We flew out Saturday January 7 pretty late in the day. My brother, my parents, and I all met at ATL just after 12:30pm for a 3:45 flight, normally more than enough time to hit the lounge, but my priority pass only gets in 2 guests, so that was a no go. As it was, we grabbed a meal on concourse E where our flight was leaving from, since it would be the last chance we had for substantial food until we were in California.
Down at E32, we had nice views of aircraft taxiing out. No idea where the A321 was going, probably either Charlotte or Phoenix given that it’s a A321.
Our aircraft arrived from JFK just after 3:00. Today it was N536JB. Man, talk about a history with this aircraft. I remember very well watching it land at LAX with the gear sideways and come to a stop. I’ll take that as a sign that she’s a tough old bird.
JetBlue Airways Flight 720
ATL-JFK
Depart ATL - 3:48pm (was actually 5:08)
Arrive JFK - 6:04pm (was actually 7:03)
Airbus A320
N536JB
“Canyon Blue”
I have no idea what delayed us so long, but it was nearly an hour after starting boarding before we pushed back.
My dad and I were in row 18. My brother and mother were right behind in 19.
Finally out and heading to runway 27R.
N514DN was going very far tonight to South Africa. My journey on her back in February was much shorter, only to Detroit.
N381FR was loading up to Denver. My whole body hurts just thinking about spending 4 hours in those hard seats.
Don’t see too many A330neos in Atlanta, much less this one.
But you do see A350s, and that is just fine
Speaking of rare catches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar9qSUDQOm4
Video of takeoff. Meh, I’ve had better. Love the sound of those V2500s.
It was a pretty nice night in Atlanta.
The airport as we turned back on the PHIIL 3 departure.
It was a nice night in the aircraft too.
Beautiful sunset. By the time we got to New York, the sun was down, and we were over the ocean, so there wasn’t much to see or photograph. Because of the late departure, our connection to Los Angeles was pretty tight. Thankfully, there were several other Georgia people doing the very same thing.
We didn’t have super far to go. We arrived form Atlanta at gate 20, and our flight to Los Angeles was leaving from gate 28. It was almost like something out a movie. We walked right off one plane, and right on the next without anything in between.
JetBlue Airways Flight 1723
JFK-LAX
Depart JFK - 8:00pm (was actually 8:27)
Arrive LAX - 11:32pm (was actually 11:07)
Airbus A321
N986JB
“Mike India November Tango”
This was quite a coincidence. Our flight number was the same as the date.
Like I said, we walked right on.
I was back in 24A for this flight.
I was expecting a very large queue for runway 31L, but it was only 3 deep. Not too bad.
I figured with the flight being so late that there wouldn’t be much to see after we got out of New York, which was right, but man, there were some spectacular views on this night.
JFK as we turned back to the north before turning west.
Just a beautiful night.
Once we got away from that, there wasn’t much of anything to see besides the tops of clouds.
Thankfully I had football and internet to keep me company. And that was about it for the flight. I spent 5 hours watching tv and surfing the internet. No wonder I feel so at home in the sky. I would have liked to have gotten up to visit the mid-cabin pantry more than once, but I didn’t want to disturb my seat mates since they were strangers.
Eventually we got to LA and could see lights again. As expected, we landed in the south on runway 25L.
The most lights I had seen in 5 hours.
In to gate 59 at terminal 5. I haven’t stepped in this terminal since 2006. It’s been a while.
We were staying at the Hyatt Regency at LAX, so we didn’t have far to go. We were all still on Eastern Time, so needless to say, we were quite tired, but also hungry. After getting some food, we all split and went to bed.
Saturday we had a day to explore Los Angeles, and meet up with some family that lives out there that we haven’t seen for nearly 3 years.
This was the view from my hotel room, so you can probably figure out what I spent some free time doing.
Our way in to town started with the new K line. That will be even better when it finally makes it to the airport.
And apparently gangbangers are still allowed here too
Lunch came at Grand Central Market. It’s a shame I couldn’t spend more time here. I would have tried everything.
What a fantastic name for a place.
I ended up getting some chicken and waffles from a place, and it was really good
Next stop was the Last Bookstore. Very interesting place.
You could get lost in here for a while if you had the desire.
Back to the Metro we went because there was a CFP event at the LA convention center.
Fan Central was pretty cool with some stuff to do.
For example, a display of all the New Year’s Six bowl trophies.
There was also an entire area to play with puppies. More places need this.
This miniature field hosted a few things in the time we were there.
But most importantly was a UGA pep rally. I was in the Redcoat Band for 3 years, so I played my share of these things.
There was also this menacing figure which I found humorous.Once we wrapped up, we took the Metro to North Hollywood to meet some family for dinner at a place called Alcove.
I’m writing this about 2 hours before lunch, and it’s making things difficult.
Then came Monday, game day.
Starting with a quick and easy breakfast at the hotel. The weather was less-than-ideal to venture out.
But I was able to visit the top floor and get a few shots. They took off this direction all day. My brother and I were planning to walk to get the rental car, but since it was raining, we took shuttles to and from the airport, even though it did take some time.
So-Fi is an interesting stadium.
We were among the earliest arrivals to get out of the rain.
Getting closer.
TCU band
UGA Redcoat Band
Game time.
Nuts. I was not expecting it to go this way.
Back to back. Go Dawgs!
By this point it was getting late. It can best be summed up as this: hotel, dinner, bed.
I slept maybe 3 hours that night. Our first flight home Tuesday was early.
Terminal 5 even at this early hour had a good number of people.
JetBlue Airways Flight 224
LAX-JFK
Depart LAX - 6:30am (was actually 6:24)
Arrive JFK - 2:59pm (was actually 2:09)
Airbus A321
N976JT
“Mint to Soar”
We pushed a few minutes early and headed to runway 7R. I can’t say that I’ve ever done that before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtrfBYgOHa8
Video of takeoff, or some of it. Clouds got in the way.
Eventually above clouds, but still nothing to see.
Might as well watch footage from last night while we wait for good views.
Finally breaking out.
And back in them again.
We were in and out until we got past the Rockies.
Mississippi River
Chicagoland Speedway
And Chicago itself.
Since my parents were to many outside on this flight, I was moire easily able to access the aisle, so long as I brought them stuff back.
Coming in to runway 31R on the LENDY8 arrival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMy-HQeL-Rs
Video of landing on runway 31R. Cloudy day in New York.
And immediately behind us landing was our next aircraft from POP.
N4058J was resting between London flights.
Oh hey, the blueprint.
In to gate 14. N2027J next to us was going to FLL.
N976JT was going back to LAX
We were early enough to get some food at the terminal center point before going to our next flight.
JetBlue Airways Flight 1719
JFK-ATL
Depart JFK - 3:45pm (was actually 3:55)
Arrive ATL - 6:24 (was actually 5:55)
Airbus A320
N665JB
“Something About Blue”
She’s since been repainted with the Spotlight tail design.
I was in 16A for this flight. N652JB next to us was going to Jacksonville.
While we’re here, we may as well watch the end of the Peach Bowl.
We pushed and headed for runway 31L. I think this A321neo came in from Manchester. Not sure where it went back to.
Man, this programming lineup is just so convenient.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5n5J5SmyY4
Takeoff from runway 31L. Flex thrust was strong on this one.
Quickly in to the clouds.
Oh yeah, and this was still going on
And more clouds.
It was nearly sunset by the time we got to Atlanta.
But it was a nice night in Atlanta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmXIQjVQWYM
Video of landing on runway 26R.
Some decent action going on.
From very far away you could see the football team boarding their buses back to Athens. They beat us to Atlanta by maybe 20 minutes.
In to gate E32, the same place we started. N845MH next to us was going to London.
N665JB was going back to New York.
We didn’t have any luggage, so we got back to the main terminal and all went our separate ways. What a great trip. After growing up in the 90s, I never thought I’d ever see Georgia win anything of consequence. This is amazing. In any case, glad we got to fly JetBlue out there too. It’s always an enjoyable experience. Thanks for reading
