Blog 020 – Passports and Fireworks

The celebration for the Fourth of July was going to be huge party at the yacht club. Fifty boats were coming in from another yacht club down the river and the New Bern Grand Marina was the destination. The dock was crazy. A long procession of boats coming in to tie up, one after another, after another. Because they were all friends it was quite the party atmosphere, everyone enjoying a holiday. The horn on the bridge would sound, the bridge would lift and another 10 sail boats and motor yachts would pull into the bay. The radio was alive with the Dock Master and the Bridge giving out directions to boats going through the bridge and tying up to docks.

On July 3rd our list of preparations to leave for the UK was almost done. I picked up our rental car and Liana went on-line to check us in for our flights. She grabbed our passports to plug in the numbers for the international flight and then she checked gluten-free on the special requirements menu. Everything was ready.

The morning of the Fourth we headed to the airport in Raleigh. We enjoyed the two hour drive and dropped off the rental car. We took the shuttle and rolled all our luggage up to the check in counter. Here is when our next adventure began or ended, whichever way you want to look at it.

Liana reached into her purse for her passport and went through a moment of panic/shock when it wasn’t there! Both of us checked every bag twice – no passport. Next Crista at Delta’s ticket counter called the rental car company and the shuttle. They checked our car thoroughly and the shuttle – no passport! Crista helped every way she could. She put our flights on hold to give us time to retrace our steps and also told airport security and Lost and Found to be on the lookout. Wow, now we have missed our flight and are back at the rental car company getting a car again to backtrack all the way to the boat. (Apparently a rental car on a holiday without a reservation is three times as much as one you rented the day before.) On the shuttle to the airport I had jokingly asked Liana if she had her passport. She just gave me “the look”. You see, she is the organized one, doesn’t loose things, knows where everything is – normally.

This began our three day saga of replacing passports. So we got back to the boat just before sunset and searched every nook and cranny but no passport anywhere. We had hoped we would find it and turn right around and catch the next available flight. Nope. But as a consolation we got to see the best fireworks display in years right from our own home. All evening thunder and lightning had filled the sky and there was much talk of the fireworks display being canceled. But just when it was time, the sky cleared and fireworks lit up the sky. They shoot them from a barge in the middle of the bay, so a boat is really the best seat in the house. The water around reflects all of the pyrotechnics. It was a fantastic show. It was a great way to relieve the stress from all of our travel plans being thrown into limbo.

The next morning we again tore through the boat looking, looking, looking. Nothing. So we started the process of applying for a replacement. Crista had given us a tip. Atlanta, GA has one of the few passport offices in the country that has same day, walk-in service…sort of, first you must have an appointment. So we called to schedule and the next available was three days later. With our systems all shut down on the boat and only a few days before our departure we decided to take a road trip instead of starting things up again. Crista kept in contact with us and rebooked our flights so we would have an all day layover in Atlanta to get things done.

We pulled out a map and found the coastal area around us had several different ferry routes. Liana loves ferry rides so we planned out our next three days. We headed east to the coast and took ferry rides, doing a loop of all the Outer Banks. That night we made it as far as Ocracoke Island. By the time we found a hotel (the last one on the island, apparently) it was nearly midnight. We had never heard of this place, but it was like spring break party time. People on bicycles and golf carts and the harbor filled with yachts. It was like Fort Lauderdale, on an island so small you could see all the way across it.

After a few more ferry rides the next day, we were finally on our way back to Raleigh. Early Thursday morning we finally boarded a 4:am flight to Atlanta. This meant getting up a 2:00am to get to the airport on time. A very long day was coming. We flew into Atlanta as the sun came up and picked up a rental car. Off to the passport office.

We waited in a long line just to find out we were too early. They asked us to come back at 9:15am since our appointment was at 9:30am. So we went to find a cup of coffee. Finally the time came for us to go back to the passport office, security guards were in abundance. Everyone must have been in the same boat as us, so to speak. To use this service you must have proof of immediate travel to an overseas destination. So people with bags packed, and many looking as if they had slept the night in the airport, were all waiting to have their cases reviewed.

First we must fill out paperwork and then wait to speak with a specialist who looks over the paperwork. And then, if everything checks out they take your birth certificate, another form of ID, and proof of travel. Then they set another appointment for several hours later. We were warned this can take all day, and in our case it did. I asked about the fifty-two page passports for frequent travelers. This was a recommendation of one of our cruising friends who said we would run out of pages sailing around the world. The specialist took one look at my passport and then called another special agent to look at it. I needed a new passport! It appears that the expiration date was wearing off and had become illegible. They said this could be a major problem for us overseas. So now we are both getting passports.

By 5:00pm and several hundred dollars lighter we are back at the airport, passports in hand and checked in for our flight to England. Whew! We can finally relax…