Our Christmas jaunt

cowtowner

cowtowner

Line Up and Wait
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Oct 7, 2009
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Cowtowner
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So my plane has been down due to a bad alternator since OSH

My A&P sent it off to get rebuilt and when it came back it had the same issue. He was honest and told me he didn’t have the expertise to diagnose the complicated electrical system on the Columbia

Let me put it this way, if it wasn’t for some good friends with extensive knowledge on DC electrical systems it would still be down. A Buddy that I park near OSH every year works for a big German company as an electrical engineer. We tested every system on the airplane over FaceTime and found everything good to go. I sent him my controller and alternator and he built a system to check everything. Talked to the alternator shop on the phone (after the shop was sent the alternator 2 more times to have him say nothing is wrong), and they finally replaced the rotor and got the plane running again

Yeah, it’s a 12v alternator for an early model Columbia and you can’t just buy a new one. Not available

Ugh

So it finally was fixed and time to go fly (after multiple test runs around the area) so off to New Orleans for Christmas Eve.

KNEW might have the friendliest FBO employees anywhere. Cheap gas and they even put it in the hangar for free!

NOLA on the other hand is as dirty as it ever has been. Homeless everywhere and no cops to be seen. Scratch that one off our list to go back to

We went to Christmas Eve service at St Louis Cathedral and had a nice gumbo dinner afterwards. Christmas morning had heavy fog so we walked around some more before we headed to the airport where the FBO fed us a Christmas feast before we headed further east to Savannah. (We had packed ham and cheese for sandwiches for the flight for our Christmas meal not expecting to be fed)

On to Savannah with a decent tailwind. Sheltair FBO for overpriced food and a don’t give a crap attitude. Lyft into town where we stayed at the JW Marriott that once was a power plant. A fantastic hotel and beautiful city. Spent the evening walking around and exploring. A little difficult to find a place to eat on Christmas, but we managed to find a place to eat at the bar. Middling food, but good atmosphere

Our plan was to go to Charleston on the 26th, but the weather patterns were turning on us faster than forecast. Decided to fight the 40 knot tailwind and come on home

All in all a great trip. Recommend Flightline First FBO at KNEW but not the city. Don’t recommend Sheltair at KSAV but do recommend the city and the JW Marriott hotel
 
NOLA
 

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KSAV
 

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Savannah
 

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Ruby slipper in NOLA may be the best breakfast in the country.

New Orleans is indeed dirty but that's part of his charm. It makes its own gravy when it rains.

Agree on Sheltair. They moved in, took over, and ruined my former home airport.
 
My experience with NOLA is that it’s a great city IF you stay away from the French Quarter and especially Bourbon St. Check out jazz bands on Frenchman St., get dinner in the Garden District, check out hip bars in the Warehouse District. But Bourbon St always smells… unique.
 
It’s been about 8+ years for me in New Orleans, no hurry to go back. Last time the main event was the WWII museum.

You could have skipped over to Apalachicola, FL, nice airport, things to do.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Ruby slipper in NOLA may be the best breakfast in the country.
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My money goes to Appeline as best breakfast in Nola. The praline bacon alone is worth it, the bottomless mimosas and bloodies don't hurt their case...
 
NOLA is what you make it. If you choose to see a dirty city, it won't disappoint.

If you choose to see a unique cultural experience with some of the finest musicians in the country - Yes, even the folks on the street corners there are legendary musicians - then you can have a GREAT time. There is plenty of fantastic food as well. I haven't been there in nearly 8 years (kids!), but I need to go back, and not just once more. I still haven't gotten to the Arsenal of Democracy museum, and I've heard it's fantastic.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
NOLA is what you make it. If you choose to see a dirty city, it won't disappoint.

If you choose to see a unique cultural experience with some of the finest musicians in the country - Yes, even the folks on the street corners there are legendary musicians - then you can have a GREAT time. There is plenty of fantastic food as well. I haven't been there in nearly 8 years (kids!), but I need to go back, and not just once more.
Click to expand...
Agreed but the city has changed in the last 8 years. We stopped through there on our way to the final Reno Air Races and were really saddened by what we saw. NOLA has had what @cowtowner described as long as I've been going there but it's much much worse. We noticed a similar blight in San Antonio the last time we were there also. Perhaps it is simply an outward sign of the direction of our society.
 
FORANE said:
… We noticed a similar blight in San Antonio the last time we were there also. Perhaps it is simply an outward sign of the direction of our society.
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Maybe so. Having been going to the Riverwalk all my life, that ditch has always been dirty. Tourists constantly throw their trash in the river. So much so that the river is drained every January to clean it out. Add to it they also use the river as their own personal toilet. I think that’s fairly commonplace for tourist traps and it has an exponential impact over time.

The bigger problem that affects all the SAT area is litter and that’s independent of location. It’s one of the biggest reasons we rarely go into town.
 
TCABM said:
Maybe so. Having been going to the Riverwalk all my life, that ditch has always been dirty. Tourists constantly throw their trash in the river. So much so that the river is drained every January to clean it out. Add to it they also use the river as their own personal toilet. I think that’s fairly commonplace for tourist traps and it has an exponential impact over time.

The bigger problem that affects all the SAT area is litter and that’s independent of location. It’s one of the biggest reasons we rarely go into town.
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We liked to stay at the San Antonio Hyatt. The last time we were there the water from across the street from the Alamo that used to flow through the lobby was dry. A local policeman told us that the city shut down that waterfall and channel because the homeless were bathing in it and using it as a toilet.
The blight in San Antonio wasn't as bad as New Orleans but we definitely noticed a change from the previous time we were there.
 
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