This year we decided to avoid the chaos of Interstate 95 and instead flew the Commander to our destination.
Thanksgiving started off bright and clear. As I checked the weather for the flight to the C&D B&B in Sanford, I noticed that not only was Florida's weather looking great, but so was the entire eastern U.S. A huge high pressure system was creating beautiful clear skies over most of the eastern states. This got me thinking of possibly extending my flight plan by a few states and fly to Ohio instead. I'm not sure what Susan thought of this, but Andrew was 100% on board. We plotted a route as direct as possible, with only a single turn at Jacksonville. The distance is too far to fly on a single tank, so we looked for a good place to land along our route. We found that Spartanburg, South Carolina had the best fuel prices in the area. We checked the extended forecast and found that the good weather was expected to last until at least Sunday. But then the practical side of my brain kicked in and I thought about the cost for such a short visit. We decided to save the Ohio flight for another time.
With the Ohio flight a no-go, we casually continued to get ready for the much shorter Sanford flight. We packed our overnight bags, the camera, and a pumpkin pie (we had to sample a slice of one pie for breakfast) and headed for the airport. The winds were 16 knots and gusting from 030 degrees, so we asked to depart runway 05. With that much wind, '57W quickly and easily left the ground behind. After about 20 minutes, we turned the corner at the Bithlo antenna farm and headed over Lake Jesup directly to KSFB.
View KMLB-KSFB in a larger map
On the ground, we were met by Aunt Cathy and Uncle Dave. Thanksgiving dinner was a peaceful event with just the five of us at the table. Everything was fantastic; even my pumpkin pie turned out pretty good. Afterwards, we played Apples to Apples Kids and u-build Monopoly.
Friday was a pretty lazy day. Susan studied most of the day. Andrew and I started working on a new Logi-Sim circuit. We built a digital piggy bank with a button representing each of the coins, and another button labeled Bust the Bank. Afterwards, we got sucked into the Discovery Channel Gold Rush marathon and watched episode after episode, all day long. We were supposed to fly home, but didn't. Susan called StarPort to let them know we'd be spending another day. We decided to go out for dinner and somehow ended up at the Seminole Mall. We were having a burger craving, but I ended up with a sandwich from Chick-fil-A. I really wanted a shake, and the mall version of Chick-fil-A didn't have the equipment, so we stopped at Steak 'n Shake for shakes. Why not for burgers, too? I don't know. Somebody in the group doesn't like their burgers because they are not actually "steak". Reminds me of the old A1 Steak Sauce commercials; "What is hamburger after all, chopped ham? No, it's chopped steak."
After another round of u-build Monopoly, we decided to actually come home today. Before the flight, I wanted to try to improve the sound quality from '57W's radios. Dave, Andrew, and I went to Ace to buy some electrical contact cleaner, then we stopped at the airport and tried it out. I'm not sure the radios are any better, but at least I did something.
Back at the B&B, Susan finished studying and packed our things. We returned to the airport, paid our bill, and headed back to Melbourne. On the way, I only had one controller misspeak my tail number, so that was nice. But I found another problem. Now the NAV 1 navigation radio is acting up, and is unable to lock onto a frequency. Do the problems ever end? Yeah, I know, they end the day I sell the plane!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
A Day in St. Augustine
Today we crossed off one entry on our list of places to go - St. Augustine, Florida. St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States and has lots of fun family attractions to visit. I was primarily interested in seeing the old fort - the Castillo de San Marcos - and the lighthouse.
After breakfast, I jumped on the Internet and started searching for tour maps. I found a map that was published by Old Town Trolley Tours of St Augustine. It was very detailed, and even showed places to park for free. Andrew and I looked at it, then tried to print it out from the laptop to the printer in the other room. We hit print, but nothing happened. We tried again; same result. Then I realized that the main computer was not on. DOH! Once Andrew turned it on, out of the printer came the map... twice.
Susan packed a cooler full of drinks, lunch meat, and fruit while I searched for things and tried to keep Andrew focused on getting out the door. Once loaded, we were on our way. To my surprise, we didn't remember what we forgot and have to turn back and get it; so did we forget to remember, or did we actually bring everything we needed?
The drive north was a little over two hours. We arrived in town right at 11:00 am. We followed our map to the free parking lot and went searching for ticket prices. Andrew and I checked out the old jail, the old tractor, and other oddities while Susan got the low down on the prices. Turns out the trolley is pretty expensive. We wanted the guided tour... but not for that price. We decided to pay $10 to park in the visitor center lot and do our own tour instead.
We decided to eat lunch in the car, in the visitor center parking garage, before getting started. After lunch, Susan filled her water bottles at the visitor center and found another map of town. Andrew and I checked out the mock pirate ship, then we started our tour. Our first stop on our self-guided tour was the old fort, which is officially called the Castillo de San Marcos. The fort is surrounded by a large lawn with hills sloping away. In Florida, finding a hill is a BIG deal. We noted that several kids were entertaining themselves by rolling down the steepest grade.
Thanks to Veteran's Day, the fort was free to enter. Once inside, Andrew immediately began exploring all the nooks and crannies. He was especially interested in the workings of the drawbridge and main entry door. The main entry led to a small courtyard surrounded by various rooms. We explored the soldiers' living quarters and the prison before heading up the stairs to the upper wall. There must have been 50 cannons of various sizes along the walls, pointing out in a crossing arrangement that would surely make any advancing enemy think twice before approaching further.
After breakfast, I jumped on the Internet and started searching for tour maps. I found a map that was published by Old Town Trolley Tours of St Augustine. It was very detailed, and even showed places to park for free. Andrew and I looked at it, then tried to print it out from the laptop to the printer in the other room. We hit print, but nothing happened. We tried again; same result. Then I realized that the main computer was not on. DOH! Once Andrew turned it on, out of the printer came the map... twice.
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| Tour map of St. Augustine |
Susan packed a cooler full of drinks, lunch meat, and fruit while I searched for things and tried to keep Andrew focused on getting out the door. Once loaded, we were on our way. To my surprise, we didn't remember what we forgot and have to turn back and get it; so did we forget to remember, or did we actually bring everything we needed?
The drive north was a little over two hours. We arrived in town right at 11:00 am. We followed our map to the free parking lot and went searching for ticket prices. Andrew and I checked out the old jail, the old tractor, and other oddities while Susan got the low down on the prices. Turns out the trolley is pretty expensive. We wanted the guided tour... but not for that price. We decided to pay $10 to park in the visitor center lot and do our own tour instead.
 |
| Andrew wrestles an alligator |
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| Andrew and the old steam tractor |
We decided to eat lunch in the car, in the visitor center parking garage, before getting started. After lunch, Susan filled her water bottles at the visitor center and found another map of town. Andrew and I checked out the mock pirate ship, then we started our tour. Our first stop on our self-guided tour was the old fort, which is officially called the Castillo de San Marcos. The fort is surrounded by a large lawn with hills sloping away. In Florida, finding a hill is a BIG deal. We noted that several kids were entertaining themselves by rolling down the steepest grade.
 |
| Andrew and Susan, outside the fort |
Thanks to Veteran's Day, the fort was free to enter. Once inside, Andrew immediately began exploring all the nooks and crannies. He was especially interested in the workings of the drawbridge and main entry door. The main entry led to a small courtyard surrounded by various rooms. We explored the soldiers' living quarters and the prison before heading up the stairs to the upper wall. There must have been 50 cannons of various sizes along the walls, pointing out in a crossing arrangement that would surely make any advancing enemy think twice before approaching further.
 |
| Andrew inside the fort |
We continued our tour of the fort back down in the courtyard. We visited the store rooms, then a small room that was showing a video. The video described the process of shooting a cannon and a musket in great detail. When we got up to leave, we found a small group of “soldiers” standing in loose formation. We asked what was going on and they told us they were about to fire a cannon. Seeing the cannon fire immediately jumped to the top of my must-see list! I quickly maneuvered the family back outside and around to the river side of the fort. Andrew was feeling a bit timid - he doesn't like loud sounds - so I continued alone to a spot near the cannon that was about to be fired. From there, I shot this video on my Droid.
With nothing more to see at the fort, we turned our focus to the streets of the old town. I was starting to think about dessert. About that time, we came across a candy shop and the girl inside was making waffle cones. The scent was enough to draw anyone in off the street. Everything in the store looked delicious, but most items had nuts. We decided to get a small dish of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
We continued south through town and eventually reached Flagler College and the Lightner Museum. Everything was very beautiful, but Andrew was getting anxious to go to our next must-see location - the lighthouse. To get there we needed our car, so we walked north along the river toward the visitor center. As we approached the fort, we saw more kids rolling down the hill. With just a little input, we were able to persuade Andrew to join them.
The final must-see item was the lighthouse. The lighthouse turned out to be a great destination, for an unexpected reason. After checking Andrew's height - must be taller than 44 inches - we got our wristbands and started walking toward the lighthouse entrance. Along the way, we found trails entering the woods. Andrew and I spent the next ten minutes running up and down the small hills, through the hammock. Andrew just loves running in the woods.
And then it was time to take the challenge. The lighthouse has 219 steps. Of course, Andrew wanted to be the first to the top, and I wasn't all that concerned about coming in second. Along the way, there were little distractions to allow us older folk to take a little breather. We looked out over St. Augustine on one level, and the ocean on another. One had a bucket that the keeper would fill with oil and carry to the top. It contained some weights to simulate the actual weight. I wouldn't make it one flight carrying that thing!
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| The lighthouse entrance |
The trip up all those stairs was certainly worth it. The lighthouse is 162 feet tall (I believe). From the ledge, you can see 25 miles in all directions. The thing I found the most odd was that the lighthouse was not actually on the coast. The guide explained to us that the old lighthouse was on the coast, but was destroyed. The current lighthouse was built further back from the coastline, but still on the coastline. In the 1970's, the current sandbar developed, separating the lighthouse from the coast.
After about 20 minutes, we descended the 219 steps back to planet earth. I was glad to be back on solid ground. On the descent, I noted many cracks in the old seams between the bricks and was convinced the whole thing might come crashing down at any moment. The next stop was the keepers house. It was filled with maritime memorabilia and models of old sailing ships. Outside, we visited the kid's area and tried tying some of the knots that were on display. Andrew made one last trip through the trails, where we found a giant spider clinging to its web.
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| Giant spider in the woods |
With no more must-see items on the list, we started looking for a place to eat. We passed a barbecue place on the way in, so I had only one thing on my mind. We found another place closer and I ordered a barbecue pork sandwich, baked beans, and mac 'n cheese. The sandwich was pretty good, but the meat was not cooked in the sauce, so it was a little dry. Oh well, the search for fantastic barbecue continues.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Short Flight to Fort Pierce
After what seems to me to have been a very long time, we took the plane out for a short flight today. Weekend weather hasn't been all that good lately, but today was looking very nice. Picking a destination proved to be more difficult than expected, but I finally decided to fly to Fort Pierce. Fort Pierce is just south of Vero Beach, has inexpensive avgas, and has the Tiki Bar. I like to find airports with good food and/or good milkshakes. We got a late start, as usual, but the flight distance was short, so I knew I had plenty of time.
At Melbourne, we loaded the plane, but forgot Andrew's booster seat in the car. As Susan went back to get it, I remembered that I wanted to tighten the visor, but didn't have a screwdriver. When Susan returned, I asked her to go back to the FBO and ask for one. While Susan was going back and forth, Andrew and I did the pre-flight checks. Once set, I started the engine and requested taxi for a south departure. During the run-up, I noticed that the engine was running rough on the left mag, so I leaned it out and let it run hotter for a minute. That resolved the problem and we were on our way.
The flight down the coast was nice, but a thin broken layer of clouds at 2,500 feet kept us low. As a result, we got some light turbulence and had to request permission to fly through Vero Beach airspace before contacting Fort Pierce. This was not a problem, but it required some quick radio frequency juggling to accomplish. For some reason, Fort Pierce Tower could not understand me and I almost decided to just fly back to Melbourne, but he understood enough to determine my location and clear me to land.
On the ground, we topped off the tanks and went looking for a milkshake. Unfortunately, the Tiki Bar is all about alcoholic drinks and couldn't satisfy my shake desire. So, we paid for the gas and returned to the plane. By now, it was getting close to sunset. I'm still not night current, so we flew straight back to Melbourne. I decided to fly the western route, over I-95, to avoid Vero Beach airspace. Melbourne Tower cleared me to land on runway 09L, after asking where we were parking. The sun was just dropping below the horizon as we exited the runway. Although brief, my flying urge has been met and the plane got some air under the wings.
At Melbourne, we loaded the plane, but forgot Andrew's booster seat in the car. As Susan went back to get it, I remembered that I wanted to tighten the visor, but didn't have a screwdriver. When Susan returned, I asked her to go back to the FBO and ask for one. While Susan was going back and forth, Andrew and I did the pre-flight checks. Once set, I started the engine and requested taxi for a south departure. During the run-up, I noticed that the engine was running rough on the left mag, so I leaned it out and let it run hotter for a minute. That resolved the problem and we were on our way.
The flight down the coast was nice, but a thin broken layer of clouds at 2,500 feet kept us low. As a result, we got some light turbulence and had to request permission to fly through Vero Beach airspace before contacting Fort Pierce. This was not a problem, but it required some quick radio frequency juggling to accomplish. For some reason, Fort Pierce Tower could not understand me and I almost decided to just fly back to Melbourne, but he understood enough to determine my location and clear me to land.
On the ground, we topped off the tanks and went looking for a milkshake. Unfortunately, the Tiki Bar is all about alcoholic drinks and couldn't satisfy my shake desire. So, we paid for the gas and returned to the plane. By now, it was getting close to sunset. I'm still not night current, so we flew straight back to Melbourne. I decided to fly the western route, over I-95, to avoid Vero Beach airspace. Melbourne Tower cleared me to land on runway 09L, after asking where we were parking. The sun was just dropping below the horizon as we exited the runway. Although brief, my flying urge has been met and the plane got some air under the wings.
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