I was looking for pews for our church and a group of us were tasked with seeing what was available. We needed 80 pews or so total so it was quite a large undertaking. Brand new pews cost a lot of money so we figured we would check craigslist and Google to see what we could find. Ran across a website called www.cheapusedpews.com and www.usedpews.org and began to search those websites to see if we could find enough for our new sanctuary. Problem is, these pews we were looking at were all around the country at different churches and trying to find volunteers to fly around the country to look at church pews is not as easy as it sounds…
Trip to Memphis
The first pews we went to look at were in Memphis, Tennessee. There was a church that was switching over to chairs so we figured we would go take a look to see what they had to offer. Buying tickets turned out to be quite the event. I was heading to Northern Michigan for a family reunion and my wife was working at our business and she was trying to get us tickets while keep things flowing smoothly. Just prior to leaving on our 3 hour journey south to the airport the day of the flight, I figured I would print my boarding passes. No tickets were booked for us that day. Glad I looked. In the process of booking, she had accidentally booked the wrong days. We were supposed to fly out on a Monday and she booked tickets two weeks from that Monday. So I called United, got on a 5 am flight the next day with a 6 pm return time. Took a little bit of time to make that happen but we got a full refund when we explained what happened. I recommend United… I also got a refund for the hotel we booked as well. Kept the rental car and pushed back the time we were going to pick it up. Memphis is grossly hot and sticky. Our rental vehicle was not ready so they gave us a pickup. What a racket, rental cars. They tell you an estimated price of $90 and then when you bring it back, driving 17 miles, after all the fees and taxes your final bill is $170. What a joke. The pews were not what we had hoped to buy in the end. But the ladies at the church treated my father-in-law and I to a wonderful Memphis BBQ feast that I would strongly recommend. Anyone going to Memphis, try their BBQ. Especially with coleslaw on a pulled pork sandwich. After that we went to Graceland and looked a bunch of Elvis look alikes as it was Elvis week in Memphis. We listened to some Elvis music for a few minutes and headed back to the airport to avoid the heat at 1:30 pm and sat there till our flight left at 6 pm. Fun. Good book though. I love the Bourne series. Got back to Minneapolis at midnight thirty and home by 3:30. Good quick one day trip. 24.5 hours awake without sleep. Oofta.
Trip to North Carolina
After that trip, my father-in-law said he was done being on the survey crew. They put out another call for volunteers which was met by crickets. Can’t believe people don’t want to fly across the country into the wonderful southern heat to look at pews. One of my great friends finally decided it was worth the venture and he joined me. I booked the tickets this time so I only could blame myself for mishaps. 3 hour drive south, sat on the tarmac for 2 hours, flew to Chicago and missed our connecting flight. Perfect. United was awesome again and got us onto an American flight leaving 3 hours later instead of waiting for the next United flight leaving 6 hours later. I like United. Touched down at 10:30 pm and head to the lovely car rental dealership. Picked a different one than last time. Drove a $70,000 Nissan Maxima that the car rental person tried to upsell me on but then decided to give it to me for the same price as the $25,000 full size car I had originally rented online. Ever rode in a $70,000 Maxima? Me neither. Drove south to a hotel in Clinton with exterior doors called a motel and stayed the night. Drove to Salemburg, NC the next day and looked at a used pew warehouse. We worked with a guy named Everette with Commercial Refinishers & Restoration. If you ever need church pews, talk to this guy. He knew his stuff and was a very outstanding guy. Found some we liked and made the purchase. Drove back to Raleigh. North Carolina is just like Minnesota, the parts we saw anyways. Except hotter and muggier. Mosquitoes, wood ticks, all the wonderful exciting insects Minnesota has to offer can be found in North Carolina. We ate at a BBQ joint in Raleigh called The Pit. They had unreal BBQ brisket. Good food and great service there. After that we began our slow journey home. Flew to Newark, and then Minneapolis. Touched down at 11:30 pm and made our way home again.
I don’t like to fly. The last time I flew, I didn’t sleep for a week darn near before or after. Not sure why as I used to love it. I would rather drive. But for the essence of time, flying was the best option and it didn’t turn out so bad in the end. It wasn’t as bad of an experience and we ate some good food. Didn’t buy the hamburgers that were selling for $20-$25 in the airport instead decided McDonalds hamburgers would be just fine at $4. Now I collected a bunch of miles and my wife did as well as she is overseas in London currently so flying might be in our future again if our miles amount to anything.
Till next time, enjoy the final days of summer till school starts.