Day Ten—Sunday

Our flight was at 8:35, so I got up at 5, Barney and Matthew about 5:30. Evelyn was to pick us up at 6 to go to the airport. In fact we got away about 6:05, arriving at the airport promptly at 6:35, exactly two hours in advance. We were not the first to arrive, however, and we stood in the check-in line till 7:50. Matthew had a problem checking in because the agent was looking at Barney’s record, which was being accessed for Barney by another agent (this was neither the first nor the last time the similarity in their names caused problems). But we finally got clear, cleared security, and boarded immediately, about 8:00.

A “slight problem in the cockpit” delayed our departure from Kingston, so we got into Atlanta about half an hour late, having evidently made up some time during our stop in Montego Bay. We were not concerned: this just reduced our 5½-hour layover to five hours, which we killed by eating, reading, and trying to ignore CNN.

We left Atlanta on time, arrived in Mobile on time (about 7 p.m.), collected our bags and then our car, and gratefully headed for home, tired but happy, having enjoyed the vacation of a lifetime. Matthew said it was the best vacation he’d ever had, and it was certainly the best Barney and I had had since our “honeymoon” trip to the West Coast in 1970. The constant novelty of our experiences was refreshing, and the hospitality of everyone we encountered will not soon be forgotten.