Lounges of DFW

Merry Christmas from DFW!

Today we began our final vacation of the year!!  It is good to finally get out of the house and see something new!  (eye roll).  We are embarking on a Caribbean cruise featuring mostly the Lesser Antilles.  Of course, since the ship departs tomorrow, we set off a day early because…reality!!

It was a short flight (just to Fort Lauderdale), but with the expected crowds traveling, we followed the recommendations to leave plenty early.  OK, we left plenty early because we have lounge access and we do our best to over use them.  Checking bags, we headed first to the AMEX Centurion Lounge.  This is—in some ways—one of our favorite lounges.  And also most annoying.  What we like MOST about Centurion is that the food is much better (it’s like a meal), the bar drinks are the best (good Single Malts and nice mixed drinks).  What we like least about it is that it seems to always be crowded, lines to get in, lines for food, and frequently lines for the bar.  And good luck finding a seat!

Theresa trying on a new (volunteer) job. 
MMMMaybe.

After a nice meal, we sauntered over to the Capital One Lounge.  This is a very nice runner up.  We like the grab and go options.  They have prepackaged half-sandwiches, and little bags for snack mixes.  We enjoy grabbing a meal for the evening.  They have a decent bar, and they have some self-serve sodas, but only weird options (stuff you’ve never heard of) and no sparkling water.  The food is OK, and all single serving, so just grab what you want.  But they are a tad fancy which means they put weird things in good stuff, like “bruschetta” on the Mac and Cheese, and lawn weeds on the main dishes.  (Why?  Just…WHY?)  They have nice dessert options, like those little cream puffs that are usually still frozen (profiteroles?).  Not sure why anyone thaws them, to be honest.  Theresa says the seating is better (maybe), but the bathrooms are ridiculous.  There are four single-person restrooms which they try to clean in between each person.  But the cleaner takes almost as long as the user, so there are normally long lines to use them.

Finally, it was time to head to our departure terminal and the Admiral’s Club.  Best part of the Admiral’s Club?  Easy self-serve soda so we can fill up our “water” bottles.  Also, they typically have good soups and they really stepped up their game with the meat and cheese trays.  So, we got some cheese for the road.

Dinner and a movie!

Lounged out, we headed for our flight.  It was a nice flight, with some food and drinks and a little entertainment.  Theresa enjoyed “Elf” and Bill enjoyed watching Theresa laugh through it!  

Dinner!

Room # 100 pi

Our hotel was something like Hilton by Ikea, as all of the furnishings looked sort of Ikea-esque and had that sparse but chic feel.  We’re not chic.