A Boyhood Dream Fulfilled: Space-Geek Tour of the USA

[Human]

I haven't had a chance to log on in a couple of days and admit I more than once wondered how the final leg of your trip was going...it feels like a TV show I've been bingeing and I have just one more episode to go!

You are very kind. The Season Finale is coming up ... but don't forget the Reunion episode after that!

 

[Human]

Compromise #3: One final indulgence. EK404, SIN-MEL First class. Booked with 107,700 Qantas points plus S$87.70.

I was pretty chuffed when I saw availability on this flight; it meant staying overnight in Singapore, but I reasoned that Emirates First class was worth the slight inconvenience, and that this would be a fitting end to an amazing trip. Of course, I was a little worried when it was announced in mid-2024 that this route would be cancelled, but I had the Qatar option to fall back on if it were. In the end it was announced that the cancellation date is to be March 30. So this will be my final time on this flight, and it may well be my final time flying Emirates First class, given how high their carrier charges are for almost all of their other routes.

I have flown on EK404 once before, last April, so I had some firm thoughts about how I wanted to enjoy the flight before I boarded.

Emirates took very good care of me from the check-in desk at Singapore to the Arrivals Hall in Melbourne. I was wheeled from check-in, through Passport control and Immigration, to the Emirates Lounge in Singapore where I had a coffee, a small granola, a small plate of fruit, and an orange juice (I knew what culinary delights would be awaiting me onboard!). Then I was collected again and wheeled to the gate, through Security screening, and onto the plane. 5 of the 8 First class seats were occupied.

I was immediately offered champagne or another drink. I asked for an orange juice, explaining that I knew that the “good stuff” would only be served when in the air (which is what happened when I last flew this route in April). The flight attendant said that this was no longer the case and that she could give me the best champagne immediately. Naturally, she twisted my arm! The “good stuff” is currently Dom 2015.





Here follows the most controversial part of this entire trip, which will leave some readers disappointed, and others outraged. You may need to sit down before reading what you are about to read:

I chose to not have caviar.

No, I have not gone mad (well…). I had caviar last time, and there was so much of it, necessitating me asking for more blinis and melba toast, that it actually filled me up so much that it detracted from my enjoyment of the later courses. On a 12- or 14-hour flight you can stuff yourself with caviar and related accoutrements, then give yourself a few hours for things to settle before enjoying the other food. I, at least, find that a 7-hour flight does not quite allow you to do that. In any case, I like caviar, but it doesn’t blow me away so I was happy to forsake it.

My food consumption thus started with nuts, olives and chips to accompany my Dom Perignon 2015…


…Followed by this absolutely delicious prawn-based amuse-bouche…


And then a “Traditional Arabic mezze”. This is described in the menu as an “Appetiser”. A more ridiculous description I have rarely seen! I couldn’t finish it (the flight attendant later told me that few passengers do). However, the tabouleh was so delicious that I did ask for, and was given, an extra serving. The baba ganouj (eggplant dip) was also very good, although strangely the hummus was not as good as the hummus that I’d had in JAL Premium Economy the day before…


I was feeling quite full at that stage so I closed my privacy doors, reclined my seat back and took a Moment. Almost at that exact same time we started flying through some mild-to-moderate, but continual, turbulence. It wasn’t massive in the scheme of things, but it was certainly bad enough to make me thankful that I’d finished eating and drinking for the time being, and it lasted for well over an hour, with the seat belt sign on.

As the turbulence was abating I asked the Flight Attendant for a recommendation for something refreshing and non-alcoholic and she suggested a “Cucumber Gimlet”, a mocktail made of cucumber and lime. Interesting combination. They’re both green, I suppose…



It tasted OK without blowing me away, and I was left to contemplate what at that stage were the two most important questions in life: do I ask for my main course, or do I skip it and go straight to dessert? And when should I ask for my glass of Hennesy Paradis?

Stay tuned…

 

[VPS]

Compromise #3: One final indulgence. EK404, SIN-MEL First class. Booked with 107,700 Qantas points plus S$87.70.

I was pretty chuffed when I saw availability on this flight; it meant staying overnight in Singapore, but I reasoned that Emirates First class was worth the slight inconvenience, and that this would be a fitting end to an amazing trip. Of course, I was a little worried when it was announced in mid-2024 that this route would be cancelled, but I had the Qatar option to fall back on if it were. In the end it was announced that the cancellation date is to be March 30. So this will be my final time on this flight, and it may well be my final time flying Emirates First class, given how high their carrier charges are for almost all of their other routes.

I have flown on EK404 once before, last April, so I had some firm thoughts about how I wanted to enjoy the flight before I boarded.

Emirates took very good care of me from the check-in desk at Singapore to the Arrivals Hall in Melbourne. I was wheeled from check-in, through Passport control and Immigration, to the Emirates Lounge in Singapore where I had a coffee, a small granola, a small plate of fruit, and an orange juice (I knew what culinary delights would be awaiting me onboard!). Then I was collected again and wheeled to the gate, through Security screening, and onto the plane. 5 of the 8 First class seats were occupied.

I was immediately offered champagne or another drink. I asked for an orange juice, explaining that I knew that the “good stuff” would only be served when in the air (which is what happened when I last flew this route in April). The flight attendant said that this was no longer the case and that she could give me the best champagne immediately. Naturally, she twisted my arm! The “good stuff” is currently Dom 2015.
View attachment 427282
View attachment 427283
View attachment 427284
View attachment 427286

Here follows the most controversial part of this entire trip, which will leave some readers disappointed, and others outraged. You may need to sit down before reading what you are about to read:

I chose to not have caviar.

No, I have not gone mad (well…). I had caviar last time, and there was so much of it, necessitating me asking for more blinis and melba toast, that it actually filled me up so much that it detracted from my enjoyment of the later courses. On a 12- or 14-hour flight you can stuff yourself with caviar and related accoutrements, then give yourself a few hours for things to settle before enjoying the other food. I, at least, find that a 7-hour flight does not quite allow you to do that. In any case, I like caviar, but it doesn’t blow me away so I was happy to forsake it.

My food consumption thus started with nuts, olives and chips to accompany my Dom Perignon 2015…
View attachment 427287

…Followed by this absolutely delicious prawn-based amuse-bouche…
View attachment 427288

And then a “Traditional Arabic mezze”. This is described in the menu as an “Appetiser”. A more ridiculous description I have rarely seen! I couldn’t finish it (the flight attendant later told me that few passengers do). However, the tabouleh was so delicious that I did ask for, and was given, an extra serving. The baba ganouj (eggplant dip) was also very good, although strangely the hummus was not as good as the hummus that I’d had in JAL Premium Economy the day before…
View attachment 427289

I was feeling quite full at that stage so I closed my privacy doors, reclined my seat back and took a Moment. Almost at that exact same time we started flying through some mild-to-moderate, but continual, turbulence. It wasn’t massive in the scheme of things, but it was certainly bad enough to make me thankful that I’d finished eating and drinking for the time being, and it lasted for well over an hour, with the seat belt sign on.

As the turbulence was abating I asked the Flight Attendant for a recommendation for something refreshing and non-alcoholic and she suggested a “Cucumber Gimlet”, a mocktail made of cucumber and lime. Interesting combination. They’re both green, I suppose…
View attachment 427290
View attachment 427291

It tasted OK without blowing me away, and I was left to contemplate what at that stage were the two most important questions in life: do I ask for my main course, or do I skip it and go straight to dessert? And when should I ask for my glass of Hennesy Paradis?

Stay tuned…

? And when should I ask for my glass of Hennesy Paradis? NOW

 

[Human]

As with most of my flights, I had the flight map open for most of my flight. Also on most flights I “binge listen” to whatever on the playlist takes my fancy. For this flight I noticed that Emirates had the entire Beatles catalogue available. It was a no-brainer.

Just when I was ready for more food, we were interrupted by another long period of turbulence, with the seat belt sign on. However, I had determined the following:

A main course of prawn machbous…


A fruit platter for dessert…


Accompanied by Hennessy Paradis (I might be mad enough to pass on the caviar, but I’m not so mad as to pass on the Hennessy Paradis!)…



Followed by a cappuccino.


And my final morsel of food consumption before returning to the real world:

Chocolate.


And I should mention that all of this was accompanied with gorgeous views of the Australian outback. Who needs in-flight entertainment?







The soundtrack to all this continued to be the Beatles discography, in more or less historical order. Ironically and yet totally appropriately, Paul McCartney was singing “The Long and Winding Road” from Let It Be, just as the flight was approaching Melbourne. I’ll add that to the long, long list of serendipitous moments that have occurred on this trip. During our descent I couldn’t help but notice how dry the landscape is. Don’t you people in Australia get rain anymore?





And that was it. MEL. My luggage was first out, I was collected by my wonderful amazing wife, I have no idea what my body clock wants to do, and I have a GP appointment tomorrow to find out how Australian doctors treat tendonitis.

I feel very, very refreshed. Still on a massive high, probably, and wondering how long it will last.

But standby: by my estimation there are a couple of thousand more words to come…

 

[Quickstatus]

I chose to not have caviar.

I've done EK504 without the caviar or ANY alcohol and didn't swipe any of the toiletries

 

[Quickstatus]

how Australian doctors treat tendonitis.

Ultrasound it to check for a bursa
Inject the bursa and tendon under ultrasound guidance
Physio
Rest but keep walking - ie do less steps

 

[I love to travel]

Incredible TR. Good luck for GP appointment

 

[VPS]

What a wonderful journey - thanks for having us along

 

[NoName]

Thanks for the great trip report! Loved it!

 

[Human]

Reflections on my trip​

Phrases such as “dream holiday” or “the trip of a lifetime” are overused cliches – and that’s a shame, because they really do apply to this trip. I find it difficult to imagine having another holiday as good as this one in my lifetime. And I’m OK with that: after all, before this trip I found it difficult to imagine having a holiday as good as this one ever! And I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be this good.

Until my final day in the USA, absolutely nothing went wrong, and everything and then some went right. When I wrote Post #1 of this Trip Report, weeks ago now, I was excited but also apprehensive, and I found it hard to believe that this trip – any trip – could possibly be anywhere near as good as I was hoping it would be. I spent literally decades wishing that I could go on this particular holiday, while never thinking that it could, or would, actually happen. Then, when my amazing, generous wife gave me the green light, I spent the best part of year planning, searching for hotels, searching for flights, and buying tickets to each of the Space Centers and museums upon their release. I remember setting my alarm for 3am AEST on October 26, the exact time that the Smithsonian released Entry Passes for the days I was planning to be there! I researched what exhibits were there, and researched which optional additions were worth paying extra money for. So I had a lot planned – but in another sense I really didn’t know what to expect.

Where to begin? I still remember that feeling of amazement and excitement when, having arrived at my hotel in Houston after 36 hours of flying, I went for a short walk and saw the sign “Space Center Houston” for the first time. And then the highlights just kept coming thick and fast, day after day after day!

• Seeing countless actual Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules, artefacts, spacesuits, rockets … things I’d read about, seen in documentaries and movies – there they were in front of me! I’ve been in the same room as the Apollo 11 Command Module – looked inside it! Been close enough to touch it! Ditto Neil Armstrong’s space suit, moon rocks, meteorites, and countless other artefacts, big, small and humungous (I’m looking at you, Saturn V).
• Being at the actual locations where amazing, historic, uplifting, momentous, inspiring things had taken place: Mission Control in Houston, Launch Pads 39A and 39B at Cape Canaveral, the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Astronaut Training Facility. Even the bridge that the Apollo astronauts walked across as they were entering their Command Modules – I’ve now walked across it too!
• Being in the right place at the right time on so many unexpected occasions – the astronaut talk in Houston, and a certain SpaceX-related event in Florida (more on that below).
• Being witness to, and sharing in, so much genuine excitement about the future of space travel and space exploration, both crewed and non-crewed. In particular, finding out more about NASA’s Artemis programme which is due to return people to the Moon in 2027.
• Getting close-up, in person views of not one, but two Space Shuttles: Atlantis in Florida at Kennedy and Discovery in Virginia at Udvar-Hazy. Once again: so much history, so much exploration, so much human advancement is encapsulated (no pun intended!) in those amazing machines.
• Random things that may not mean a lot to non-space geeks but which nevertheless made me genuinely excited, from JFK’s lectern to Gene Kranz’s Apollo 13 coffee mug.
• Space and aviation highlights at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museums in downtown Washington DC and Udvar-Hazy. There are too many to mention but obviously the highlights were the Wright Flyer, which started it all, the Apollo 11 Command Module, and the Planets and Commercial Aviation exhibitions.
• It was great to be reminded of the human capacity to do so much right. We humans can do really, really stupid stuff, and we usually do. But that’s not the whole story.
• The highlight of all highlights: I saw a rocket launch – an actual rocket launch! Of a rocket! Going into space! I was there! When it launched! Two weeks later I’m still crying tears of joy when I think about it. I reckon that two years from now I’ll be crying tears of joy. Certainly my students can expect their lessons to be interrupted by a certain video at some stage at the start of the school year…

A pleasant surprise has been the number of non space-related highlights:

• The tour of Washington DC, which took me to iconic (there’s an understatement…) and thought-provoking locations such as The White House, The Capitol (set up for an Inauguration, no less), and the Lincoln, Jefferson, MLK and various war Memorials.
• The genuine warmth and hospitality of Americans everywhere (especially in Texas). I even had some amazing conversations with Uber drivers, from all walks of American life and culture (and political views!)
• Navigating the subway in NYC, the buses and trains in DC, the tipping culture, the TSA checkpoints at the various airports, flying domestic economy class in the USA … and living to tell the tale. It was nice to feel my confidence growing as every day passed. The USA is a little scary … but more than a little friendly as well.
• The food – from the cheap (hot dogs and pizzas in NYC) to the seriously upmarket (First class on JAL), to the unexpected (Republic Cantina in Washington). The amazing Mexican food was one of many highlights.
• While touring an art-gallery the size of four city blocks, just happening to end a tour in a roomful of artworks by my favourite artist ever!
• The fun of NYC, from the Broadway shows, the food and drink experiences, the sightseeing, the Met, Times Square, Ellen’s Stardust Diner, and the experience of being smack in the centre of “the city that never sleeps”.
• I haven’t mentioned this anywhere in this TR but have thought it often: it’s so nice going into public restrooms where you can dry your hands with paper and not those silly air blower things!

As I expected and hoped for, as an aviation geek there have been some genuine highlights from the flights and travels as well.

• 36 hours in Singapore Airlines Business class. We really are spoiled by the airlines that we have at our disposal to use in flying to/from Australia, and the (relative) ease of accumulating the points required to fly in them.
• The amazing experience of JAL A350 First class. It really is all that it’s cracked up to be, with what must be one of the largest and most well-designed seat footprints in the sky. The only slight curiosity is the lack of a breakfast service…
• Experiencing Emirates First class (for the last time?) as a fun way to re-enter the real world.
• Discovering (from flying American Airlines domestic First class) that we really have nothing to complain about with both Qantas and Virgin’s 737 Business classes being demonstrably superior.
• Obviously finding reward seats is not easy! But in my case, flying solo made it exponentially easier, even for flights to/from high-demand destinations during the school holidays. I would never have been able to fly JAL and Emirates First class, for example, if I were flying with someone else.

My tendonitis at the end of the trip was a painful inconvenience, and it deprived me of one final day of sightseeing in NYC. In the scheme of things, though, it was totally inconsequential: it was the trip of a lifetime way, way before that happened and the tendonitis did not do one thing to detract from that. It will probably be the one part of this holiday that I’ll forget about.

There’s been one other huge highlight of this trip, but it deserves a separate post…

 

[Human]

One final highlight of this amazing, incredible trip: putting together this trip report. It genuinely has added to my enjoyment, and the discipline of writing up what has happened in more-or-less real time will give me a genuine memento of this trip which I’m sure I’ll be returning to for the rest of my life. I’m genuinely surprised to see, from the Word document that I’ve been writing my draft posts on, that my posts alone have come to over 27,000 words – the vast majority of which have been written during the trip.

When I began to write this TR my “Reaction Score” on AFF (ie. the number of “Likes” etc that I’d received from my AFF posts) was something like 1400, and it had taken me six years to reach that score. As I write this my Reaction Score has almost doubled in three weeks. That means that this TR has been appreciated by the AFF community and I’m genuinely humbled and a little surprised by that. It’s also really gratifying to read that this trip has inspired others to think about doing the same – believe me, it’ll be a hoot!

Massive thanks to all those who’ve commented, responded, made suggestions (and they really have made this trip better than it otherwise would have been) and generally been along for the ride.

Massive thanks also to all of you who haven’t commented or “liked”, but who’ve been lurking on this trip report in the background – from the number of hits this thread has received, I know there’s been a lot of you! I hope you’ve been inspired, informed and, especially, entertained.

This has been my first AFF Trip Report and I really don’t think I’ll ever be able to better it. Maybe I should retire from TR writing now, while I’m ahead!