My brother lives in Burlington Vermont with his wife and daughter. Vermont is a rural state with a population of approximately 640,000 residents (only Wyoming has less people). It is impossible to fly directly from Europe to Vermont. When I visit my relatives I fly via a city that has a direct connection from Ireland and an onward connection to Burlington International Airport (the once a week flight to Toronto Canada renders it an international airport). Two years ago I visited from Chicago. Last year was via Montreal (only an hour’s drive away). This year I almost selected New York as my departure point until I looked at how catastrophic hotel prices were in Big Apple. Checking which US cities had connections to Burlington my choices were Atlanta, Denver, Seattle or Philadelphia. Philadelphia was the option I selected – the flight times and prices were the best on offer – plus it was a city I had always wanted to visit.
The journey to Philadelphia was rather stressful. At least the start of it.
Flying from Ireland involves US pre-clearance so you are already in the US before the flight departs and you land in a domestic terminal upon arrival. I was informed that I had been ‘randomly selected’ for additional TSA security screening.
My bags were opened and every item was swabbed and tested. Then I was patted down in a thorough fashion. Very thorough. Thankfully my clothes remained on but every inch of me was inspected. Front and back. Up and down. It was nice of him to give me advance warning what he was doing at each stage I guess?
Afterwards came border security where the stone-faced gentleman questioned me. I had my brother’s address on my phone to provide to him. Eventually I was let through while a framed picture of Donald J Trump smirked at me from the wall behind the desk.
Arriving at Philly I decided that if I would take the public bus to the hotel in the town of Essington close to the airport from where I would depart for Vermont the next day. I boarded it like Sandra Bullock in ‘Speed’ and looked ay my fellow passengers. Some had seen better days. Most in fact. When I disembarked I didn’t waste time. There was an eerie vibe about the neighbourhood. Silent but a little sinister.
After checkin I went to the 24 hour New Philly Diner next door for a Philly cheesesteak and broccoli (the waitress asked if I wanted fries or Mac and Cheese as a side. The human in me craved either or both. However the Type 1 diabetic in me selected the broccoli).
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