We were like impatient racehorses at the starting gate, just waiting for the bell to go off and those doors to open so we could burst through with a fury.
The metaphorical shackles of the coronavirus pandemic of the last 17 months were left behind as the Memorial Day Weekend began a travel rebound in the U.S.
Nowhere was that revealed more than in the number of people who took to the airways. The Transportation Security Administration set all kinds of post-pandemic records for the number of people screened at U.S. airports. All totaled, starting on Thursday, May 27 and ending on Monday, May 31, almost 9 million people passed through security - still slightly off from 2019 numbers but a gargantuan leap from 2020.
They're calling it 'The Maskless Holiday,' as tens of millions were able to shed the face masks that have been ubiquitous for more than a year now.
More than half of American adults have been vaccinated and numerous states have lifted bans and restrictions on gatherings, as the pent-up demand for travel was unleashed.
More importantly, COVID-19 cases are plummeting. The 11,976 new cases of the virus reported Saturday were the lowest since March 23, 2020.
If the AAA's projection that 37 million Americans would take to the road over Memorial Day Weekend for trips of more than 50 miles is correct - official figures are forthcoming - it would mark a huge increase over the 23 million that traveled by car last year.
According to the Washington Post, Robert Sinclair, a AAA spokesman, described the uptick as "revenge travel" - after a year or more of not going anywhere.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday told ABC News's "This Week" that he was cautiously optimistic about what the surge in travel means for the transportation system.
"We're not back to normal yet, we're not out of the woods yet as a country with this pandemic, but we're seeing such progress," Buttigieg said. "We are coming out of one of the biggest shocks, perhaps the biggest shock that the modern American transportation system has ever seen in terms of demand, schedules, all of these things changing. The system is getting back into gear."
Rick Ueno, general manager of W South Beach hotel in Florida told CNN that "We're [seeing] so many signs of recovery as the rest of the world slowly opens back up. The pandemic taught us that we adapt and re-adapt, and we'll continue to do so as needed."
There are other hard numbers, such as the TSA tally on screenings, that the rebound is afoot. In Indianapolis, 135,000 fans watched racecar driver Helio Castroneves win the Indy 500, the most-attended sporting event in the U.S. since the pandemic began.
Tracking firm GasBuddy said Sunday's U.S. gasoline demand jumped 9.6 percent above the average of the previous four Sundays, the highest Sunday demand since summer 2019.
But there is also anecdotal evidence that Memorial Day will be the baseline for a busy summer travel season.
Sara Blair, a manager at Hollywood Burger in Los Angeles, said the increase in visitors is a welcome sign.
"The past couple of days have been crazy," she told CBS News.
"It's actually getting better," said Karen McPherson, visiting San Diego's Mission Beach from Northern California. "We see light at the end of the tunnel. It is quite refreshing."
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