AIRPORT

“And I beheld, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven...” (from Revelation 8:13)

On Tuesday in the middle of the day I drove into Boston’s Logan Airport for the first time in over five years.  I haven’t flown internationally for five years.  I don’t fly more than a few times a year, and when I do, I usually fly out of T.F. Greene airport in Rhode Island.  I drove in because I drove my daughter Amy and her new husband David in. They were catching an Air Tran flight to Atlanta and from there connecting to Springfield. Missouri.

In the past I have HATED driving into Logan Airport.  I remember the days of having to use the Sumner and Callahan tunnels and of being in bumper to bumper traffic in East Boston and even on the roads leading in to East Boston.  I remember the drive to Logan being a confusing nightmare.  

The drive on Tuesday wasn’t TOTALLY easy, but overall it WAS a big improvement on trips to Logan in the past.  I drove Amy and David in the car they’d been using which is my brother-in law’s 1999 Audi Quatro.  The car is SO “high tech” it’s kind of scary.  (You’ve gotta understand I usually drive a 1989 Volkswagen Gold hatchback that’s about a half step removed from Lieutenant Columbo’s 1950 Peugeot convertible!)  It WAS cool taking the MASS PIKE/Interstate 90 East all the way to Logan Airport.  I did feel a little sad driving through the connector tunnel where the woman from Jamaica Plain was killed in July 2006.  I have driven through the Ted Williams tunnel before, but I remember when it was only open to noncommercial vehicles during certain hours.  It’s great that now it’s open to everybody.  It was so fast getting in there!

I always HATED the poor “sineage” and confusion in trying to find the correct terminal and parking at Logan.  That’s a LITTLE better, but only a little better in my  opinion.  We did make our way into “Central Parking” and were directed by an attended to a place were we could park for short-term.  The paying procedure is now totally different.  In the old days, you got a ticket going in, and when you were leaving, you handed the ticket to an attendant, he told you the price, you paid and that was it.  NOW, there are all sorts of signs and announcements telling you to take your ticket with you when you leave the car.  You have to go to a ticket paying area and pay beforeyou go back to your car.  I actually found a ticket paying area pretty easily.  It reminded me a LOT of the new system of paying to use the “T” - which I frankly HATE.  However, having used the “T” system, I had SOME idea of what I was doing.  The paying is designed to be a LITTLE easier if you’re using a credit card, but you CAN pay cash and get change.  I was glad of that because my bill was $3 and all I had was a $20. bill.  I WAS a little confused about how to use the paying machine and I had to ask a middle-aged female MassPort employee to help me.  She was obviously annoyed and obviously thought I was completely stupid (well, I kinda WAS) but she did show me what to do, and it was pretty easy.  

When you’re driving out of “Central Parking” you follow the signs for “EXIT” and ESPECIALLY for “EXPRESS EXIT”.  Ultimately, you end up at one of those bars that blocks your car until you prove you paid.  You merely slide your card into a slot, and the bar lifts and you go.  

Then, finding my way to the MASS PIKE/Interstate 90 West was pretty easy.  I remember the old days when sometimes you just couldn’t find your way out of there and would end up in Revere or someplace like that.  So, I realize the Big Dig has been very controversial, but I’d have to say the Big Dig made MY trip to Logan very easy on Tuesday.

Even so, most of the time, I’ll still prefer to use T.F. Greene in Rhode Island!