Tuesday, 1 September 2026, Tallahassee to London

Written 1 September 2026

Once again, the complimentary limo arranged by our travel agent (who really likes us now that we're spending more on travel) arrived on the dot for our trip to the airport. Driver Daniel proved an interesting conversationalist. He took us what we considered the long way round to the airport but which proved (as he predicted) to be the quicker route. After dropping us off, he headed back downtown to pick up our flight crew from their hotel.

Our flight boarded and departed on time, and we were absolutely delighted with the new first-class seats Delta had installed in our plane. We were (I'm almost embarrassed to admit it) flying first class, even for the hop to Atlanta, so we never saw the seats in the main cabin, wihch may bave been the same-old-same-old, but ours were terrific! We weren't the only ones to comment; the captain actually came out of the cockpit to give us a little lecture on them. They were apparently designed by a guy who designs race cars (or at least the seats in them). Besides being wide, capacious, and comfortable, they featured many details that showed some thought had gone into them. For example, the head-phone jack is now next to your elbow (my left, as I was in the aisle seat on the port side). As a result, if you're in the aisle seat, and the person in the window seat wants to get out, you no longer have to disconnect and reel in the cord to your headphones so he can get by. Behind my elbow was the little panel with USB jacks and a regular wall-type plug. Near it was a slot in which your phone could sit while charging; it was even big enough to accommodate a kindle or tablet. Set into the wall below the broad armrest that separated me from David (in the window seat), was a larger slot in which I could put my book, glasses, pencil, etc. while I adjusted my seatbelt or fished for something in my purse. It included a round well just the right size to accommodate an 8-oz bottle of water. For years, whenever we happened to be in first class, we've boarded to find a pair of such 8-oz bottles waiting for us on the slippery little armrest tray. Then, if you didn't keep a firm hand on yours, as soon as the plane made its first turn during taxi (or later, when you hit rough air), it would launch itself into the aisle and roll around under the seats for the rest of the flight. Now, you can simply drop it into its secure little well, leaving the armrest tray (now coated in nonskid material) free for the drink you order from the stewardess. Between the two seats in front of us were a pair of tall slots with enclosed bottoms where you could put other things—books, magazines, newspapers, a cane, even a folded umbrella. If they just put a little hook at the top of each one, it would be perfect for a suit jacket or light coat. On the seatback in front of us, a tiltable video screen (even on a flight that barely allows time to watch a half-hour sitcom episode). Finally, each padded headrest could be slid up and down to accommodate taller and shorter passengers, and the sides of it could be bent inward to support your head if you fell asleep. Nice.

In Atlanta, our arrival and departure gates couldn't have been farther apart—T4 and F2, respectively—but we had a long layover, and we'd arranged for wheelchair transfer (because of David's continuing difficulties with walking any distance), so we just chatted with the pushers all the way to the food court on Concourse F, then went to Ecco for lunch.

Ecco has improved drastically since that first tough, dry octopus tentacle they served me on our first visit. David ordered the "prosciutto flatbread," which was larger than he could finish, but I went for the whole grilled branzino, served over a bed of olive tapenade and accompanied by creamy sliced baby potatoes and asparagus. Not quite the equal of the chargrilled one I had in the restaurant above the fish market in Aveiro, Portugal, in 2015, but darn good all the same! I can't believe I ate (almost) the whole thing.

Then we sat in the Delta lounge on our concourse, waiting out our long layover, taking advantage of the free coffee and nice little chocolate pudding parfaits off the dessert buffet and being deafened by sirens followed by a very loud recorded announcement that "An emergency has been reported in the building. While this is being verified, please stand by for further instructions" over and over again.

Written 2 September 2026

This would be our first flight operated (on behalf of codeshare partner Delta) by Virgin Atlantic, and we were agog to learn what it's first-class seats would be like. Quite impressive, as it turns out.

The only serious glitch on the flight was the total lack of running water in either the restrooms or the galley. The crew apologized profusely for being unable to make any hot beverages (apparently they had no way to heat bottled water, of which fortunately they had plenty). They stocked the restrooms with hand sanitizer and hoped for the best.

After takeoff (which I watched through the belly camera) and over dinner, I watched Bend It Like Beckham, which I had never seen. and The Wrecking Crew. In the first, of the two actresses, Keira Knightly was pretty clearly the better soccer player in real life. Many fewer of her soccer scenes had to use a body double. In the second, well, what I can say? I like shoot-'em-up-blow-'em-ups and superhero movies. This one included far more carnage and fireballs per minute than the average such flick, and between them Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa offered acres of tattooed beefcake (though no actual superpowers unless you count absorbing way more physical punishment than seemed plausible). They played estranged half brothers who team up to find out who murdered their father. In the process, they gun down and/or blow up dozens of members of a Honolulu crime syndicate along with at least 40 vehicles full of innocent bystanders. They must have ordered a tanker-load of fake blood for each day's shooting.

Dinner started with spicy sausage, shrimp, and roasted corn in an herbed choron sauce. On the side choice of bread roll and a generous portion of butter presprinkled with coarse salt (the other choice was a cold roasted beet salad with goat cheese).

The main course was roasted salmon with excellent sautéed spinach and colcannon in a nice buttery sauce. Of course the salmon was overcooked but otherwise quite good.