Tinbergs on Tour

7/3/2026 – Louisville, KY – Partly Cloudy – Warm – 92F

It was, as expected, a long night. The noisy AC was still running when I got up.

We were told that the busses would depart the hotel for SDF at 9:00 AM.  I was up around 6 AM so we would be ready to go down to breakfast in the restaurant (second floor) at 7:30 AM when the place opened. The instructions were to bring down our suitcases and keep them with us while we had breakfast.  Instead, when we got down there, Brody and crew took our bags to the bus. I was not in the best frame of mind after two sleepless nights plus all of the craziness over the last few days – nobody’s fault but my own. 

Walker's Exchange was packed with our fellow cruisers, one of which told us “good luck” as he was exiting the restaurant.  We found a nice table for two against the window. I ordered a waffle with fresh strawberries and a coffee and Ellen has two eggs. Service was slow even though I think the restaurant brought in extra help.  The manager actually stopped by our table to tell us our food was in progress and she would make sure we got it as quickly as possible.   

The food did come soon after and my waffle was not covered with fresh strawberries but with super sweet strawberry pie filling. It was too late to do anything about it so I simply ate the topping free parts of the waffle.

We left the hotel at 9:00 AM and headed to our bus. Our flight AA4704 had a 11:06 AM departure time and we would probably get to the airport around 9:30 AM.  When we got there, the bus did a strange thing; the driver passed by all the departure gates, left the airport, got back on the same highway, and returned about five minutes later.  Maybe, there was no place to park the big bus and unload all the baggage.  He did pull over and unloaded all those bags by himself (a $5 tip).

SDF is a small airport and all of the gates are in the same terminal. American Airlines is next to United. We printed boarding passes and bag tags at the kiosk and dropped the bags off.  The TSA Pre-Check entrance was not very far and there were very few people in line.  In fact, a TSA Agent was helping move the bags through the scanner. Ellen was swabbed for explosives and I just went through the metal detector. Usually, I get the special scanner but not today.

SDF was all decked out for America250. 

Ellen checked out a store in the area near the gates and found a Kentucky T-shirt on sale (I certainly don't have one of those).

Our gate, B2, was the first one beyond the security area. We found a seat and waited for the boarding call.

The incoming plane arrived on time and was cleaned and ready for us to board. 

We are once again on an Embraer 175 and in 19C and 19D Cabin Extra Seats.  The plane pushed on time, was put into take off configuration, 

and soon, because it’s a small airport, we were in the air.  

The flight time is about 90 minutes so the only service is water and snacks (I chose the Biscot instead of pretzels). 

The flight tracker (available through AA's free WiFi)  indicated a storm free flight path.

The flight was pretty smooth as we passed over Lake Michigan over the North Shore Suburbs (maybe over our place)

and continued so until we were on approach – must have been windy because the planes wings tipped a few times and we also got a few decent bumps.  

The plane landed on time and parked at G8.  This part of ORD looked unfamiliar and also involved a good walk to Baggage Claim.  This time, both bags came out.  I responded to a text from American Taxi that we had our bags.  It only took about five minutes for our cab to appear.  It was strange to be flying home in the morning on a domestic flight.

Traffice was light (it was morning) and the 30 minute ride home was quick.  The doorman helped us with our bags.  The condo was warm but all the plants survived.

It was certainly a different kind of cruise.