wastin' away

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville makes waves with first Texas resort

Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville resort pool bar

Grab those flip-flops, Parrotheads.

UPDATE: Texas' first Margaritaville Lake Resort officially opened on June 26, 2020 at Lake Conroe, north of Houston. To ensure the safety, health, and wellbeing of all guests during the coronavirus pandemic, the resort is emphasizing heightened standards for hygiene and cleanliness for guestrooms, amenities, common spaces, and restaurants, as well as protocols for social distancing.

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Texas Parrotheads, rejoice: Margaritaville is coming. The Valhalla of all things Jimmy Buffett and beach bums will take up residence in Lake Conroe — just an hour north of Houston.

Margaritaville Resort will boast 360 guest rooms, signature Margaritaville dining, a golf course, spa, and more, according to a release. Fans looking for their long-lost shaker of salt will have to wait until late next year for this 186-acre prime waterfront property to open.

The Buffett-themed getaway is taking over La Torretta Lake Resort & Spa. It will feature rooms in a main 20-story hotel tower, as well as waterfront villas on the lake. Two of the existing restaurants will be converted into signature, on-theme dining concepts: LandShark Bar & Grill and 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar & Grill.

“We are thrilled to bring our first Margaritaville resort in Texas to the Houston area with an incredible location on Lake Conroe,” said Rick Cunningham, of Margaritaville Development, in a statement. “This resort will be a welcome escape for those in Texas’s major metropolitan areas and beyond, offering a lakeside paradise dedicated to relaxation, fun, adventure and the Margaritaville state of mind.”

The property will include an 18-hole golf course, tennis facilities, spa, more restaurants, pools, and 45,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor meeting space. It joins the nearly 30 current and upcoming Margaritaville resorts, vacation clubs, and casinos nationwide.

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Holiday News

American Airlines expects record-setting travel on Thanksgiving 2024

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

American Airlines ready for takeoff.

The holidays are looming and American Airlines is ramping up. Over the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, the Fort Worth-based airline expects to process nearly 8.3 million customers across more than 77,000 flights.

According to a statement from American's COO David Seymour, the airline is having a good fall season and canceled fewer flights than its peers during October.

“Thanks to the hard work of our 130,000 team members, we canceled fewer flights than any of our major competitors this October and beat our own records for on-time departures and arrivals,” Seymour says.

That's surely good news. One hates to rain on their parade, but in June 2024, the only flight I booked this year, my flight was canceled less than 24 hours before take-off. I had made hotel reservations, scheduled a pet sitter, planned events, and arranged for a friend to pick me up at the destination airport. One employee speculated that it may have been "insufficient crew." Their only solution offered was: Feel free to reschedule your flight.

Thanksgiving facts and figures
The travel window runs from November 21 to December 3, and the airline expects to carry more than 500,000 more customers than it did last year.

The most-traveled day will be Sunday, December 1. The second most-traveled day will be Monday, December 2.

The peak of peak: 1,035 mainline and regional aircraft will be enroute at 10:45 am on Sunday, December 1 — the highest number of flights handled at any given time during American’s travel period.

The airline expects to serve more than 6.8 million Biscoff cookies on board from November 21 to December 3.

Travel tips
Download the American Airlines app and check in for your flight, noting added any bags to your trip. This will save you time at the airport.

If traveling internationally, download the Mobile Passport Control app, which can speed up your entry into the U.S. Global Entry members can download the Global Entry app, which allows you to submit your entry and go straight to the officer.

Upon arrival at the airport lobby, scan your mobile boarding pass to print bag tags quickly at a kiosk. If you’re not checking bags, go straight to TSA security with your mobile boarding pass.

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