Airport Baggage Claim Areas

I got back from my vacay, where I went to hang with Alpa Chino, and if I had known the kind of horrific plague he was carrying I would have stayed away. Its all his fault! He made me sick and on my first day back at work I didn't stay the whole day. By 3:00pm I was done. I had to go home where I slept from 4pm yesterday till 6am this morning. True talk. I didn't even wake up for dinner (gasp!). I was laid out for 14hours straight. Tufia!

Sha, my trip was fun and I didn't do much sightseeing. I mean lets face it Chicago is like my other home and I probably know more about that place than many of the people who live there. It is my less cool, but not so bad, second home. Alpa Chino and I argue about which city is better, and NY always wins despite the subway rat problem. All you haters in other cities will be JUST FINE!

While I was there we went to Texas de Brazil, a rodizio style churrascaria (Brazilian steakhouse) in the city. By the time dinner was over, his wallet was a few hundred dollars lighter and we had both gained 10 pounds--each. If you have never experienced the cardiac arrest inducing experience that is a rodizio churrascaria--you must. In fact, I have been so inspired by the restaurant that I will be celebrating my birthday at a similar restaurant in NYC. These places are expensive (especially in big cities), but for the amount of food you end up getting they are well worth it. If you are attending my birthday dinner you have been warned. Make sure you have room in your stomach.

As far as the title of this post, airport baggage claim areas are a thing of beauty. Aesthetically they are ugly, except for the one at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas which has this casino vibe going on, but the cuteness that goes on at baggage claim is just awesome! (Love that word). On my return flight to New York, there were a few soldiers on the plane. They got a shout out from the pilot and a "thank you for keeping us free and God bless" from the stewardess. Sha, while we were at baggage claim waiting for luggage I heard this squeal behind me and turned to glare at the screaming person just in time to see a woman jump into the arms of one of the soldiers. She was crying and his eyes were glazed a bit like he was holding back tears. It was so cute, I even felt a tiny tiny tear come to my eye. I have never seen one of these reunions up close but it was so damn cute! I guess this reunion was more poignant than most wimpy civilian ones since the guy was coming home from war. Le sigh. Hopefully, whoever this soldier is, he is home to stay. Didn't Obama promise that he would take all the troops out of Iraq by August of this year? Methinks they have already started.

Welcome home soldiers!