Three things I learned this weekend about the airport in Chattanooga, Tennessee:

1. They seem to be reducing their carbon footprint by turning off lights - even when people are still in the terminal. I was waiting for a couple of people, and while sitting near the gate where my plane came in the lights in that part of the terminal were shut off. I got the hint and moved to the gate where I expected one, if not both of the flights I was waiting for to come in. Both flights were late, and when the second one came in and both were boarding they shut off the lights in that part of the terminal. While people were still there waiting to board.

Maybe they needed the extra juice to run the baggage return? I mean, there were probably a dozen people with checked baggage on those flights.

2. Before flying in I checked to see if there was a bus or something to get from the airport to downtown. The bus system doesn't have a stop at the airport. I found this odd, given that in most places a public transit link at the airport is the norm.

I now know why there isn't one: the local transit authority is getting a cut of the extortionate rates that cabs charge for runs from the airport. For two people, they charged $33. Renting a car for the day would have been cheaper. Now, we didn't ask the rate before getting in, which is a total failing on our part. Thinking about it, I wonder if this is some sort of off the books thing, as the meter wasn't even on during our trip.

Can you tell I don't take cabs too often?

3. Skybus flies to Chattanooga, which you think would be handy as they also fly to Boston. Except in this case "Boston" actually means Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Which would be great if I were leaving a car, as the free parking (referred to several times, always in all caps, on the Pease website) would compensate for the longer drive.

The other problem is that the Skybus flights aren't necessarily coordinated. So while I could go Portsmouth-Columbus-Chattanooga, it wouldn't work in reverse as they only have one flight from Chattanooga a day.

I also ran across something called Allegiant Air, which offers flights from Bangor, Maine to Orlando, apparently. Something to keep in mind for the in-laws.