Hemingway's

Essex Skypark was so nice that I decided to go out in the M-10 on the next Saturday. That was last weekend. I went to Bay Bridge, known as w29. It was a gathering for some young eagle rides and a few seminars and the grand opening of a new hangar. I have been "propping" the M-10 since Horn Point, which is really no problem. My friend Pablo met me at w29 and we hung out and told stories of our glory days while we watched a wonderful new generation of pilots do their thing with Light Sport Airplanes. In fact, the operation at W29 with their new hangar is now the largest LSA dealer and flyer in the US. Someone was explaining to me how a Tacnam Siera could go 115 knots on 5 GPH and my mind started to wander. I was looking across the field at "Hemingway's" which is a touristy restaurant that overlooks the bay. It's all different now. Built up. New roads and buildings. I was remembering when I was a college kid, and found ways to get to fly airplanes. And tried to find ways to impress girls. Taking a girl for an airplane ride to Hemingways was a guaranteed great date. When I first started doing this, it was with Brinkerhoff's Colt. Later it was his 172. Then when I first started instructing, I would use the trainers after hours. Later when I instructed out at Cumberland, I'd borrow an airplane from there. After that it was in my own airplane. My first plane was a 7eca citabria. It would do the Bay Bridge run well. But for "dates" you want side by side seating. In the early eighties I had this Warrior II. One day my friend "Billy", who was kind of a scoundrel and a ne'er- do- well was going to go flying with me. I "owed" him a flight for doing work on my little condo. Actually I owed him nothing because he had been using my car while i was gone on trips, and using the condo while he was "working" on it. He was taking his redneck bar girls up there all the time. Anyway I had this part time redheaded girlfriend and I was taking her to Hemingways and Billy was tagging along. We took off from Suburban and Billy was in the right seat and the redhead was in the back. After we got going I showed Billy how to fly the plane for about one minute. Then I climbed in the back with the redhead and let Billy play pilot. I guess that was pretty dumb and illegal. At one point, as he adjusted the throttle and turned a little more toward the bay bridge, he said over his shoulder "it's pretty much like drivin' a boat isn't it"? I said "yeah" and continued cuddling with the girl. Later at the restaurant, Billy was getting loud and obnoxious as he often did with a few drinks in him. People were starting to stare. One guy got up and came over to Billy and said "How do you keep an asshole in suspense?" Without hesitation, Billy stole the punchline and said, "I'll tell you tomorrow". This particular flight to Bay Bridge did not yield me the after dinner one- on- one result I had been hoping for. But it wasn't the last flight I made to W29. There were many more to come all the way up to the present day. My wife refuses to fly in to Hemingways with me because it's where I took "all those girls". But she likes Bay Bridge and we've flown in there to eat at Kent Manor Inn, and also the Gourmet Gas Station. A few years back we drove to Hemingways, but there was a one hour wait and we went to a place called Annies instead. So wife has still never been to Hemingway's. GA Informal ::::+::::