I had planned to publish a blog post Monday with photos from an amazing trip to Scotland. Longtime readers know I often like to do an end-of-summer trip, ideally somewhere on the cooler side. We’ve done Rocky Mountain National Park, Acadia, and then did Norway last year. My two older boys and I were going to fly to Edinburgh overnight on Thursday, and then see the area around there over the long weekend.
On Friday, we planned to see Edinburgh Castle. Then, we had booked a private “Potter Trail” tour to see the places that inspired J.K. Rowling. On Saturday I had booked a tour for the three of us to get driven around to several castles within a few hours’ drive of the city (my boys are very into castles!). On Sunday we were going to do a fancy afternoon tea (the Georgian Tea Room at The Dome).
I’d gotten home at 1 a.m. from Newark Airport on Thursday morning. After a too short night, I did a little work, got repacked, and took off with the boys shortly before 4 p.m. for our 8:15 p.m. United Airlines flight from Newark.
Things went badly from the start. Theoretically it takes 90 minutes to get to Newark Airport, but we got stuck behind a big accident on the PA turnpike (right before you get to the NJ Turnpike extension). The other side was completely closed, and we inched along for a full hour before we got to the site (about the time it was cleared). So all the extra time had evaporated, meaning we got to the parking lot at 6:45 p.m. for the 8:15 p.m. flight. This wasn’t terrible (though it had been nerve-wracking during the hour!) as we have TSA pre-check and weren’t checking bags. We got to the gate about 10 minutes before boarding. Phew, right?
But, once on the plane, things continued to go awry. We sat there for quite a while as they were waiting on a fuel truck. Apparently we had a different plane than planned, so they had to put more fuel in to get across the ocean. Fair enough, but I guess they didn’t have enough maintenance people working because it took forever. Then, once they started putting fuel on, it turned out something was wrong with the fuel.
So they got us off the airplane. We sat at the gate for a bit, at which point I learned that half the people on my flight were from the late flight the night before (around 11:30 p.m. — there are 2 flights per night) — it had been canceled, and they were rebooked to this. So they were not happy. Around 10:30 p.m. the gate agent announced that there was a new plane for us at a different gate, so we all went there.
There was no plane there. There wasn’t even an agent much of the time. The cynic in me believes they moved us because the later Edinburgh flight was about to board nearby and they didn’t want us all asking about it and getting agitated. We waited at the new gate for an hour, and then they announced that there was a plane for us at a different gate (pretty close to the old one).
It was already 11:30 p.m. so I was getting quite weary, given my lack of sleep the night before (and also knowing I wasn’t going to sleep that well on the plane…). The situation looked more promising, though, as there was actually a plane there. A crew boarded around 11:45 p.m. Even better! But then we kept waiting. There were vague announcements about needing catering to show up, and other such things, and they were waiting for that, but no one seemed to be working in that capacity after midnight…
Then, at 12:45 a.m., the agent came on the intercom and announced that they were canceling the flight for weather reasons. You should have heard the cry from the folks who’d been on the canceled flight the night before. I looked into rebooking and was offered the late flight on Saturday night (two days later — this is what happens when you cancel two nights’ flights in a row) — which wouldn’t have gotten us to Edinburgh until noon on Sunday. Given that we were leaving Monday, that wasn’t going to work. I might have gone for 2 days, but not for less than 24 hours. Also, at 12:45 a.m. on little sleep I wasn’t in a headspace to figure out other options (like trying to fly to London as early as possible the next day and then to Edinburgh or something, though that would have eaten up a lot of time too).
My boys and I drove home (in the rain — I will give that there was finally weather, though that wouldn’t have been a problem 4.5 hours earlier) from 1:15 a.m. to 2:45 a.m. That was a hard drive. In a bit of dark humor, I realized that 2:45 a.m. Eastern time is 7:45 a.m. in Edinburgh. It was just about when we would be landing. We had traveled long enough to get to Scotland but we hadn’t gotten anywhere.
So…no trip. My boys were pretty good sports about it. We regrouped on Friday (I spent a lot of the day half asleep — I never want to drive on the NJ Turnpike after midnight again!). My husband had been planning to take the younger 3 to visit family. I offered the boys the option of doing that but they didn’t want to get back in the car for a 6-hour trip. So the three of us hatched a plan to go out for a steak dinner on Friday, and I made us a booking for afternoon tea on Sunday at A Taste of Britain. We weren’t in the UK…but at least it was a taste?
That left the question of what to do Saturday. The boys talked and eventually agreed on the Bronx Zoo. Yes, really. So I got tickets, and we got back on the NJ Turnpike, went over the GWB, and arrived. We had a really nice time — the boys enjoyed the animals and I did too. I particularly liked the gorillas and a tree kangaroo had just had a baby and we got some adorable pictures.
Occasionally this weekend I’ve had moments of being upset but we did manage to have a good weekend. I did some reading, started a puzzle, went in the hot tub, and did a long run (8.2 miles). I do hope to retry the trip sometime because it was a really good itinerary. Like I was really proud of my travel planning skills! Sigh. Now, onward to start the school year…
Photos: Tree kangaroo plus baby, and then this is the closest I got to the UK this weekend….
Laura, that sounds horrible. I am so sorry.
I will say, the fact that your boys rallied and came up with a fun plan says a lot about your parenting. And you know they’ll always remember the trip where they were supposed to be in a castle and ended up in a zoo!
Out of curiosity, what age do you think is a good age to take your kids abroad? I know you will pull the younger ones along earlier because, you know. But if you could pick magical first trip abroad age?
@AW – thank you! They are pretty resilient. As for trips abroad, kind of depends where. From the US, Canada and the Caribbean/Mexican resorts are pretty much equivalent to traveling domestically – it’s not that hard, so whatever age you would travel by air in general. If you’re flying to Europe, though, the overnight flight and time change can be more challenging. We did not take Henry to Norway last summer (when he was 3). I would say maybe 6? You want the kid to be old enough to entertain him/herself if up at 4 a.m. jet lagged… Also kind of fun if they remember it! (Which they probably won’t before 6 or so).
Chiming in to say we took our six and a half year old (along with our nine and a half year old twins) to Ireland this past June and he did REALLY well. We had flown to Nova Scotia (we’re just outside of Toronto, in Canada) the year before and he did ok on the plane for two hours then, but did amazing this trip. I’d echo the “can be occupied by an ipad for hours” part in terms of judging if they’re ready. To be honest, that is a parenting milestone that no one talks about but is super helpful for the moments you need it. I ended up reading a book and a half on our daytime flight home from Ireland because he watched two movies and then took a quick nap!
@Beth Vos – yep, the hours-on-an-ipad thing is a definite breakthrough – and so helpful. The good news is that it tends to happen earlier than full literacy, so a kid who couldn’t necessarily read a long book to him/herself could still be occupied by games. We are thinking about when to take a long trip with Henry – we’re doing one this spring and if that goes well (5.25) we will kind of be able to go anywhere. And 6.5 would likely be even better. We shall see…
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
A trip to the Bronx Zoo, with your two young men, that’s not that bad a trade-off. But, castles, yeah, that’d be nice. Even with wee mousies.
@Barb – the animal life in the castles would be different for sure!
Oh man! What a bummer! I have a friend who did an extensive Scotland trip with her family this summer and said it was all quite amazing, especially the history! My sister lives in Ireland, so Scotland is definitely on my list sometime to tack on to a visit. I hope you get to do your trip again sometime soon!
@Grateful Kae – I hope so too! I went in 2009 with my husband and we had a great time touring castles, the beautiful northern landscape, scotch distilleries, etc.
I can’t believe you were not compensated. It might be worth looking into your EU rights, there still seems to be a transitionary period in place: https://euflightcompensation.com/country/scotland/
I can recommend something lile flightright, it is very easy to file with them and only costs a fee if successful if you don’t want the hassle of doing it yourself through the airline.
That sounds AWFUL! I would’ve probably lost my mind.
And what about the money you lost on hotel nights and tours, does the airplane carrier reimburse you for that?
*air carrier 😉
@Maggie- ha ha, nope. I got my money back when I canceled the flight (like $, not trip credit) but I prepaid the hotel to get a discount, so that’s gone. Plus the tours can’t be refunded within such a short window (which I understand – the guide had to book the day and everything).
I am so sorry that happened. My daughter and I recently endured a similarly terrible travel experience but it was coming home from a trip, which definitely feels different. It did take us two days to take two 1-hour flights and involved a night is the worst hotel in Montreal. Travel issues are really no fun at all!
@Gillian – I think the boys would have been more upset with the delay on the way home because school starts Tuesday – they’d prefer not to miss day 1… but yep, travel issues are really frustrating…
Oh man!!!! That is a big bummer!!!!!!! The Potter tour especially sounds amazing. Good on everyone for rallying, and finding other fun plans. But still…cannot imagine it was very fun to unpack a bag of clothes you had been imaging you’d be wearing in Scotland!!!!
@Molly – yep, the unpacking was sad…as is looking at the itinerary which is still sitting on my desk 🙁
Oh no! Always appreciate your glass half full outlook.
Oh I’m so sorry, Laura, and I can relate — I also had a travel nightmare at Newark, last week, and ended up spending the better part of a day there. We finally got out, but let’s just say your kids were much chiller about it than mine were!
Oh no! That’s so sad! If you regroup and rebook, let me know. A coffee would be lovely!
Im taking note of that itinerary for future me! Sorry it didn’t work out but it sounds like you managed to have a good time anyway. And thanks for mentioning the hot tub! We don’t really use ours in the summer but it’s finally gotten cool enough so maybe I will take a dip tonight.
@Omdg- the hot tub has been the quiet winner of the summer – I wasn’t sure we’d use it, but after dark when it’s cooler – definitely!
Oh man I am sorry you missed the trip! That itinerary looks amazing too. Edinburgh is a brilliant city for a short break – I had a great weekend there leaving Friday eve and returning Sunday… the short trip felt long enough to see lots. Although it was only a one hour flight for me. I hope you get to do this trip sometime.
FYI if your boys are into castles you should come to wales… wales has more castles per square mile than any country in Europe. Scotland and Ireland just have better publicity.
@Rachel — ooh, Wales, noted. Hadn’t really considered that!
Ugh that really really sucks. All that stress sitting on the turnpike and rushing to get to the flight on time to board and then it all falls apart!! Gah. I hope you can go another time. It sounds like the boys handled the disappointment really well.