Ho, ho, ho. Here’s where you learn who and what has been naughty and nice on my trip. Want to know what airline my favorite flight attendants worked for? Or what city I got the great chicken-fried steak in? strong>Well wonder no more. Once you click “more”, you get the complete rundown: my best/worst list!

Food

BEST

Lawry’s (Las Vegas, Nevada)

One of my favorite restaurants.: delicious prime rib, creamed corn, mash potatoes, and their famous “Spining Bowl Salad”.

Stella’s Kitchen and Bakery (Billings, Montana (BIL))

This was great: chicken-fried steak (country style), hash-browns, and a freshly-baked giant oatmeal/chocolate-chip cookie. One of the only hot meals I had the entire trip. Sadly, I realized too late that they also squeezed their own orange juice; I didn’t have time to go back for a glass.

HONORABLE MENTION

Food at the Clarion Suites (Milwaukee, WI)

(Director): Cask and Cleaver: Filet and salad, glass of cabernet

(Santa): Pizza delivered to the room: classic Wisconsin cheese and Italian sausage pizza. We were snowed in.

I got to the hotel at 6:30 pm. It was a suite, so I got to recline, enjoy my pizza, and not think about flying at all.

WORST

Airport (Newport News, VA)

Salad. I know what you’re thinking, “How can you screw up a salad?” I don’t know, but the Newport News airport managed to do it. Somehow the lettuce was both soggy and dry at the same time, as though it were some sort of mutant strain, and lettuce was all there was. Nothing else: not a single vegetable, not even a single crouton.

Landing

BEST

Washington DC (DCA) to Portland,Maine (PWM)- From the sky, Portland Maine looked like a village from a child’s Christmas book.

Everything was snow-dappled, and the town looked as though it was laid out around a central square where people might gather to discuss the coming Nor’easter or who would be serving the fattest Christmas goose. I almost expected to see Victorian-clad carolers making their way through the streets.

The same can be said for Burlington, Vermont (BTV).

WORST

Dallas to Little Rock (first flight of the trip) - A hard landing in the fog. The runway came out of nowhere.

Apparently the hard landing is something that occurs on a regular basis, but it really freaked me out.

Crew

FAVORITE

Southwest - Little Rock, Arkansasto Houston, Texas

Southwest - Manchester, New Hampshire to Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia

Both crews were a lot of fun. They stuffed pillows down my pants, sang me songs, and brought me donuts.

I must say, if you’re dressed in a ridiculous Santa suit, most flight crews will treat you well; but these Southwest guys were just terrific.

Airport

BEST

Little Rock, Arkansas - The Volunteer “Angels” are arguably the nicest people I met on the trip. They welcomed everyone to the airport, answered any questions, and really tried to get you excited about Little Rock. By the end even I was excited about Little Rock, and that shocked me.

WORST

John F. Kennedy International (JFK) – What can I say? It’s a zoo. Something must be done.

HONORABLE MENTION

Orlando (MCO): Hard to get through, slow through security, and a little too Disney. See Chris Elliott’s post to get tips on how to navigate it.

Airport Bar

BEST

La Guardia (LGA) - Good food. Actual bar-like atmosphere. Kind of felt like I had escaped the airport for a minute.

WORST

Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC) – The bar was fine, but we got major attitude from some skipsters (a phrase I coined to define hipsters who ski. They’re all over, and they’re out to get us.)

Hotel

BEST

Luxor - Las Vegas

It’s not really fair to even include the Luxor, because the hotels on the Strip are of a different caliber than all the other hotels we stayed in. But, the king-size bed and the high-pressure stand-alone shower saved my life.

HONORABLE MENTION

Clarion (Airport) - Milwaukee

I loved this hotel. Maybe it’s just because I actually got to spend some time to relax there. I was in a suite, they delivered food, and I got a great night’s sleep.

Plane

BEST

CRJ 900

This trip taught me the beauty of regional jets. When you’re lugging heavy carry-on bags, regional jets are a godsend, because you just hand your luggage off on the jet-way, and a crew member takes it and stows it underneath for you.

When you land, your bags are waiting planeside for you. The CRJ-900 was my favorite of the regional jets. The ones I flew were brand new. They had high ceilings, wide aisles, and decent leg room.

WORST

CRJ 200

Everything the CRJ 900 has, the CRJ 200 lacks. Sure, somone takes your bags for you, but the plane is so cramped it makes for a very unpleasant ride.

You feel like everyone is right on top of each other, and the aisles are ridiculous.