THIS WEEK'S JOHNNY JET 10/16/2002
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Greetings! I hope you had a great week, I know I did. This
is how my week (Thurs-Monday) since I last wrote.
Thursday Morning:
I get this invite
to go to the
Long Beach Airport
for a
Jet Blue
press conference. I
accepted for two reasons, one, I am a fan of Jet Blue and
two, I have never been to the Long Beach Airport. Can you
believe that? I have always heard good things about
it, so I decided to check it out for myself. This
is what I observed:
LGB
is conveniently located between LA and Orange County. It's
only 24 miles south of LAX and twenty minutes with no traffic.
The signs on the I-405 and the streets were well marked so their
was no problem finding the small airport. Don't you hate when
cities don't have good signage to the airport?
The terminal
, from the outside, makes you feel like you have stepped back in
time. It was a great a feeling. They offer
valet parking right at the terminal, but I opted to self park
because it was only a two block walk. BTW: The cost to park
is $1/hour and $6 maximum/day. Not bad, wouldn't you say?
I showed up a few
minutes early and was able get a few shots of the new
Jet Blue commercial they were filming. Pretty cool to see
six authentic Las Vega$
showgirls on the wing
of the plane, don't you think? Jet Blue was smart to keep
the media's attention, they had the girls stand behind Jet Blue's president
and the Mayor of Long Beach during the press conference.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot... The reason they had a
press conference
was to kick off their
new service to Vegas. They offer five flights a
day and if you book in advance you can get fares for $19 each
way. Other cities they fly to are Oakland, ($29), and Salt
Lake City, ($49). With fares that low, it's hard to pass up,
but I had places to go and people to meet!
Thursday Afternoon:
Amber Airplane and I joined a
few of our friends
from Teen People magazine for a
late lunch
at the Ivy By The Shore. There are two Ivy's in L.A. (West
L.A. and Santa Monica, where we dined), and I have now been
to both and must say they are both terrific. The restaurant
is amazing, the service is ,impeccable and most of the all the food
is delicious. The Ivy by the shore is decorated in
a South Pacific motif, which is one of my favorite styles since
I'm all about the the islands. The only negative
about the Ivy is........it's expensive. Here's an example
of what I had: a bowl of the most delicous corn chowder
cost $12, (ouch), spaghetti and meatballs which I thought were only average
was a measly $22. (If you are going to spend $22 for spaghetti
go to Pasta Nostra in South Norwalk, CT, it can't be beat.)
For a banana split, which I really wanted, the waiter said is for at least
two people and no one else wanted will set you back $15, but from
the looks of it... it's worth it. It's funny how I'm not cheap
when it comes to dessert! On a scale of 1 to 5 and five being the
best...I give it a 4.8. (IVY AT THE SHORE 1541 Ocean Ave. (Colorado
Ave.) Santa Monica (310) 393-3113)
Friday Afternoon:
Do you ever get that feeling you are going
to run into someone you know before you do? Well,
I had a strong intuition that I was going to see someone on
my flight to New York. When I walked onto the plane
I noticed L.L. Cool J was sitting in the row behind me.
(No, L.L. wasn't in coach, he was in row 2, which meant I was
in row 1! Yeah baby! You know one of L.L.'s most popular
rap songs was, "I'm going back to Cali, Cali..., so when I saw him I started
singing as I put my bag in the overhead, "I'm going back to NY, NY...."
He just looked at me and smiled. Then he put his jacket
over his head and slept most of the flight. This was the good First
Class, (Yes, there is a bad First Class. For example, First Class
on a two-class plane usually is a lot worse than Business Class on
a 3 class plane. Why? For one reason, the seats don't go far
back, there is no foot rest, and no personal video, but, hey, who's complaining?
This was my first 'real' First Class in a while, (over six months).
I forgot how nice it was to stretch out so far that you can't even
touch the seat in front of you. Not to mention dine on a five course
meal, (Crab cakes,
butternut squash soup
, southwestern salad,
a little sorbet
to clean the pallet,
filet mignon
, and , yes of course , a Ben and Jerry's hot fudge sundae.
(Sorry, I didn't take picture of this because my seat mate
woke up from her long nap and I didn't want her to think that
I was a freak, like L.L. did. Anyway, although I have
been on the same plane as L.L. a few times and have seen him at parties,
I felt like my strong feeling to see someone I knew still wasn't
L.L. Cool J. (BTW: When he woke up, he was very cool
to everyone and signed every autograph. I was going to ask
him to take a picture but I kind of blew that in the beginning.
So, in search for a friend I took a stroll through business and
coach and looked around to see if I knew anyone. The plane
was 2/3 empty so it didn't take me long. I walked down
the whole plane and thought my intuition was wrong for the first
time in a long time, and then out comes from a lavatory is my friend
from LA, Adrienne. I was right! Can you believe that?
Well, it's true!
We talked for awhile and I asked her how she was getting to the city. She said, "I was going to take a tax." I said, "A taxi? Are you crazy? It's going to be raining and there could be a long line and for a few more dollars you can get a car service." I told her about Carmel, 212-666-6666, and Tel Aviv, 212-777-7777. I said, "When we land, I will call and find out how much more they charge for another stop." We landed at 11:30pm, I called and they said $10 extra. No problem. When we walked outside to the steady mist and chill of fall, you should've seen our face when we saw the taxi line . It honestly was the longest I have ever seen it. Adrienne said, "I am so happy I ran into you!" I looked like a travel hero, but that quickly went away when Carmel was a no show and continued to lie to me and said a car is on it's way. We waited for 35 minutes in the rain trying to find our driver. I called 3 times and the last time they put me on hold for over 15 minutes. I finally hung up and called Tel Aviv to see if they had any cars at JFK. They said, "NO!", which was a first for me, but not surprising after seeing that taxi line. Then, like in the movies, this brand spanking new Lincoln pulls up and I said to the driver how much to NYC making two stops, (one on the upper east side and the other the lower east side). He said, "$45 plus toll and tip." That's $30 a piece, (with tip and toll), and still is $8 cheaper than a taxi. For the record, I do NOT recommend taking a "gypsy" car service from the airport. (You know, the guys who are always hanging out by baggage claim saying you need a car.) But since I'm an experienced travel guy, I could tell this guy was legit and he was. His car was awesome, his service professional, and he was very friendly. If you want to hire Q Limo call Richard at 347-693-3230. He charges $45 to/from JFK, $35 to/from LGA, and $55 to/from EWR. I would much rather give him my business then those other lying jerks.
Connecticut:
I was in Connecticut because Monday marked
my Mom's
second anniversaryinto heaven. I thought
the world of my Mom, and I am proud to say that I was the
ultimate Mama's boy. I was so lucky to have my Mom for
31 years and there are times that a sound, smell, or a place will
instantly remind me of her and either put me in a great mood
or a sad one. If you lost someone close to you, I feel
your pain. I am sorry! Just keep hope and faith
alive and realize that they are still around, just on another
medium. I really did not think I would be able to go
on after my Mom passed, but as the old saying says, "What doesn't
kill you only makes you stronger," and that is the truth.
On Saturday, we had a Memorial Mass for my Mom and
we had
a lot of
our family
and
close
friends for
dinner
afterwards
at one of
her favorite
restaurants; Amber Jack's in SONO. The food was
great
and the company was better.
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