Seriously, up until now we have been having a dream run. The weather has been good, we have been catching up with old friends and hanging out doing the touristy things... we've been having a great time. Sure we have had blips along the way... where we haven't been able to work out a bus timetable, or internet hasn't been available, or people have been snappy... (Oh actually, that would probably be me!) but boo hoo! Really we have been travelling along very nicely thank you very much.
Until today, that is.
It started with Mum's luggage going missing in action. Maybe it got homesick and decided a side trip back to Australia was in order. Maybe it is vacationing in the Bahamas, or maybe it's just decided to stay in Detroit (beats me why, I for one couldn't wait to get outta there!)
And if it is stolen? Then screw the effers who took it, because, quite frankly, it's really messed with our plans dammit! And I hope you are happy with your old ladies knickers!
But the luggage going missing is just the half of it... or at least the catalyst for the miserable parts of our day in any case.
Let me have a whinge, get it all off my chest and then I can begin to like America again. Because right now, the love affair is over.* Right now I am sitting in some dingy little hotel room, somewhere in no-mans land between two casino precincts in Atlantic City, with the door locked, too afraid to turn on the TV in fear of electrocution, having just eaten bad takeaway pizza for dinner so that we could get back to our hotel in the relative safety of daylight.*
Right now, Mum is trying to decide which of my t-shirts she can wear in the morning. And I have just finished checking my bed for bugs.* And for most of the day, we have been waiting for someone/anyyyyyone to call us to let us know if they have managed to track down Mum's bag. To even answer the help number we have been calling for the last 4 hours would be nice.
We hadn't even decided whether to stay here or head down the coast, but once we realised Mum's luggage had not appeared, we were out of options. We had to stay and hope that the bag was returned, and we had to find accommodation... in a City that thrives on the tourist dollar... on a Saturday night... in peak season... And so we called the number given to us at the airport and arranged it all over the phone.
Big mistake... Paying over the phone, was big mistake number 2. Staying in a hotel called Super 8? Not so lucky!
Apparently it is a busy weekend. Apparently there are few spare beds in the entire city of Atlantic City. And accordingly, rates rise becuase of it... and so we have ended up paying WELL over what we have paid for ANY of the accommodation we have had so far, for a hotel that is FAR WORSE than anywhere we have stayed thus far. In fact 'slumming it'* would be a fair description.
Think gunge, think stripper bar next door*, think sirens and noisy neighbours (and it's only 8pm) and you are on the right track so far... We can't wait to leave in the morning. And rest assured we will be leaving in the morning, WITH OR WITHOUT Mum's bag!
*Don't panic, I am prone to exageration.
Canada update and photos on the way, just had to get this off my chest!
4 comments:
Oh no! I'm so sorry! That is just awful. With the "lost" luggage I know it's awful but you really do have to keep calling and calling and calling. So ridiculous. I'm sorry. There's life beyond New Jersey-- I promise!
Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help!
Oh dear that sounds dreadful. When My friend and I traveled to Thailand our stay in Surat Thani was a bit scary- I felt sure we were being eyed off for possible mugging, being too old for slave trade I decided. We had potato crisps and gin and tonic in our room for dinner as we couldn't make ourselves understood and could not read any of the signs about the place!
We did not have the inconvenience of losing our luggage but we did manage to laugh about it once we left and referred to it as our "adventure in Surat Thani"
Hope you find your luggage and your sense of humor in the luxury of a decent hotel room!
Good luck!
Oh that sounds awful. I should barricade the door if were you, Red Hen mentioned something about there being slave traders!
I am temoted to see you your bedbugs and raise you the new residents just movedin at Trash Towers!
Poor you. Its stuff like that that really can ruin a holiday but thankfully the bag showed up. My Mum just returned from overseas without her carry bag as it was stolen on the first day of her holiday. Camera charger, phone charger and worst of all- her drugs! Pain killers and all the usual, blood thinners, stuff for every bit of her that isn't working properly. Eventually they prescribed what she needed to get by but the bag never showed. Whoever took it probably felt no pain for days!
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