Rookies in First Class

8:00am flight means not sleeping the night before.  I think I might have got a couple of hours of sleep.  I’m always worried that I won’t get up in time to catch my flight.  We left the hotel at 5:30am and it was a quick 5 minute drive and we were at Terminal 1.  We used the self check-in kiosk and made our way to the First Class check-in line.

When Karen and I got our NEXUS cards, one of the things that they did was scan our eyes.  Instead of having to show our NEXUS card, they just scanned our eyes and we cleared customs.  Lucky for us, Pearson International Airport uses this.  It took us honestly, one minute to scan our eyes and go through customs.  That NEXUS card is the best $50 I’ve ever spent. 

We were able to enjoy almost an hour in the Maple Leaf Lounge.  This lounge is for people flying First Class.  There were lots of choices for breakfast … toast, cereal , yogurt, muffins, etc.  The lounge was very quiet and subdued.  After picking up a bunch of free magazines in the lounge, we headed back downstairs and got ourselves seated in  our First Class seats.  The flight from Toronto to Chicago was a quick 1-1/2 hours.  The seats were comfy.  Where there would normally be three people seated, there were only two.  And I could actually cross my legs.

Once we landed in Chicago, we had approximately half an hour to get over to the B concourse for our second flight.  This flight is long … nine hours.  The plane is a 777 and it’s huge.  Check-in was so smooth for First Class.  We even had our own door on the plane, none of the Economy Class people even came through our cabin!  In First Class, it’s three aisles of two seats each.  We got settled in our seats and the flight attendant came by to ask us if we would like water or orange juice.  I can get used to this.

“Miss Piotrowski what would you like … the Mahi Mahi or the Pecan Crusted chicken”.  I went with the chicken and it was fabulous.  Real silverware, linen placemat, linen napkin and a double shot of Canadian Club.  (Joan … no CR so I went with the CC!)  12:01 pm … hang on .. hot towels .. I’ll be right back.

We spent the flight reading, napping, playing on the computer, watching movies, eating, etc.  We landed in Maui at 2:45pm Hawaii time and quickly realized that we were overdressed.  It was 86°F and sunny.  We picked up our bags and headed over to Hertz to get our … red Mustang convertible.

It was awesome, driving down the highway with the top rolled down on our way to our first week’s accommodations at the Kahana Village ($255 USD / night).  We are in Unit 4 and it’s a beautiful condo.  We’ve got two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a sectional couch and a fabulous view of the ocean.

We had a quick dip in the pool, watched the sunset from the pool, and then headed to Lahaina to see the Holiday Lighting of the Banyan Tree.  It was stunning to see this giant tree all lit up with Christmas lights.  There was even a snow zone where kids were throwing snowballs at each other.  I just left that kind of weather back home.  We left the Banyan Tree park and walked over to Penne Pasta to enjoy what seemed to us a late night dinner.

Everyone decided to crash early since it’s been a very very long day.  I am sitting here finishing up the blog, stretched out on the couch, listening to the waves.  Aloha.