Wednesday evening of this past week I had to fly out to Syracuse, NY for a work meeting on Thursday morning. A supplier that I work with is located in the Finger Lakes region so I have taken this trip many times. It is never a great flight because it is on a tiny plane which tends to be uncomfortable but I had no idea what I was in for this time.
The Bad
The early evening flight was sold out so I was on a 9:45 flight which meant that after picking up my rental car and driving to Auburn I would likely be at my hotel by midnight. It wasn't going to be great but not that bad either.
Unfortunately my flight was delayed but since it wasn't too bad of a delay so I wasn't that concerned. After boarding the flight the pilot apologized that the air conditioning wasn't working. It was absolutely miserable - think 100 degrees with no air circulation. A baby in the back of the plane was screaming his head off most of the flight and although it made the situation worse I really couldn't blame him. On top of that the gentleman sitting beside me didn't feel limited to his own seat area and was almost sitting on top of me.
About half an hour into the flight I was trying to concentrate on my book and ignore my discomfort when the pilot came back on the PA. Due to some maintenance issues we had to head back to Detroit. A few minutes later the pilot came back to let us know that since they needed to burn off some fuel before the approach we needed to circle for a while before landing. After over an hour of miserable flying I was back where I started. 
At first the air conditioning of the terminal was a welcome change but quickly the drastic change in temperature started to give me terrible chills. After an hour and a half of the flight saying we were about to board a new flight we finally managed to get on a new flight and head toward Syracuse. Lucky for me we had the same seat assignments so Mr. I Don't Care About Your Personal Space was next to me again.
When we finally arrived I was thrilled that I had only packed a carry on and didn't have to wait for any baggage. I also nearly kissed the rental car agent because she had kept the agency open over two hours after they normally close to wait for our flight. I got on the road and made it to my hotel in Auburn at nearly three in the morning.
I've flown a lot, but this was my worst flight experience. Don't get me wrong, I've had flights delayed longer or cancelled and stuck someplace for a day. But in each of those instances I've made the best of things by enjoying some extended sightseeing somewhere or relaxing and reading at an airport cafe. In short, my original plans were derailed but I wasn't miserable. On this trip I was just physically feeling miserable the entire time, plus I knew I would only be able to catch a few hours of sleep before a full day of work where I needed to be interacting with people all day.
The Good
This post isn't all doom and gloom. After making it through the day on Thursday I went out for dinner at a lovely place called the Sherwood Inn in Skaneateles with my coworkers. The Sherwood Inn is across the street from a park overlooking Skaneateles Lake so before we sat down for dinner I wandered around a bit and took a few pictures. It was really beautiful and I wished I had some time to enjoy the lake.
Back at the Sherwood Inn I had a wonderful dinner. The restaurant's history dates back to 1807 when it was a stagecoach stop. The building itself was charming with blue clapboard and shingle siding and black shutters. Inside it was just as quaint and we ate our dinner on their Lakeview Porch and watched the sun set.
Our food was delicious. We started by sharing some appetizers including the Dynamite Calamari, which were crispy fried and tossed with hot peppers, Sriracha chili vinaigrette, cilantro and lime, and the Sherwood Kettle Chips, which were freshly made and served with melted blue cheese, bacon and bacon-ranch dipping sauce. Both were incredible and I would not be able to pick a favorite.
For dinner I had the Ommegang Steamed Seafood entree which consisted of littleneck clams, shrimp and mussels steamed in a Belgian Ale with fingerling potatoes, cherry tomatoes, yellow peppers and Swiss chard. The seafood was cooked perfectly and I loved the dish. I was stuffed after dinner but made the mistake of looking at the dessert menu anyway and couldn't help ordering the Strawberry-Rhubarb Lemon Tart. It was a lemon tart with a strawberry rhubarb topping that was out of this world. I think I need to try to make something like this at home sometime.
The Ugly
After a my wonderful meal the stress of the flight into town had been replaced with simple exhaustion. I got into my car to drive to my hotel near the airport looking forward to getting a full night of sleep before flying home on Friday morning. That was not to be, however. During my drive, my airline called with a pre-recorded message to inform me that my flight home was cancelled. I didn't pick up since I was driving and by the time I was able to reschedule my flight everything was booked up except for the 6:10 am flight. My dreams of sleep flew out the window. I can't explain how defeated I felt especially knowing that I was going to have to be at work late on Friday. I ended up making it through the day (it was not pretty!) and needless to say that when I made it home at nine in the evening I crashed. Hard. Really hard.
Looking back (now that I've slept!) it's a funny story and I am going to be getting some frequent flier mileage compensation which takes a little sting out of things. What was your worst flying experience? Delays, cancellations, redirected flight: I want to hear!