THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511230550
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Emilee Kraus' eyelids weighed a ton apiece. She was fading fast.
She'd been excited for a month, looking forward to traveling from Cincinnati to visit her grandparents here for Thanksgiving. Her grandmother was out in front of the Norfolk International Airport terminal with the car late Wednesday afternoon, waiting. But there was a hold-up: Emilee's parents were trying to get the airline to pay for a stroller broken en route.
Excitement, even over grandmothers and Thanksgiving, doesn't last forever. Emilee was headed for a nap. Now.
Her father, Chris Kraus, plopped her in a car seat in the middle of the baggage-claim floor.
``That says it all, doesn't it?'' he said over his dozing daughter.
It says that even a good day traveling can be exhausting, especially when you're 3 1/2 years old. And she picked a surprisingly quiet spot to snooze.
The airport, while bustling, wasn't as crazed as people have come to expect on the day before Thanksgiving, the start of the busiest travel weekend of the year. Parking was ample, lines weren't bad, flights were on time and, aside from the odd smashed stroller, things were moving along.
The American Automobile Association predicted that 30.6 million Americans would travel this weekend, up 2 percent from last year. Most will drive, but more than 5 million of them are expected to fly - a 4 percent increase.
The travel blitz started out smoothly on local roads and skies, even though it's a particularly busy time for this area.
``We get a lot of servicemen who go on this one, and don't go on July 4, say,'' said Nell P. Martin, domestic travel manager of the main Norfolk AAA office.
Five of those service people - all Army second-lieutenants at Fort Eustis' transportation officers' school - had arrived early for their evening flights that would take them to families into Georgia, Washington State and Indiana.
``Food, football, family,'' Sean M. Griffin said. ``This is my religious holiday. Christmas I can do without.''
Virtually all of the 14,000 available seats flying into and out of Norfolk International were booked Wednesday, and the same was expected Sunday, the single busiest flying day of the year, said Wayne E. Shank, deputy executive director of the Norfolk Airport Authority. He urged arriving at the airport early and having patience.
Janice M. Lomax appeared to have a corner on that virtue as she sat serenely near her bags, 3-month-old daughter Janee in her lap and 18-month-old daughter Jordan in a stroller at her side. With husband Jerome, who was off picking up their rental car, the family had just arrived from Mobile, Ala. They're spending the holiday with Jerome's family in Newport News.
They don't usually travel on Thanksgiving, and she said she now knows why.
``Too much of a hassle,'' she said, smiling anyway. ``It's hard traveling with small children. Very hard.''
But the pull of family is a strong one on this, the most-family of American holidays. Even if it means starting out at 9 a.m. Central Time and still sitting in an airport terminal six hours later.
``His parents have never seen this one'', said Janice Lomax, nodding at Janee in her lap, ``and they've only seen this one'' - she looked toward Jordan - ``when she was two weeks old.'' by CNB