Brooklyn 2026, Day 1. Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Sixty-six pages of Master Trip Plan (See: “Twelve Hours Out: Thirty-Six Revisions to the Master Trip Plan“), thirty-six revisions and a FINAL, and not one line of it covered getting through the Cincinnati airport before Brooklyn even entered the picture. Fair enough. The plan starts at JFK. Everything before that was supposed to be the easy part.
Cincinnati (well Kentucky, if you want to be exact)
I checked into my flight the night before, no problem. My son, who is coming with me on this trip, could not. The app would not let him. So we get to the airport to check our bags and sort him out at the counter, and that is where we find out why. I, his mother, put his birth date in wrong when I booked his ticket. Of all things.
Fine. We straighten it out and head to TSA. We both have PreCheck, and this is the first time I have ever used mine. He goes through, no problem. I get to the front and they tell me PreCheck is not on my ticket, so I have to go to the regular line. Also fine. It was not long. I get to the TSA agent, she looks at my ID, and she stops me. She cannot let me through. My birthday does not match.
So not only did I get my son’s birthday wrong. I got my own wrong. I blame those little scrolling date wheels, but still. I’m a genealogist, details are my life, and I could not get two birthdays right on one airline booking.
Back to the ticket counter. Wait in line again. I fix my ticket with the birthday I have had since 1969. Then I get to skip to the head of the TSA line, which felt like a small consolation prize, and I get through. And then a TSA officer pulls my carry-on. I packed my big aerosol hairspray. Which is a no-no. He’s apologetic, but he takes it. Gone.
We finally get to the gate. The flight itself was uneventful, which after that morning felt like a gift.
Brooklyn, Finally
We landed, got the bags, and went to get an Uber to my aunt’s house. The phone service in the terminal was wonky and the app kept disconnecting on us. Ten minutes of trying before one finally took. Then off to Brooklyn. We walked into the Kensington house at 3:00, a half hour ahead of the plan, which I will take after that morning.
My son was exhausted and decided to take a nap. My aunt, her friend, and I went out and had a great dinner and drinks. Then bed, because at 10 AM I am due at Immaculate Heart of Mary, church number one, to pick up the first of the baptismal records. Four of them, if the parish administrator has them all, the way she said she would on the phone.
What the plan said
Land at JFK around 1:30, leave the airport around 3:00, reach the house by 3:30 or 4:00. Evening with my aunt to sort out the car for the week, walk through the itinerary together, unpack the field kit, and test the house Wi-Fi and VPN so Thursday’s work meeting is not the first try.
What actually happened
Two wrong birthdays, one lost can of hairspray, one stubborn Uber app, and a very good dinner. We reached the house by 3:00. I checked the Wi-Fi and it worked. And my aunt and I sat down with the itinerary the way the plan said to, which is how the first on-the-road changes happened before I had unpacked. A family obligation came up on my aunt’s side, and the week has to bend around it.
Tonight’s decision log entry
8 Sep 2026, at the kitchen table. Three changes. Visitation of the BVM moves from Thursday 1:30 to Thursday 11:00 AM, still two hours. Holy Cross Cemetery moves from Friday to Saturday, and the Center for Brooklyn History comes out of the plan entirely. Friday becomes a full day at the house, with a possible run to the Co-Cathedral to pick up records. The plan got through the airport untouched and lasted about an hour in Brooklyn.
Stay tuned for my first full day report!
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