The Jackson, MS Chronicles: From Chicago to Jackson

On Friday, I was all set to go to Jackson with my Auntee for my cousin's wedding. I packed one suitcase and had no carry-on luggage. I first saw the itinerary for the trip when I got to my grandmother's house to pick up Auntee. I've mentioned before on this blog that I hadn't flown on a plane since 1995, when my sister and I went to Atlanta with my aunt and uncle. Honestly, I don't like flying. It scared the crap out of me when I flew on a plane nine years ago. However, after I went to Jackson for Spring Break during my Junior year of college, the prospect of flying didn't seem as bad. Needless to say, I was surprised to see that were taking two planes each way. That really didn't get my hopes up.

Auntee and I flew on Northwest Airlines out of Midway Airport. Since this was my first time on plane post-9/11, I got to go through the new security procedures. We had to first go through metal detectors. It turned out that my shoes set off the detectors, so I had to take them off and send them through the scanner too. Luckily, I had nice socks on. We also had to show our ID and boarding pass to check our luggage and even get to the terminals. I must say that the security screenings were quick and there were no really long lines.

I had been to Midway before and it's a nice little airport. It's not as huge as O'Hare, and with the renovations it looked pretty nice. I don't understand why more people don't fly in to that airport as opposed to crowded O'Hare.

The first flight on the way to Jackson went from Chicago/Midway to Memphis. The plane was pretty small. All the seats were the same, and there was only one aisle with two seats on each side. Auntee and I sat near the back of the plane with Auntee having the window seat. We could see the wing from our window. In fact, this seating situation was the case on all four of our flights. Of the four flights, overall this first flight was the worst for me. Since I had long forgotten what it physically felt like to be on an airplane, this flight scared the crap out of me. Every shake or weird vibration gave me the willies. Being at the back of the plane, I easily felt when the plane actually was in the air and the main thing I could hear was the sound of the engines. I brought some gum to help with the ear popping, but that was the least of my worries. I really felt it as the plane ascended and descended. I never felt relaxed on this flight and I was constantly talking to myself and to Auntee in an attempt to keep myself calm. Also, as I would do on every flight, I prayed a lot. I consider myself a Christian and I do pray nightly, but nothing seems to make a person want to trust in God more than when they are in a state of pure fear. Auntee, in comparison to me, was very calm. She had been on numerous flights before and wasn't scared of them at all. As she put it, "I'm more scared of driving on the Dan Ryan and I-95 than I am of flying." She talked to me during this flight and tried to get me to take my mind off the flight itself.

After that hair-raising flight, Auntee and I ended up in Memphis. The airport there was pretty nice. However, it had an overwhelming smell of BBQ and it smelled good. There was this one BBQ place (I forget the name) that had a huge line of people waiting to get some. I wish I could have gotten some myself, but our layover in Memphis was too short.

We then left Memphis on another plane headed for Jackson. This plane was a DC-9 and was bigger than the last plane I was on. This one actually had a first-class section (albeit it was very small). This flight was much better than the first one. It was smoother and the pressurization didn't get to me as much. It also helped that it was shorter than the other one.

About an hour after we left Memphis, at around 8:20 p.m., we arrived in Jackson.