Amarillo, Texas

Traveling is never uneventful, especially flying. Recently, en route to Amarillo, Texas, I suffered through a cranky, crying baby in the seat next to me and her harried, helpless mother, trying in vain to console her. I felt badly for both of them, but it did make for a noisy flight. The second leg of the trip, from Dallas to Amarillo, was also not without bumps in the road, figuratively and literally. After I settled in my seat and heard the thud of the door shutting, the flight attendant informed the trapped passengers that the bathroom on the plane was not working. Since I had just run from one late connecting flight to another, without stopping at a restroom, I was justifiably concerned. I was even more concerned when the attendant announced that we would be sitting on the runway a while, due to thunderstorms. But the final "piece de resistance," was when she went on to say, "But don't worry, there are plenty of free drinks on board." I saw no hint of laughter on her face. So let me get this straight, I thought, I'm stuck on this plane, without a bathroom, but plenty of fluids.

Thus began my trek to the Panhandle section of Texas.

Next, I arrived in Amarillo, and my luggage did not- but that's a whole other story. Anyway, I knew I was deep in the heart of Texas, as the song goes, when the representative from the Visitor's Bureau who picked me up was wearing cowboy boots, a large cowboy hat and a smile who welcomed me with "Hi y'all doing?" Now, coming from New York City, this is what I had hoped for.

I settled into my deluxe room at the Ambassador Hotel, without luggage, and decided to grab a quick lunch at the TGI Friday's in the lobby. I then roamed around this beautiful hotel and discovered the inviting indoor pool with whirlpool