All Good Things Must Come to an End

The downside of Thursday night's speech was...the end of the convention. But not the end of the story. Tens of thousands of people in the arena, plus all those who were witness via TV and internet will now be channeling the positive energy we took away. I still needed a little energy to get out of Charlotte. My flight was at 11:30 am but we were alerted via USAirways email to arrive 3 hours early due to full planes of delegates exiting Charlotte.

After packing up with Tanisha, helping her get her bags down to her 3 am taxi to the airport, I hit the hay for a planned 3.5 hours of sleep before I had to make my exodus. Curtains were pulled tight to block out the parking lot security light. I foolishly did not call for a wake up, relying on my phone alarm as the phone sat charging right next to me on the night stand. I'm sure it went off at 6:30 as planned. Too bad I had it on vibrate. Whatever internal alarms we have in our heads went off abruptly, and I sat up in the darkened room in a panic. What time is it? Oh.My. 7:30 am. It could have been worse, I could have slept until 10. Good thing I had packed up the night before. I grabbed everything off the chargers and packed the electronics. Jumped into the shower. Threw on clothes. Ran downstairs in time to catch the 8 am DNC bus to the airport with several other delegates.

We sailed through check in and security. I got a huge cup of coffee, a banana and a small apple pastry, and settled in with my computer. A helpful and friendly TSA agent on her break showed me Air Force 1 parked in the high security area away from the regular gates. Eventually I noticed no planes taking off or landing. The big plane taxied away, and appeared a little while later on the runway, taking off in view of the window where I was sitting (near one of the few electrical outlets)! I didn't have enough time to get my camera back out, but I won't soon forget the sight of it taking off from my ringside seat. This of course delayed the next flights a bit.

My flight to Boston was full of Massachusetts delegates. Rep. Ed Markey was behind me on the jetway. Most of the other MA dignitaries had been on the earlier flight. It was a very quiet flight, with lots of snoozing going on. I caught up on the stack of newspapers I'd collected all week. And was very happy to see a text from Alina when I landed, that she was waiting in the cell lot to come pick me up. Time to switch into Sullivan Family mode. Considering the political temperments of my mother and brother, I ditched my Obama jewelry creations, and my pins. And tried very hard to keep my focus on the wonderful hospitality of the people of Charlotte. It was a grand time, and you all are to be congratulated on a job well done.