Florida to Pennsylvania in January!
Yes, we know Florida to Pennsylvania sounds like a silly flight itinerary for the first full weekend in January, especially after just arriving in Florida earlier this week, but we can explain. Due to our work commitment at Amazon in Kentucky and our desire to head south with our house as soon as we could after Christmas, we had not found a good time to go to Pennsylvania for the Holidays. After looking at flight prices and times we settled on a long weekend, January 6 - 9 to visit with my Dad and the Kapusta family in Phoenixville, PAIt also worked out well since the Kapusta’s were just returning from two weeks in Poland and we could hear all of their great travel stories while we were there.
When we booked our flight we knew we would be visiting with Jay & Karen in Palm Harbor, FL as our first stop in the Sunshine State. They are only about 45 minutes from the Tampa Airport, but we always check prices on Allegiant Airlines, which flies out of the Clearwater/St. Pete Airport (PIE) and is about 15 minutes closer to their house. Closer to their house is nice, but the best part was the price we found flying on Allegiant. $29 each way! Including all of the taxes and fees, our total was $150 roundtrip for both of us.
Our flight departed PIE on Friday at 2:29 PM, January 6 and we arrived shortly after 5:00 PM at the Trenton/Mercer Airport (TTN). Neither of us had ever flown into TTN before, but it turned out to be a nice smaller airport to navigate around when we arrived. We went to the only rental car counter at the airport, Enterprise/National, where we had reserved a car for our visit. By 6:00 PM we were on our way to the Kapusta’s. It was only about an hour drive from TTN to Phoenixville, not that much longer than if we had flown into Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). When we arrived the Kapusta’s had a nice dinner of pork and sauerkraut ready for us and we spent the rest of the evening catching up and we began to hear the stories from their 2 week adventure in Poland. Everybody slept in a little on Saturday morning as they were still readjusting from their trip and Betsy and I were tired from our travel day. Kris made us all a big breakfast and we slowly started our day. Oh, did I mention that there was a light dusting of snow falling all morning. It was fitting to have a little snow during our visit. In case you weren’t aware Betsy and I are not big fans of the cold, snowy weather! Snow or no snow, Betsy, I and the whole Kapusta clan piled into their truck and went over to visit with my Dad. We had a nice visit with him as Betsy and I shared some of our adventures and the Kapusta’s shared stories from Poland. A couple of hours later we gave my dad back his peace and quiet and we headed back to Casa de Kapusta to make a pot of chili on this cold day. Another quiet evening hearing some more Poland stories and watching some football by the fire.
Sunday was another morning to sleep in and then Kris made us all another big breakfast. Shortly after noon, Betsy and I headed over to pick up my dad to take him shoe shopping as part of our Christmas present. One stop at DSW and my dad found a pair of Rockport shoes that he liked and we ended our shopping trip without much drama. We said our good-byes to him as we were flying back to Florida the next day. We got back to the Kapusta’s in time to go see Lucas play in his CYO basketball game. The score didn’t end in his favor, but we loved getting to see him play. A late dinner after the game at the Great American Pub in Phoenixville ended another relaxing, family-centric day.
Betsy and I headed back to TTN Monday afternoon with plenty of time to spare for our 5:44 PM flight back to PIE. We arrived on time and Jay and Karen were waiting to chauffeur us back to their house shortly after 9:00 PM. It was great to see my Dad and we always enjoy spending time with the Kapusta family. They are always so hospitable and open their doors to us whenever we’re in the area. Overall a GREAT weekend!
