Early morning departure, fortunately our hotel was literally in the airport. Our original flight was going to be at 10 AM but it had been moved back to 9 AM. While the walk into the airport was short, the walk to where we dropped our luggage was not, almost the furthest possible place away, then we had to backtrack to get to where we would go through security. Barry and Brenda went to the Delta lounge and L.J. and I headed to the gate. L.J. acquired water and a few snacks and then it was time to board!

Landed in JFK and went through customs first, fortunately they had a MPC (Mobile Passport Control) program where you can upload your passport, your flight itinerary and then when you land, you finalize your info and add your photos and then are able to go into an expedited line for Immigration. The walk from our gate to Immigration was loooonnnngggg and we needed a restroom so we opted to go there when we finally reached immigration before getting in line. Barry and Brenda both have global entry so they were through quickly. The main line was terrible and we were so glad that MPC was an option. Barry and Brenda got a gold star – they got our bags because we had to claim them and then go back through security but that was a huge help. Back through security and got rid of the bags for the final time of the trip.

We grabbed some lunch / dinner or whatever time it was.

Our flight from JFK back to Charlotte was pretty uneventful. We were on a very small plane but it was our first flight that had lots of empty seats. L.J. and I were able to move into separate rows. All of our luggage arrived in Charlotte with the added plus of no damage to any bags! We made our way to the pickup spot for The Parking Spot, got the shuttle to our car and headed to Concord! Barry and Brenda still had their extra drive to Trinity but every was safe and sound.

It was a phenomenal trip. Yes, it had a bump in the road yesterday in Milan, but our 17 day trip was filled with amazing new sights, delicious food, time with family and the magic that is Italy. We were so very thankful to have been able to go with Barry & Brenda and make memories to last a lifetime!