As I rambled on from the Skyclub to my gate, I thought I heard my name come up on the PA. Sure enough, the lady at the gate was looking for me. I could not possibly think of one good reason that might have led to the summons. I had not checked in any luggage, I had no connection flight, the aircraft equipment was already there and I could not be upgraded.

When I walked up to the lady, a bit nonplussed, something caught my eye. And then I realized what was happening. To remove any shred of doubt, the Delta lady said – “We are going to embarrass you a little”.

And embarrass me she did.

Turns out I became a 2 Million Mile Flyer with Delta today. I had received the notification this morning from them.

The Delta agents made a public show of giving me the certificate and a Delta backpack. They announced the whole thing on the PA system, made all the waiting passengers clap (twice – since the first one was not good enough for the Delta folks) and took pictures on their phones and mine.

Then they announced my name to board the flight first!!

That was a turn of events I was not prepared for.

Interestingly enough, I made Delta 360 a couple of months back and yet for all the flying miles on Delta, I just reached the half way mark to my American Airlines miles. That is over 4 million miles – most all of it from international flights from Dallas. With Delta, almost all my flights are domestic.

I had arrived at St. Simon’s a few hours before rest of my friends. Drove straight to the beach, grabbed a gin and tonic at a waterside bar and enjoyed the sun, the beach and The Economist. The beach itself was fairly empty.

It is a cute island. Reminded me of Hilton Head a lot – only less people. The beaches were not as expansive as Hilton Head. But a lot of interesting birds and flowers abound in this island.

I am no golfer. One life has been enough for me to strive for the green and end up in a hole without having to have golf double it up 🙂 That said, as my friends went out on their carts to get the whack-a-white-ball therapy, I strolled around in the beautifully manicured greens. There were lots of beautiful flowers and interesting birds.

This bird brought back memories from the previous house where I would sit in the porch with my DSLR and wait for the cardinals to come in pairs and try to take a good picture before they would spot me moving.

This was taken with my iPhone 11 from about 15 yards away (and then magnified).

Reputed to be the longest spanning bridge in Georgia. The aerial distance is about three and a half miles. Taken with iPhone 11.

It was a good day to sit in the sun by the Pier and catch up on some reading. For those who disapprove of me sitting in the sun without sunscreen or a hat – and I am not saying your name has to be Sharmila necessarily – I might want to point out that the book I am reading is titled “Courage to be Disliked” !! (for real)