. Even though we’re now permitted to carry up to 12 ounces aboard the aircraft, it still has to be removed for the agents to test for explosives. I wasn’t aware of this requirement, but now we all know what to do in the future. We went right to the gate after security since the RDU Admirals Club is presently available only as a Service Center for those passengers needing ticketing and rebooking assistance.

American would do well now to board passengers from the back of the aircraft to the front.

The boarding process on American was unchanged with Group One followed by the other groups in numerical order. This was fine in pre-pandemic days but having travelers who weren’t social distancing as they walked past those already seated makes no sense in this environment. Why doesn’t American board from the back of the plane to the front? At any rate, this quick flight to Charlotte was full in both cabins and everyone I saw was wearing a face covering. Amusingly, after we’d left the gate to taxi for departure, a flight attendant announced that cabin crew would be walking down the aisle of our B737 to ensure everyone was wearing a mask. If anyone refused to do so, they would‘ve been asked to deplane and risked being placed on American’s “no-fly” list. That's all fine with me but whey didn’t they make that announcement before we left the gate? It didn't matter as thankfully, all passengers complied with the new directive. Onboard service has changed with the advent of the virus and on this short hop there was no beverage or snack service offered. We arrived into the Charlotte Airport after a brief 36-minute journey flying at an altitude of 23,000 feet.

It was impossible to avoid the crowds in Charlotte and equally difficult to enforce a face covering requirement.

As the second-largest American Airlines hub, Charlotte has recently seen increased traffic. In August, departing passengers surpassed 1 million for the first time since March. In September, nearly 1.2 million persons boarded planes leaving that airport and we were among them. It was a far cry from easy-to-navigate RDU! Our connection to Gulfport was scheduled on an American Eagle CRJ-900 and all Eagle flights depart from Terminal E. Since we arrived at the D Concourse, it made no sense to backtrack to the B or C Terminal to check out the reopened Admirals Clubs so we settled for lunch at the food court. It was a big disappointment and I ended up discarding half of my sandwich. Happily however, hand sanitizers were distributed as we boarded our next leg and we were also offered a beverage after settling into our seats. Sadly, it wasn't long before our flight attendant began reading from her script to promote their co-branded credit card with Barclays Bank with yet another “limited time offer.” Upon approach to Gulfport our captain announced that “significant precipitation was now over the airport so we’ll continue circling and see what the weather does. We’ll give it a go in another 15 to 20 minutes time.” After enjoying some great views of the Gulf beaches (and protracted speeches about the Barclay card), the weather cleared and we met up with our friends from Diamondhead in short order.

The Island View Casino Resort features the largest land-based casino on Mississippi's Gulf Coast.

We made our way back to Gulfport the following evening to catch up with 2 other couples from Florida who stopped there on their way to Nashville. They were staying at the Island View Casino Resort, a premiere destination on the Mississippi Gulf Coast with 2 casinos, one of which is smoke-free and located right on the beach. There are also 2 Sports Books, one in each casino. The 800,000 square foot resort includes 2 hotel towers containing 974 rooms and suites with free Wi-fi. We all met for dinner at the Prime Cut Restaurant on the Second Level of the Beach Tower and enjoyed cocktails with a window-wall view of the sun setting over the beach. Our server Troy took good care of our group and I can vouch for the Prime Rib as it was done to perfection. The entre included a spring salad presentation of lettuce, chopped eggs and bacon, tossed table side with homemade creamy parmesan dijon dressing. It was also accompanied by double creamed mashed potatoes, sweet potato rolls and their signature horseradish cream. Dinner was delicious and it was so much fun to visit with folks we hadn’t seen in several years. The evening ended with a brief visit to the casino for slot machine play (and no, we didn’t win).

More than 20,000 "Higgins Boats" were built by Higgins Industries in New Orleans.

A highlight of the trip for me was a visit to the World War II Museum in New Orleans, about an hour’s drive west of Gulfport. Designated by the US Congress as America’s official Second World War Museum, it offers outstanding exhibits and personal details that bring those tumultuous times to life. Thought-provoking displays, multimedia experiences and an expansive collection of artifacts and first-person oral histories took me right inside the story of the war that changed the world. Our visit began in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion. Here, well-planned exhibits showcased the herculean efforts on the Home Front and also featured essential tools of the war effort, including the “Higgins Boat, the famed D-Day landing craft that was used to storm the beaches of Normandy on that fateful day in June of 1944. In an interview with noted historian Stephen Ambrose, President Eisenhower later credited these boats with playing a central role in winning the war. The Solomon Victory Theater was next for the showing of “Beyond All Boundaries,” a journey through the war with dazzling special effects, including seats that vibrated and moved several centimeters along with fog, wind and strobe lights. Narrated by Tom Hanks, the presentation also featured computer-generated animation and first-person accounts from the trenches. It was well worth the additional $7.00 charge (on top of our $24.50 admission fee).

Twenty-three volunteers worked over 80,000 hours restoring this now pristine B-17 Flying Fortress.

With lunch at the Stage Door Canteen behind us, we headed straight to the US Freedom Pavilion. Also known as the Boeing Center, it was made possible by a $15 million gift from the aerospace giant. Elevated catwalks here provide eye-level views of six WWII aircraft suspended from the ceiling so expertly they appear to be flying. The most famous among them is a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress named “My Gal Sal.” In June of 1942 this very plane was en route to Europe as part of America’s initial military build-up when very rough weather forced it to make an emergency belly landing on an ice sheet in Greenland, bad enough to actually bend the propeller blades. After several days in extreme weather conditions, the crew was eventually rescued but the aircraft was abandoned for more than 50 years. It was recovered in 1995. Also “flying” in this pavilion are restored Douglas Dauntless and Grumman Avenger aircraft. On the pavilion’s ground floor, the Vehicles of War Exhibit focuses on the equipment vital to land battles, including the M3 Half-track and the ever-present Sherman Tank, which were both instrumental in achieving Allied victory. The entire pavilion is a dramatic architectural statement paying tribute to the 16 million Americans who served in all branches of the US Armed Forces during the conflict.

Robin Roberts and her sister Dorothy at Robin's Nest in Pass Christian.

A wonderful home-cooked meal capped off our final evening in Mississippi. Before heading to the airport the next day, we made a brief stop at Robin’s Nest Gallery and Gift Shop in the picturesque town of Pass Christian. Owner and operator Dorothy Roberts named the gallery in honor of her sister Robin of ABC-TVs Good Morning America. The shop features any number of distinctive and unique gifts including jewelry, local art, books and pottery. Saying farewell to our good friends at the airport wasn’t easy but nevertheless we flew out on the late afternoon American flight back to Charlotte. From there, we made a fairly quick connection taking us to Raleigh. Although both flights were full we were comfortable on board each one and happy to be home. Our only problem was that we missed our friends but it really was a fantastic visit!

Until next time…stay safe.