We made it home to Florida on Monday night, the travel was a bit hectic, we were late leaving Frankfurt due to a radio change out in our plane before our departure, and we did not make up any time crossing the Atlantic. We originally had a hour and 45 minute layover in Philadelphia, but ended up having just about an hour to try and get through immigration, claim our bags, go through customs, re-check the bags, go back through security and walk to another terminal.
The Immigration was quick, then we waited and waited and waited for our bags to come to the turnstile in baggage claim. I think it was a test of our patience, as our bags were among the last to come out. Then it was a short wait in customs, and for baggage re-checking, before we were running to the next terminal, only to be stopped by a massive and slow moving line to go back through security. From the time we got our bags, we only had 15 minutes until our flight was to leave, and when we saw the line for security, the game was over.
It is funny how it seems that when you are in a hurry, no one in front of you can do anything right. There were some elderly people in our line, and they had no clue how to get through security quickly.
Since there were no departure information boards in that area, we assumed our flight had left. However, once we were able to see one of the information boards for departures, we saw that our flight had been delayed due to the rainy weather in Philadelphia, and that we had about 20 minutes remaining to get to the gate at the end of the terminal. We walked as fast as we could to get out there, and they were just starting to board when we arrived. It was a very hectic experience, but we were glad that we did not have to wait until the next flight out. Of course, we were drenched in sweat from all of the running and fast walking. We were at least confident that our bags would make it, they had directed us to a drop off point designated for the Florida flight (and a couple of other places), but at least they were separating the luggage for certain flights when we dropped off the bags.
We boarded the flight for home, and ended up with our own row, with an extra seat. That flight was uneventful, we landed on-time, adjusted for the late departure, and our bags were some of the first ones out on the baggage claim carousel, always a relief. We were picked up at the airport (Thanks, Kim) and got home around 7:45 PM.
The trip had been shortened, but we still had a great time.