Tag: Travel tips

Mayor Announces Free Parking on Main Street (Zone 6 & Zone 2) for the Holiday Season

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Mayor Greg Verga is pleased to announce that beginning Thursday, November 27, 2025, the City of Gloucester will offer free 2-hour parking on Main Street in Zone 6 and Zone 2 through Wednesday, December 31, 2025. The initiative is designed to encourage visitors and residents alike to shop, dine and stroll the downtown corridor during the holidays, while supporting our local businesses and fostering a vibrant community environment.

Key Details

  • Free parking will apply in the two-hour metered spaces on Main Street within Zone 6 and Zone 2 from November 27 through December 31.
  • Even though parking fees are waived, vehicles must still register their license plate number and time either at the on-street kiosk or via the Flowbird Parking app. 
  • The free two-hour session is limited to once per day per vehicle.
  • The two-hour time limit will be strictly enforced. Vehicles parked longer than two hours will be subject to standard enforcement procedures.
  • At the kiosks, users will press the check mark to start, enter their vehicle’s license plate number, press the check mark to continue, and finally press the check mark to activate the two-hour session (no payment is required/accepted). The app functions in a similar fashion: you log in, select the Main Street zone, enter your plate and confirm to activate the two-hour session. 
  • The City asks all parkers to comply with the time-limit and registration process to ensure fairness and availability of spaces for all visitors and residents.

Why This Matters

This free-parking offer is part of the City’s broader holiday activation plan: by reducing the barrier to access downtown, the City is supporting Main Street-area merchants, restaurants and galleries and encouraging foot traffic in the heart of Gloucester. At the same time, the enforcement of the two-hour limit protects turnover, ensuring that parking remains accessible through the busy season.

Additional Reminders

  • The registration of your license plate and time is still required—even though payment is waived. Failure to register may result in a violation.
  • While Sundays and legal holidays already enjoy free parking across all zones (under normal conditions) in Gloucester, this Main Street waiver is an additional convenience for the holiday period. 
  • A free 20-minute session remains available in all other zones and parking regulations will continue to be enforced in these areas.
  • Please always check the posted signs in the area to confirm the applicable zone and pay/registration requirements—these remain part of the daily regulation system. 

“We want everyone to enjoy the spirit of the season and support our downtown businesses. By offering free parking along Main Street and maintaining the two-hour limit, we strike the right balance between convenience for visitors and continuing turnover so our Main Street remains vibrant and accessible,” said Mayor Verga. “I encourage all of our residents and guests to plan their visits, register their plate and time, and enjoy a holiday season filled with local culture, shopping, and community.”

Was Lost and Found at American Airlines Dallas airport successful? Nope. My little yellow package and what you should do that I didn’t

Posted on by Catherine

American airlines lost and found.jpg

I left behind a family heirloom tucked within a seat cluster at Gate D36, American Airlines in Dallas, Texas, at 9:30pm August 3rd before we even boarded a plane. A friend found a 1950s calendar from my in law’s store when they remodeled their kitchen, and felt it was meant to be returned to our family, presenting it to us as we hugged good bye. We crumbled with gratitude and sentiment. It was wrapped securely enough within a bright yellow packing tube about 25″ high and 4″ diameter and affixed with a label marked “Donna P…” Believing it too precious for suitcase cargo or mail, and too excited and impatient to think it through, it seemed a natural carry on. Then our departure was delayed 4+ hours and required 3 unusually distant gate shuffles. And I was dumb.

“GOOD NEWS!” the American Airlines agent exalted at the final stop. “Returning pilot has agreed to continue with this flight back to Boston.” I remember turning to my husband to ask if the pilot’s tired I’m ok with waiting, you know? No longer sluggish, we herded through the jetway eager to sit again. By the time we clicked the overhead compartment shut, I remembered too late the irreplacable item I neglected to grab. The flight attendant said the captain would alert a gate agent, but there was nothing more to be done. We arrived home hopeful that our package might stand out at baggage or Lost and Found. The FAQ directions for American Airlines provide a link to a rather straight forward on-line form. It was a relief how simple it was to fill out, and that a system was in place. Plus the pilot had alerted the gate immediately.

But it wasn’t simple. It turns out that there are at least two lost and founds: the airport and any individual airline. The two lost and found lists we needed are managed by “Chargerback Lost and Found Solutions” though they are not connected. Items returned from TSA, public spaces, busses, bathrooms, and airport security are filed with the airport’s TRAVELERS AID DALLAS/FORT WORTH. Items left at airline gates are handled separately, in this instance AMERICAN AIRLINES LOST AND FOUND. Was the tube I stupidly left behind tossed out, handed to a gate agent, moved, or delivered to some authority? It didn’t matter. Any scenario was muddled because I left it at an airline gate. Upon hearing that gray area explained I knew we were doomed. Both help lines recommended contacting the other.

Since filing, I receive zero news status updates from both Travelers Aid and American Airlines, emailed within minutes of each other. At first the messages felt reassuring “Nothing has turned up. Don’t worry; we’re still continuing the search.” Also encouraging: “Providing detailed information about your item(s) is the best way to help us with our search.” Ok! So I added the absurd and desperate detail of the tv show streaming the last time I had possession. “I left it by Gate D36 before boarding on flight to Boston– a flight that was delayed 4 hours and gate switched 3 times. Our family sat in black chairs designed in a round configuration watching a single big screen TV in the gate area showing a special on Machu Picchu. The tube was left standing up, tucked right alongside chairs. Our backs were to windows of gate. Our chairs were the only ones facing the impossible to miss tv.” Lost and Found pleas would make a strange published volume.

After receiving the same form response multiple times, the Lost and Found closing remarks loom most:  “If we are unable to find any items that match the description of your reported lost item within 30 days of your report, we will send you an email advising you that our search was unsuccessful, and your report will be closed.” Has any item ever been returned via this rote route?

I googled Lost and Found success stories related to the airline and airport. The news was grim and mostly related to items left behind on planes. “Return” stories if any involved people heading back to the airport immediately. Others entailed police reports and security cameras. We did not have a good enough friend in Dallas to dig through the airport for us, nor did we feel our selfish ask warranted bothering police. Until we did. And that was way too late. We should have made the phone call to the airport non- emergency police in addition to the Lost and Found reports within the first 24 hours. There’s a shelf life on security footage and our travel date expired. I’m sure there are people who might have done this automatically, because the police officer I spoke with said it happens all the time and not to worry. I’m sharing this tip in case you’d hesitate as we did. We’ll never know if it could have helped. Also, we’re not on Facebook. Social media may have helped though we were told that the Lost and Found reports are not set up with social media feeds. Perhaps this experience will make its way to the Dallas Airport and American Airlines Lost and Found customer service departments, and the tube will stand out.

(Our package tube is not little, but it is yellow. I’ll use any excuse to listen to Ella.)

https://vimeo.com/129029575

 

INC.com published 8/17/18 Why is Your American Airlines Flight Late? Here’s Brutally Honest Reason Why (From the American Airlines President)  by Bill Murphy Jr. “…So, the company’s president, Robert Ison, offered an explanation for American Airlines’s bad performance–an impressively honest one. One of the key reasons he cited? It’s a bit surprising: American has a lot of old planes, he reportedly said. Old planes simply break down and need maintenance more often.”  Airport Lost and Found items increase from  delays– bound to happen with tired travelers, some minding kids, and gate shuffling. The airport and the airline could cut down on operating costs related to Lost and Found  sharing one system. Lost and Found could generate positive customer experiences rather than finger pointing, ridiculous “space” blame, loss, even theft.

Some Travel Tips From Your Boy Joey Regarding Airlines and Booking Flights

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Most of you may already know this but I think it bears repeating because I am sometimes guilty of making the same mistakes repeatedly.

When searching for airfares for my winter vacations I start early, about three months ahead of time and I check the regular websites for the best deals on flights.  The main website I use is Kayak which gives you some pretty decent customization options as far as whittling down the exact flight times and non-stop flights so you can only be viewing flights that meet your criteria instead of 1000 or so flights that have 2 or more connections or are red-eyes. 

I prefer early morning direct flight departures and mid day direct flight returns.  Kayak allows me to do searches for the exact flights that meet my criteria. 

The searches can be then filtered by cheapest price or best times or shortest route.  The way I usually perform my search for the best flights is this-

I check off

  • Non-stop
  • My flights are flexible (Plus/Minus 3 days)
  • Depart Early
  • Return Mid-day

Now I’ll check every other day or so until the flights I want come up within the prices that are reasonable to me.  For Florida this means direct flights at the right times for anything under $235 and for the Caribbean anything under $400.

Once I see those flights coming up I go directly to the airline’s site for which that fare is listed to se if it is listed for cheaper on the Airline’s website.  I figure that most times the airfare aggregator probably adds $10 or so to the costs to pay for their service.  some times it will be listed a little cheaper on the Airline’s website, sometimes not but it’s always good to check IMO.

Now here is the thing though that even I who I consider to be a pretty informed and savvy web travel person still to this day forget at times in the excitement to book a great deal.

Firstly there are the baggage fees that should be taken into consideration.

Here is an airline baggage fee chart from Kayak for reference-

American Airlines charges $25 for your first checked bag on domestic travel.

Jet Blue offers the first checked bag as free.

So when comparing the two 9 times out of ten I will book the cheapest fare the way it is listed on the Kayak site but forget about the baggage fees. A $225 flight to Miami on American actually will cost you more than a $240 flight to Miami on Jet Blue if you check one bag, but it won’t be listed that way on either kayak or on the individual Airline’s respective websites. now $15 isn’t a whole lot but then if you consider that you might be flying with a partner or children and it turns out to be three checked bags that would be $45 each way equals $90.  Ideally you can travel light and avoid checked bags all together but in many instances that is just not a reality.

The next point that I would like to make is that not all airlines are created equal and some don’t have TV or Internet on them.  I don’t know about you but I would gladly pay an extra $30 for round trip airfare anywhere in the country that offered tv and/or internet in the seatbacks in front of you. 

So now lets take the above instance of the flight to Miami on American for $225 which doesn’t have internet and only has a couple of TV’s in the middle of the aisles for which you may or may not have a decent view of and charges you an extra $25 for your checked bag.

$240 for a flight without a checked bag fee on a newer Jet Blue plane which offers wifi internet and individual TV’s in each seat is an absolute bargain.

Take your time when you are booking your flights and figure out what the baggage fees will be along with if the airline has wifi on your flight.  A flight to Vegas with internet access will literally FLY BY a whole lot quicker with the internet to distract you, I guarantee it.