One more vote for small planes. I travel for a living and much prefer the smaller planes. Smaller planes mean fewer passengers - you'll feel more like a guest and less like a part of a cattle herd.
If you haven't flown on a small plane before, let me elaborate on the "gate check" process for your bags. The small planes have very small overhead storage areas, so you generally cannot take on any type of roller bag - even those that would normally be allowed on bigger planes. But they make some accomodations, so you can still have it before and after your flight. When you get on the plane, you will leave your bag on a luggage cart or in the jetway (just watch what everyone else is doing), and they will load it last into the luggage compartment of the plane. Then, when you land, they will unload those first, and put them on the cart or in the jetway for you to pick up. One of the Delta employees will provide a gate check tag for you, to identify yours as a bag to take off planeside, and to ensure that the bag you get back was really your bag.
So, don't pack anything that you need on the flight into the big carryon, as you won't have it on the flight. But you will have it in the gate before and after the flight, and this does avoid having it lost in the regular baggage check. Put your in-flight necessities in a smaller bag that will fit under the seat in front of you.
Have a great time. To me, the flight there is like a big old E level attraction!
