In our January print issues, we’re going to focus on Destinations, including trips to Washington, D.C., the Caribbean, Austin, Texas, and more. We’d like to hear from you as to where your favorite destinations are when you take to the skies.
Share with us your favorite locales, what airport (or airports) you fly into, and near-by attractions that are a “must-see” for GA pilots. If you’ve got any tips on flying into the airport, where to get deals, or best way to plan that epic journey, please share them as well.
Feel free to include photos! We’ll print as many as we can in the January issue.
You can add your comments below or send them, plus your photos, to [email protected].
Friday Harbor is the best! But living in NorCal it’s a long flight so Half Moon Bay is my favorite and Mezza Luna restaurant is tops for food, a short 100 yard walk from parking. Don’t see how to include photos…..
One of my favorites is whale=watching along the San Mateo coastline during the annual migration to Baja.
Flying West from PAO to approximately .5 miles off the shoreline, while maintaining approximately 2000′ altitude to avoid spooking the great whales, large pods may be seen traveling South to their wintering grounds.
We had a great day visiting the Bird Aviation Museum, between Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint this spring.
I had to think about this one a bit. My favorite destination is the left seat of my Colt, from the time it leaps, well OK, lifts of the ground, and wherever thereafter my tired 108 ponies will get me. I will agree with Jeff though, the islands off the Washington coast are spectacular destinations.
Today, I just had my fix. A friend decided to go visit his dad on Denman Island (British Columbia.) He had a choice; spend a better part of two days on the road and the ferries, or indulge in a serene 1.2 hours air ride.
I am still grinning ear to ear. 🙂
Did you fly from the US? If so, how big a deal is it to fly to Canada? Where did you land, I don’t see an airport on Denman.
A great place to go locally is Friday Harbor or Roche Harbor on San Juan Island Washington state, but only on a sunny day, which isn’t that often. There are lots of good places to eat in Friday harbor just a short walk outside the back gate of the airport (remember the combo to get back in). Lots of little shop, the ferry terminal and just an interesting place. Roche harbor on the North end of San Juan Island has a large Marina, Hotel and rose garden and a good place to get a snack. It where the old Lime Quarry’s are and Teddy Roosevelt was there once. The good part is you can go looking for killer Whales, the pods are usually on the west side of the island in the summer months in formation chasing the salmon toward the shallow water. If you really feel like seeing the islands you can island hope from there to Lopez, Stewart, Orcas, Center island and see some of the local scenery and island life. I’m told that Orcus has a camping area but I haven’t tried it yet.
Probably not what you are looking for, but my favorite destination is M33, Sumner County Regional Airport in Gallatin, TN just outside the Nashville class charlie. It’s a nice place, but the real reason it is my favorite is that is my “home” field, where I and my airplane are based. To me, one of the joys of flying is returning from a trip and seeing the familiar sights of home, entering a pattern I know so well, hearing familiar voices on the CTAF, seeing my hangar in the light of the fading afternoon sun and all that nostalgic stuff I think we take for granted.
So my vote for favorite destination is that field you call home.
I keep my plane (RV8A) in Cleveland, GA (0GE5) which is right on the edge of the Blue Ridge mountains in North Georgia. I have two favorite $100 grits and eggs breakfast locales. One is Moontown near Huntsville in North Alabama. Always a big turnout and a great grass field to land on. It’s named “Moontown” because Huntsville is where the Saturn Moon Rockets were designed, built and tested in the 1960s. The other is the South Carolina Breakfast Club and they change the location in South Carolina every two weeks since they meet every other Sunday. An even bigger turnout than Moontown. They usually have shrimp on the menu too. Maybe because South Carolina is known for shrimp and cheese grits or creamy grits. It may not sound like it but it’s a delicious combination and kind of pricey in most places. The breakfast though is $6 or so.
Because of the speed of the RV both locations are usually within an hour or so unless the South Carolina boys are meeting around the coast. The highlight for the South Carolina group every year is when they meet at Triple Tree Aerodrome just south of Greenville, SC. Most people who keep up with aviation news have heard of Triple Tree. It sports a 7,000 foot runway of beautiful putting green grass. It really makes you feel good to land there since no matter how crappy your landing skills are the grass is so soft that you can barely feel it when your tires hit the grass. Triple Tree has many more features that you need to check out on the net and make a trip to if you can.