Delmarva, Virgin America, Islip

I've spent the last two weeks in a strange vortex, going from working madly on some projects to serious chill-out family time and back again. I spent a day in New York taking care of some business and a week and a half on the Delmarva peninsula doing very little. This was my third time visiting Chincoteague, a town just south of the Maryland-Virginia border on the Delmarva peninsula. This year the area was greener and lusher than I'd remembered.

We got to Chincoteague with Virgin America via Dulles. Matt's first comment on board: "I like it. I just feel like I'm going to Tomorrowland." And in fact the experience is a curious mesh of fun technology and an aesthetic that looks and feels very much like yesterday's well-scrubbed version of the future. But on balance, I'm a fan. The flight attendants appear to enjoy their work. The instant messaging component of the entertainment system is gimmicky but irresistible. The best component of all is the menu ordering system, which allows passengers to order and pay for food and drinks from their seats. Plus fares appear to be very reasonable. I'm hoping for smooth growth for the airline.

Then, in returning to Delmarva from New York, I flew from Islip to Salisbury, Maryland. Despite having lived in New York for five years now, I'd never previously flown in or out of Islip. In this case, my decision was motivated by budgetary constraints. My one-way from Islip to Salisbury, Maryland via Philadelphia cost about $130. The fares I was seeing from JFK and LaGuardia were over $600. I took the train to Ronkonkoma and caught a $5 van shuttle from the train station to the airport. Evidence of the latter can be seen here: