Brings back ... something ...
"relax and soak up the atmosphere of the… er airport"
The date: 15-16 September 2001
The time: starting around 7:30pm, until around 6am
The place: Honolulu International Airport
So I'm trying to run away from a tropical island (am I mad?) four days after two(*) large buildings fell down, and the plane that's supposed to take me away is delayed. I arrived in good time for a 10:45pm flight, which finally arrived from Sydney in time to take off again in the general direction of Toronto(**) somewhere after 5am the following morning.
So like all my fellow passengers, I had to spend the night relaxing and soaking up the atmosphere of an airport where everything interesting was shut.
(*) Yes, I know it was more than just two buildings, and that "fell down" isn't exactly an adequate description. It's a literary device, because most people tend to overlook the others.
(**) Where I missed my connecting flight, was booked on another, and then instructed to queue-jump past about three hundred unfortunates to check in, all the while wearing one of those delicately-shaded shirts that are so symbolic of Hawaii.