Bahama Dreams. Dashed.

Dr. Boy and I don't really do vacation. I can think of one weekend with his friends, one with mine, and then a million family obligations and work trips. But a vacation with just the two of us, alone, not working or touring slums?

Never. In nearly 7 years.

Obviously, this has been a point of some contention. Finally, we agreed on a location, a time frame, a price, and we booked. I was so excited that I went out an bought a sun hat and a teeny tiny bikini. I agreed to do scary things (scuba, appearing in public in a bikini) to encourage him to go on this trip. And, he was such a good sport. He totally commited to a week of no work, lots of play, for the health and happiness of his girlfriend.

We don't always have the smoothest travel routine. I need to have the house clean, we both dawdle, and we're inevitably late and fighting. Not this time. Even after losing a day to a stomach bug, I was up early, on a tight schedule, and we walked out the door on time. We got stuck in traffic in Harlem, and I got out of the car, stood in the middle of 4 yelling truck drivers and begged them, please, I haven't had a vacation in 7 years and I'm going to miss my flight, please move your trucks. And, they did.

I called the airline from the highway twice to be sure that we were on time, and headed to the right place. Passports in hand. Bags in the trunk. Arrived an hour and a half before our flight. And, as I was running in to check up in, while he parked the car, JetBlue cancelled our flight.

That's it. No flight. I'm supposed to be on a beach right now, sipping a boat drink, getting ready for my scuba lesson. But, JetBlue won't fly me out til Wednesday.

I'm pretty proud of myself. In an hour in the airport, I only raised my voice a little, I didn't cry (which took WORK), and I only dropped the F-bomb once, and not at anyone in particular. I actually think Dr. Boy was far nastier. I was a model of restraint.

Not that anyone from the airline was any help at all. They were rude, and it turns out, they will do NOTHING to put you on another airline. They had our contact information, and though I've heard a million excuses, with my TrueBlue number they could have called us. If they had called us, we could have caught another flight, and been in the hotel room that I'm paying for tonight. Instead, I'm on my couch.

The good people at American Express have cobbled together a Plan B. It turned out to be cheaper to book new flights, add a day of hotel, and suck up the night we pay for as it sits empty. We're leaving early in the morning for a different airline and a different itinerary at a considerable expense. And, right now, I'm not sure that I believe this will happen.

One thing's for sure: we are never booking on JetBlue again. They canceled ever flight to the Bahamas because of "weather," as every other airline continued service. This is the third flight I've booked with them, and the third time they were the only airline affected by "weather." They're refunding our money, and I'm thinking of making a T shirt that says "JetBlue FUCKED my vacation - ask me how!" to wear if we ever get to the Bahamas.