The trip to Columbus didn't start well on Monday, but we managed (traveled with KH). We had booked a flight with American Airlines for $280. Although United is my preferred airline (due to miles accumulation), United wanted $1100 for a nonstop flight from IAH to CMH. Our AA itinerary had us connect through DFW, but upon arriving at the airport, our flight kept getting delayed by an hour. Finally, the flight was cancelled. The plane had mechanical failure, and there were no more planes left.
I stood in line to have our itineraries re-issued. Luckily we were only traveling for leisure and weren't in a hurry, per se, to get to Columbus. I tweeted to @AmericanAir, stating, "this blows!" They requested I direct message our confirmation number; within 5 minutes, I received a reply that I was confirmed on another flight to CMH, and that all I had to do was collect our boarding passes from a gate agent. I was quite impressed because this all transpired via twitter.
About 15 minutes later I reached the front of the line. I showed the gate agent the direct message conversation. She pulled the record locator and noticed we were actually flying to Chicago and then on to Columbus. However, the ORD flight was delayed, so she said, "You'll never make your connection in Chicago." She finally found us a US Airways flight (connected through Charlotte), which had about the same arrival time in Columbus, so we were set.
I should note there are two complaints I have about US Airways. The first is that they don't have a mobile app. When checking in, you need a paper boarding pass. I don't know how I am going to be able to handle this when I don't have access to a printer and am busy traveling for work. The second complaint is that their boarding passes don't have the landing time. I had to ask the US Airways gate agent what time the plane landed in Charlotte, just to be sure we were able to make our connection. The landing time isn't posted at the gate where you're taking off either. However, they do have the nicest airplanes I've ever flown.
Our US Airways trip went smoothly without any problems. From IAH to CLT, we were lucky that the flight wasn't full, and we had a row to ourselves. Luckily I have been to Charlotte's airport recently in April for work. It's not a big airport, but definitely nice with its food court and a live piano player! We hung out at Chili's, which was ok. It wasn't my first choice, but we needed outlets because all the outlets in the food court had been deactivated for some unknown, odd reason. I will definitely need to keep this in mind for future trips. From CLT to CMH, we sat in the aisle seats next to each other.
When we landed, we went straight from the airport to Fourth Street Grill, where the American Outlaws were having their night-before-game-day party. The party was ok. It was good seeing people again that I've seen on the road, but I have to admit sometimes it's hard just chit chatting with people. One nice thing about having so many games for Houston Dynamo is that you really get to build meaningful friendships, and it's much harder to do this in the US Soccer world due to so much spacing between games. Remembering people I had just met in June is difficult for me, as I am so bad when it comes to names and faces.
After the party, we went to a pizza place and headed to the hotel. MF had already checked into the hotel earlier (met us at the bar). We called it a night around 2-3AM. The next morning we left around noon and headed to German Village. It's a quaint area of town. We walked the streets, which were real cobblestone! We felt sorry for anyone wearing heels or perhaps would be too drunk to walk. We had lunch at High Beck Tavern and were joined by Rebecca, a KC Cauldron member. I had met her in March when I traveled to Kansas City for the Olympics CONCACAF semi-final and final.
From the tavern, we went to get tailgate supplies and then the American Outlaws tailgate. AO Columbus did an EXCELLENT job of setting up. They had a beer trailer (free beer), huge screen projector for American football, a DJ, and merchandise tents set up. It was good seeing people again, but probably in the future I will not show up to a tailgate 6 hours prior to kickoff when I don't have tailgate chairs, a canopy, etc.
The game itself was incredible. Words cannot truly describe all of the things that happened. The moment of silence for those who lost their lives on 9/11 was impactful. It's hands down the longest moment of silence I've ever experienced at a soccer game. The section itself was jammed packed, and typically we are the only section in the stadium on its feet. Not in Columbus. EVERY section in the sold-out stadium stood for the full 90, and to hear nearly 24,000 people chant "USA!" in unison is something that cannot be put into words.
After the game, we headed to a late night eating place called Tip Top Kitchen. It's surprisingly very difficult to find a place open in Columbus downtown late at night. We were so tired though that we just quickly ate (had skipped dinner) and left. We had to be up at 6AM for our flights, which were pretty uneventful.
Next stop - Kansas City for USMNT!
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