It was a bittersweet trip to sunny Ft. Myers in late September, exactly one year after Hurricane Ian unleashed its wrath on the area, cancelling my then-travel plans, a minor inconvenience compared to those in the area who were profoundly affected. As one local whose home was severely damaged told me, it reminded him of the line in the musical Hamilton — the world was indeed turned upside down. Fortunately, the Southwest Regional Airport was back to normal as was the Hilton. The shops and restaurants at the Gulf Coast Town Center across the road were also humming with activity. Since it was a short trip, I didn’t have the chance to venture to the beach except to look down on it from the plane. Locals say things are slowly returning to normal there, but Sanibel Island, one of my all-time favorite places, could take years to fully recover.

One glitch was the extreme lack of rental vehicles. As I arrived at Hertz, I was directed to the President’s Circle to “choose a vehicle of my choice.” But where were they? It was nearly empty all the way up and down the aisles except for a few Teslas (tempting, but I was not quite familiar with its quirks yet) and one extremely large van the size of a Mack truck. I chose the van, as I needed the luggage space, and then lumbered along with the side door open all the way to the hotel. Who knew I was supposed to push the button to close it? This explained why several drivers were honking at me along the way … thought they were just being friendly! I know rental inventory has been an issue in many places. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

I enjoyed a lovely swim at the hotel; evening ones are my favorite. The next day I drove (all doors closed this time) to nearby Jet Blue Park, the off-season home of the Boston Red Sox. It’s a beautiful stadium that was built to replicate Fenway Park, only with modern facilities. I enjoyed working with a select group of minor leaguers in their clubhouse, helping them hone their interview skills. The walls contained inspirational quotes from Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski above the lockers. Just for fun, I asked the players to spell Yaz’ complete last name. Definitely a challenge there.

I especially enjoyed the superior service on my United Airlines flight back to Chicago. Pilots and flight attendants in first class were upbeat and remembered everyone’s name. There were several dinner choices with Champagne and DirectTV (always a bonus on the weekend), and blankets are back. Several of us were actually disappointed upon landing as we were savoring everything. When was the last time passengers didn’t rush to deplane? Next up on my agenda: Learning to comfortably drive a Tesla for my next adventure.

— Sue Castorino, Globility Board member and guest blogger