From Minneapolis to Midway

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RIP, boiled water

You will be mist
Departure Airport: Minneapolis - Saint Paul International Airport (MSP/KMSP)
Arrival Airport: Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW/KMDW) @813WhiskeyNovember summon
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700
Livery: Southwest Airlines “Illinois One”
Flight Time: 59 minutes
Server: Expert

The ground crew is busy working to turn around our 737-700 for the ride down to Chicago after it arrived just minutes ago from Dallas. Fitting for our destination, this Southwest jet is wearing the Illinois One livery.

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Departing south into afternoon skies, heading out across the Minnesota River shortly after liftoff

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Just East of Rochester, we reached our cruising altitude of 29,000 feet. We were getting bounced around pretty good as we wormed our way through some storms, but despite the turbulence, a service was conducted. I got pretzels and some water.

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Somewhere near the Quad Cities, it was time to begin our descent into Chicago already

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Our route today took us a little bit farther South than usual to avoid thunderstorms, and we ended up looping back North not far from Peoria.

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It continued to be a rough ride as we approached the outermost fringes of the Chicago Metro, America’s third largest, near Plainfield

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We caught a glimpse of Chicago’s much larger O’hare International Airport on base for Midway

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After fighting crosswinds all the way down, we had a firm touchdown on Runway 13C.

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It was a very quick taxi to the gate, and disembarking was a speedy process. Overall, this was a pleasant short flight between two of the Midwest’s largest cities. You can fly the Minneapolis - Midway route on Delta as well as Southwest (for a much higher price), but realistically, you’re going to get about the same level of service given the duration of the trip. The Minneapolis - O’hare routing is much more competitive, with American, Delta, United, and Sun Country all operating the route.

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Route of Flight:

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Approved :pinched_fingers: !!! As soon as I saw the ORD I knew it was 13C, now actually renamed IRL to 13L. RIP 31R-13L :saluting_face:

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You departed from MSP thats incredibly surprising

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I was inbound to KMSP from Boise (suncountry) when you took off. Nice Hop

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The dad jokes are killing me :sob::sob:

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Ahhhhhhhh Chicago Midway. Man I can even think those Special Southwest Liveries for the B737 is so underused

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You will feel the Power of the Dark Side.

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He’s already on the dark side with these awful jokes

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All great shots!

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I saw lone star one there #midwayisobjectivelybetterthanoharenoexcuses

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We hold your memory in high esteam.

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Yay! Glad I got your approval. I’m always amazed by the sheer scale of O’hare. Even just flying past it shortly on base it’s huge.

Very unlike me, I know.

Oh yeah, I think I recall seeing you! Boise - Minneapolis is a nice route. Fun scenery and it’s pretty short.

Well, at least you died of laughter - it’s the punniest way to go!

There’s a lot of great specials on the 737-700.

Thank you! Probably an unpopular opinion, but I really like the Midwest scenery.

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Yeah, I think there’s maybe a theme in there somewhere about textures of the Midwest being more than worthy against more mountainous terrain. I remember doing a double take coming out of somewhere near Omaha, as one of many other examples.

I especially like the texture contrast going from your 5th to 6th shots.

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Exactly.

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The Midwest also has some pretty good variety. The Great Lakes are always beautiful, and there’s some pretty rugged terrain in the Dakota. Lots of nice water features throughout, and there’s a slice of the Ozarks in Missouri.

There’s also a region called the “Driftless,” which spans an area in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The best way I can describe it is as “Mini Appalachia” scenery.

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