Musings of a Wandering Soul: Out with the '13, In with the '14!

Well now that we're about three weeks into the new year, guess there's no better time to recap I ushered in the glorious 2K14...

Before I headed home for the holidays, six of us (Cassie, her boyfriend Ryan, Hallie, Phetsada, Tyrell, and myself) decided that we would all meet up in Savannah to ring in the new year. This was received with immediate excitement and helped make the last few weeks before break fly by. Since I was going to be flying back south prior to New Year's Eve, it was decided that I would fly into Atlanta, get picked up by Phetsada, and then ride with her and Hallie to Savannah. At the same time, Cassie, Ryan, and Tyrell would then come up from Florida and meet us.

Said plan was almost ruined...

As everyone knows, the Midwest during the winter months is horrendous. Snow, freezing rain, and blustery winds are always possible. One day it may be 60 - the next it will be 4 (true story - actually happened while I was home). To try and cut down on any delays, I ended up staying with Kevin the night before I flew out. He lives approximately 10 minutes from O'Hare, so getting to the airport proved to be no problem. Now the plane that we actually took was another story...

Chicago --> Charlotte. 1 hour 30 minutes layover in Charlotte. Charlotte --> Atlanta. Pretty straight forward when everything is one time and runs as scheduled. If only I could've been so lucky. From the time that I checked in for my flight, I knew that it was delayed. How long that delay was remained unknown until I reached my gate. Instead of leaving at 6:00 as planned and relaxing a bit in Charlotte, we were now scheduled to leave at 6:40. Not horrible, but definitely not ideal.

Instead of actually leaving Chicago at 6:40, we started boarding our plane at this time. While we were boarding, those little fluffy flurries started to fall from the sky. Just what we needed! This of course caused the plane to begin to ice, which meant the de-icing truck had to come and spray down the entire plane with greenish-blue gel so that we could finally leave. Gone was my 1 hour 30 minutes lay over in Charlotte. Potentially gone were my chances of making it to Atlanta that night - only time would tell...

As we descended into Charlotte, it was about 10:10. My flight to Atlanta left at 10:25. In what may or may not have been a record deplaning effort by all involved, I was able to make it to my connecting flight with a few minutes to spare. Even though some sprinting and small child hurdling were executed, I was on my way safely to Atlanta. Upon landing in Atlanta, I was picked up by Phetsada and spent the night at her house, eager to make our way to Savannah the next day.

As the sun graced the horizon on New Year's Eve, Hallie came and picked both Phetsada and myself up and we made the 4 1/2 hour trip south without any incident. We got all checked into our hotel, which was located about 1/2 a mile from the downtown area where many of the night's festivities were going to take place. Eventually, our other three compadres joined us and we started the celebrations. One of the great things about Savannah is the fact that alcoholic beverages are allowed to be consumed out on the streets. This makes nights out a lot cheaper as pregaming takes on a whole new meaning!

We ordered some pizza, had some beverages, and then prepared ourselves for a great night out. The streets were teeming with hundreds of people, excited to bring in the new year correctly. Sequin glittered and spirits soared as everyone was ready to say "Goodbye" to 2013! We ended up down by the Savannah River around midnight to take in a very impressive fireworks show. When it was all said and done, 2014 had graced us with its presence!

The rest of the time spent in Savannah was unfortunately in the comforts of our hotel room as the weather decided not to cooperate on the first day of the new year. Dreary skies and rainy conditions forced us to take in some college football (darn!). We did end up heading out for dinner that night to a pretty awesome restaurant called Spanky's that has some amazing chicken tenders! Following dinner, we attempted to create a night scene - but to no avail. We ended up playing some darts, having a few drinks, and then heading back for an "early" night.

2014 was brought in with some pretty wonderful people in a pretty awesome place. This year promises to hold many big things for me. Many of them are still in the works, so as they unfold, I'll be sure to share them here. At this point, finishing up my current year of AmeriCorps strong is priority number one! Here's to a great 2014!!