UKDEB
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Index to all instalments
Thursday, 22nd July
Our British Airways flight from Heathrow to Bush Intercontinental, Houston, Texas is not due to take off until 2:35pm, so the plan is to leave home around 8:30am. [The flight is later than we’d have liked, particularly as our destination is 6 hours behind the UK. Even if it lands bang on its scheduled arrival time of 18:35 CST, we know we won’t be checking into our hotel much before 8:30pm, which will be 2:30am to our body clocks.]
We’re driving away 15 minutes later than intended at 8:45am. We’ve booked Meteor Meet and Greet parking at a 50% discounted price of £58.50 for 15 days. The instructions tell us to phone when we’re 10 minutes away, which is pretty useless information if you’re not familiar with the journey. We guess as best we can and make the call as we pass junction 7 of the M4. As we anticipated, Terminal 5 is very easy to find, being literally just off the M4/M25 junction. In fact, it isn’t even necessary to join the M25 proper – the slip road from the M4 continues to skirt the carriageway and leads off to the Terminal 5 exit. Meteor Meet and Greet is extremely efficient and friendly. At the discounted price it’s a no-brainer, but even at the full price, we’d seriously consider using them again, particularly as the drop-off point is right outside the entrance to the terminal.
Terminal 5 is very swish and there’s a calm which we’ve never before experienced at an airport. It’s 10:25am as we’re walking in, but our self-satisfied smugness quickly turns to frustration as we discover that it’s not possible to check in until 3 hours before the flight, meaning we have an hour and 10 minutes to kill. This explains the calm, but we wish we’d known in advance as we’d have timed things a bit better. We collect our currency from Thomas Cook, then have a mosey around before finding some seats for the wait. As check-in for each flight opens, the assigned desks are displayed on digital monitors. At 11:35 we approach one of the nominated bag drop stations, having checked in online yesterday. There are plenty of desks, so it’s a breeze. [Having elected not to pay the £20 per person fee to book seats in advance, the choice at online check-in yesterday was extremely limited. In fact, the only availability for two seats together was in the middle of a bank of four.] We enquire about the possibility of changing our seats, but are informed that the flight is overbooked and there are likely to be some bumped passengers.
This is an extremely well-managed facility and our passage through security is fast and efficient. I’ve been eking out the dregs of my make-up staples for months and I spend an enjoyable half hour or so browsing the very pleasant duty-free area. I pick up Lancome Definicils mascara and Hydra Zen Nutracalm moisturiser, Dior lipstick, and YSL Touche Eclat. I need foundation and loose powder, too, but they don’t stock my preferred brand of Laura Mercier. I’m pretty sure it’s available onboard the plane, so I resist the temptation to buy an alternative which I’ll undoubtedly end up regretting. I also want perfume and, after a good recce of all the new releases, settle on the first one I sample: Flora by Gucci.
I’ve primed Matt well regarding my intention to drop a load of cash in Duty Free and he’s surprisingly patient as I visit counter after counter doing just that. He disappears momentarily to check out the price of an MacBook Pro in Dixons, but his primary focus is on his first beer of the trip. We’ve been looking forward to experiencing Terminal 5, not least for Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food, and we’re both excited to be heading there next.
We ask for a seat at the bar and Matt wastes no time in ordering a Tiger lager. My choice is the Summer Hummer (vodka, orange wedges, fresh lime, topped up with mandarin liqueur and crushed ice).
We don’t want to overdo things on the food front because we know we’ll be eating again on the plane and at Tommy Bahama’s Tropical Café this evening. Matt likes the sound of the Marinated Lamb Chops, Spicy Wedges & Mint Yoghurt, whilst I settle for the Wild Mushroom Orecchiette with Smoked Bacon & Sage which conveniently comes in a choice of two portion sizes.
We follow up with a Sam Smith’s and a Vanilla and Fig Sour (vanilla vodka shaken with fig liqueur, lime and lemon juice) respectively. Our young bartender isn’t confident about mixing it given the requirement for egg white and goes off to find the General Manager who gives him a lesson in showing off. Despite his successful impression of a flashy, cocky slimeball, he clearly knows how to make a cocktail and we have an interesting conversation regarding the quality of ingredients used in the restaurant and getting the price-point right. When they first opened, they were sourcing the very best, but found that people weren’t willing to pay the resultant prices. It’s certainly no Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, but it lives up to our expectations and we’re not disappointed. As he moves on to dazzle other unsuspecting patrons we resume our altogether more pleasant interaction with our bartender. It turns out that he’s not long out of the International Exchange program at Walt Disney World where he worked first at Epcot and then as John Smith in Fantasmic! It’s a small world, after all. (See what I did there?) He very proudly shows us his Cast Member ID.
At 1:30 we make our way to the gate. The line moves quickly to begin with, but the comes to a standstill as we wait… and wait… and wait some more. Finally a bus arrives and relives the log jam. Once onboard, the Captain announces that we’re waiting for two passengers. They know of their whereabouts – having cleared security, they’ve somehow managed to find their way back landside and are having to be searched again. We eventually take off almost an hour late at 3:30pm. We’re advised that our flight time will be 9 hours 20 minutes, rather than the scheduled duration of 10 hours.
The food choices are chicken tikka masala or beef cobbler. Matt has the curry and I opt for the stew. Each comes with a bread roll, salad and a white chocolate raspberry mousse. It’s pretty standard fare, but not as good as Virgin’s offerings in my view. [From our imprisoned position, we weren’t able to retrieve the camera from the overhead locker, so don’t have any photographic evidence.] The “on demand” nature of the entertainment system, though, is a huge improvement on that we’ve become accustomed to on Virgin’s Gatwick to Orlando route. It really does make a big difference to my propensity to watch films and there’s a good selection of new releases and library choices. I watch Valentine’s Day and She’s Out Of My League, neither of which is memorable. Matt watches Clash Of The Titons, Date Night, Sherlock Homes and Mrs & Mrs Smith. I’m able to buy the Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser I want, but not the loose powder.
The flight is uneventful, with very little turbulence, but the final 3 ½ hours really drag for me. All along, the flight map has been indicating an ETA of 18:54 CST – half an hour later than the scheduled arrival time. The late flight time is a nuisance as we know that our evening’s activities will be compromised, but the price of £325 each (including all taxes) was too good to pass up. An hour or so before we’re due to land, the First Officer announces that we have to fly around rain which has bubbled up to the north east of Houston. We head due south to the Gulf Coast then skirt around Galveston before heading back towards Houston from the south west. We eventually land at 7:15pm.
Thursday, 22nd July
Our British Airways flight from Heathrow to Bush Intercontinental, Houston, Texas is not due to take off until 2:35pm, so the plan is to leave home around 8:30am. [The flight is later than we’d have liked, particularly as our destination is 6 hours behind the UK. Even if it lands bang on its scheduled arrival time of 18:35 CST, we know we won’t be checking into our hotel much before 8:30pm, which will be 2:30am to our body clocks.]
We’re driving away 15 minutes later than intended at 8:45am. We’ve booked Meteor Meet and Greet parking at a 50% discounted price of £58.50 for 15 days. The instructions tell us to phone when we’re 10 minutes away, which is pretty useless information if you’re not familiar with the journey. We guess as best we can and make the call as we pass junction 7 of the M4. As we anticipated, Terminal 5 is very easy to find, being literally just off the M4/M25 junction. In fact, it isn’t even necessary to join the M25 proper – the slip road from the M4 continues to skirt the carriageway and leads off to the Terminal 5 exit. Meteor Meet and Greet is extremely efficient and friendly. At the discounted price it’s a no-brainer, but even at the full price, we’d seriously consider using them again, particularly as the drop-off point is right outside the entrance to the terminal.
Terminal 5 is very swish and there’s a calm which we’ve never before experienced at an airport. It’s 10:25am as we’re walking in, but our self-satisfied smugness quickly turns to frustration as we discover that it’s not possible to check in until 3 hours before the flight, meaning we have an hour and 10 minutes to kill. This explains the calm, but we wish we’d known in advance as we’d have timed things a bit better. We collect our currency from Thomas Cook, then have a mosey around before finding some seats for the wait. As check-in for each flight opens, the assigned desks are displayed on digital monitors. At 11:35 we approach one of the nominated bag drop stations, having checked in online yesterday. There are plenty of desks, so it’s a breeze. [Having elected not to pay the £20 per person fee to book seats in advance, the choice at online check-in yesterday was extremely limited. In fact, the only availability for two seats together was in the middle of a bank of four.] We enquire about the possibility of changing our seats, but are informed that the flight is overbooked and there are likely to be some bumped passengers.
This is an extremely well-managed facility and our passage through security is fast and efficient. I’ve been eking out the dregs of my make-up staples for months and I spend an enjoyable half hour or so browsing the very pleasant duty-free area. I pick up Lancome Definicils mascara and Hydra Zen Nutracalm moisturiser, Dior lipstick, and YSL Touche Eclat. I need foundation and loose powder, too, but they don’t stock my preferred brand of Laura Mercier. I’m pretty sure it’s available onboard the plane, so I resist the temptation to buy an alternative which I’ll undoubtedly end up regretting. I also want perfume and, after a good recce of all the new releases, settle on the first one I sample: Flora by Gucci.
I’ve primed Matt well regarding my intention to drop a load of cash in Duty Free and he’s surprisingly patient as I visit counter after counter doing just that. He disappears momentarily to check out the price of an MacBook Pro in Dixons, but his primary focus is on his first beer of the trip. We’ve been looking forward to experiencing Terminal 5, not least for Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food, and we’re both excited to be heading there next.
We ask for a seat at the bar and Matt wastes no time in ordering a Tiger lager. My choice is the Summer Hummer (vodka, orange wedges, fresh lime, topped up with mandarin liqueur and crushed ice).
We don’t want to overdo things on the food front because we know we’ll be eating again on the plane and at Tommy Bahama’s Tropical Café this evening. Matt likes the sound of the Marinated Lamb Chops, Spicy Wedges & Mint Yoghurt, whilst I settle for the Wild Mushroom Orecchiette with Smoked Bacon & Sage which conveniently comes in a choice of two portion sizes.
We follow up with a Sam Smith’s and a Vanilla and Fig Sour (vanilla vodka shaken with fig liqueur, lime and lemon juice) respectively. Our young bartender isn’t confident about mixing it given the requirement for egg white and goes off to find the General Manager who gives him a lesson in showing off. Despite his successful impression of a flashy, cocky slimeball, he clearly knows how to make a cocktail and we have an interesting conversation regarding the quality of ingredients used in the restaurant and getting the price-point right. When they first opened, they were sourcing the very best, but found that people weren’t willing to pay the resultant prices. It’s certainly no Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, but it lives up to our expectations and we’re not disappointed. As he moves on to dazzle other unsuspecting patrons we resume our altogether more pleasant interaction with our bartender. It turns out that he’s not long out of the International Exchange program at Walt Disney World where he worked first at Epcot and then as John Smith in Fantasmic! It’s a small world, after all. (See what I did there?) He very proudly shows us his Cast Member ID.
At 1:30 we make our way to the gate. The line moves quickly to begin with, but the comes to a standstill as we wait… and wait… and wait some more. Finally a bus arrives and relives the log jam. Once onboard, the Captain announces that we’re waiting for two passengers. They know of their whereabouts – having cleared security, they’ve somehow managed to find their way back landside and are having to be searched again. We eventually take off almost an hour late at 3:30pm. We’re advised that our flight time will be 9 hours 20 minutes, rather than the scheduled duration of 10 hours.
The food choices are chicken tikka masala or beef cobbler. Matt has the curry and I opt for the stew. Each comes with a bread roll, salad and a white chocolate raspberry mousse. It’s pretty standard fare, but not as good as Virgin’s offerings in my view. [From our imprisoned position, we weren’t able to retrieve the camera from the overhead locker, so don’t have any photographic evidence.] The “on demand” nature of the entertainment system, though, is a huge improvement on that we’ve become accustomed to on Virgin’s Gatwick to Orlando route. It really does make a big difference to my propensity to watch films and there’s a good selection of new releases and library choices. I watch Valentine’s Day and She’s Out Of My League, neither of which is memorable. Matt watches Clash Of The Titons, Date Night, Sherlock Homes and Mrs & Mrs Smith. I’m able to buy the Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser I want, but not the loose powder.
The flight is uneventful, with very little turbulence, but the final 3 ½ hours really drag for me. All along, the flight map has been indicating an ETA of 18:54 CST – half an hour later than the scheduled arrival time. The late flight time is a nuisance as we know that our evening’s activities will be compromised, but the price of £325 each (including all taxes) was too good to pass up. An hour or so before we’re due to land, the First Officer announces that we have to fly around rain which has bubbled up to the north east of Houston. We head due south to the Gulf Coast then skirt around Galveston before heading back towards Houston from the south west. We eventually land at 7:15pm.
The Avia looks amazing, and I like the look of some of those drinkies too
