Day One-Noon/Afternoon/Night

My father lives in Manhattan, so he graciously offered to meet my plane, treat me to lunch and then give me an official send-off.

After gathering my two checked bags, my father and I took a car to JFK. Having an international airline partner with a domestic airline can get confusing, especially when it comes to the correct departure terminal. We had the driver drop us off at Terminal 3 for KLM, but once inside, a lady there stated that my gate was actually in Terminal 4 because I was on a Delta flight. Despite this annoyance, it was actually good that my gate was in Terminal 4 because that's where some of the pre-security restaurants are located.

After casing the terminal, my father and I decided upon an outlet of The Palm Bar & Grille. I guess the outlet is "the first airport concept of the steakhouse." Staying true to my carnivorous ways, I chose the 837 Club Burger 12 ounce – prosciutto di parma, roasted red peppers, pesto aioli and fontina cheese. Yum! My father was healthier and chose one of the seafood salads. Here is a photo commemorating our tasty lunch:

After lunch my father and I hugged good-bye and went our separate ways (to our respective restrooms, as it turned out).

I had another little adventure in the restroom: while I was sitting on the toilet, I felt something snap. I think I dropped an inch or two. Sure enough, my toilet had separated from the wall! This is when automatic flushers are NOT helpful, as each time that it went off, it sprayed toilet water everywhere (yes, through the crack). Regardless, after taking the toilet's picture, I decided that I would take a picture of all the toilets I would use on this journey (and perhaps even use them as an organizational tool). Thus, here is the first toilet of my journey. Location: JFK, Terminal 4.

I eventually boarded my flight to Amsterdam. I had the pleasure of an aisle seat, with a lovely, pink-haired, female Estonian on my left and a friendly, South Carolinan, ex-Marine male across the aisle from me on my right. I think that I got some sleep on this flight, but I know that I also did some talking, as I considered my seat companions "friends" when the flight was over. We landed in Amsterdam a little bit before 6am local time (around midnight back in the states).