The Blue was new.... at least to me

I didn't know it when I took the photo that this man is the
father of twin girls who would be seated with the rest of
the family (boy 3, and girl 5, and Mama) across the aisle
from me and who I would later help disembark in Bogota.

This is the first time I’ve flown on jetBlue, but they offer a direct flight from Orlando, FL to Bogota and back. No stopping in the MIami crazzzzziness, no layovers waiting to get another flight on to Bogota or from Miami to someplace else. Yippee!

Look at all that legroom!
And the leather seats!

And their promise about the seats is all they say it is!

When I was trying to decide how to go back to Colombia, I looked at all the options. Because it is harder and harder to redeem air miles, it hardly matters whether I fly on one airline or another, they all seem to arrive in Bogota after 9 p.m. (even from MIami) and so I began looking for flights from Orlando. American Airlines, Spirit and Continental all have flights, but they have at least one stop. 

Then I needed to determine how to get to the airport. MCO (Orlando International) is about 2.5 hours from Lake City and while JAX (Jacksonville International) is only a little more than an hour away, the cost is huge to fly out of there and connections are awkward. I found a shuttle service operating from Ocala (Florida’s horse country if you are not familiar with the name) which is also about an hour from the house. Last time I drove to Orlando, I parked the car for two weeks and drove home again for the same cost as a one-way bus fare to Orlando. But as I am going to be gone longer this time, parking the car was not the best choice this time.

Once I took a bus to Ft. Lauderdale to get on Spirit which flies direct from there to Bogota. I had to pay for everything except using the loo... turned out not to be such a bargain after all. And the bus ride was horrendously long. After flying out of Orlando, it will be my first choice most of the time and apparently I’m not alone with that idea... the TSA lines are 30 minutes long during the week - the only drawback.

The shuttle turned out to be a great idea. I got a ride to my pick-up spot and then was dropped off about an hour and half later right at my airline. They will pick me up and take me back to the same spot, and if I have to wait for a ride home, there is a fancy restaurant and even hotel accomodations if I have to wait too long!

The full moon was rising (you can see it just above
the wingtip) and as night fell, the moonlight danced
on the silver wings of the jet - a lovely sight.

What else do I now love about jetBlue? Free entertainment, seats with plenty of room, free snacks, mileage points, cheerful flight attendants and a flight that gets me to and from Bogota directly!! The price was very reasonable, too.... so if you are thinking about coming to visit me in Colombia, maybe the Blue is for you.

(No, they are not paying me to say all this, but I hope they will check in and find out they have a very satisfied customer.)

NOTE: I found a 'boutique' hotel in Bogota for a really decent rate and will take some pictures tomorrow in the daylight. Then it's back to Barichara and my project list. And certain special people will understand the fascination with twins - more on that later.