Maine * Maine * Maine

Aug 2012 Maine * Maine * Maine

I’m back home in good old Indiana after a WAY too short trip to Maine for the Rockland Lobster Festival. It was a fun, quick get-away to a place 718 n.m. from Indiana and twice as far as the trip I’d been planning for several days.

Hey, it’s shocking to see so many delicious crustaceans piled so high

The ONE thing I’ve learned in all these years of flying is stay flexible and that lesson paid off big time last Thursday. I’d been planning a trip with Boyd & friends to Niagara Falls, departing Friday noonish. In case you live in some corner of the world where “Niagara Falls” doesn’t mean anything to you …… it’s in Canada ….. just across the New York state line.

Lobsters everywhere!

And it requires a passport. Which I thought I had. Which I did have. Which turned out to be expired. Lesson learned: Do not get a Priceline.com hotel in Canada unless you have a current passport. They WON’T let you in! Priceline doesn’t care! I discovered at 9:00 pm Thursday night that my passport was expired and our Friday noon departure to Canada wasn’t going to happen, or at least that destination wasn’t going to happen.

Cape Elizabeth, Maine

So “Plan B” became Maine which probably should have been “Plan A” all along anyway! It’s incredibly beautiful, the people are wonderful and the food is to die for. I mean that literally! If you eat like this for long “you will die”! Butter poured all over lobster, fresh clams deep fried and the most beautiful blueberry pies you ever saw!

OMG!

I won’t even tell you about the whoopie pie I brought back home with me! OK, OK, OK, so what in the world does all this have to do with LadiesLoveTaildraggers?

There are women taildragger pilots in Maine! Tess Jones, Sue Tholen & Judy.

Sue Tholen and her beautiful Super Cub just happen to be based at KSFM, Sanford Regional Airport in Maine, our destination. I called, left Sue a message that we were headed to her airport and shortly after we arrived Friday evening she and her husband John were there to meet us.

Sue & John with their “N” model Bonanza that has all the “P” model upgrades.

We got a tour of their two hangars showing us their Super Cub and vintage Bonanza. You should see the very upscale hangar John built himself to house the Bonanza. Sue has CFI and CFII, Airplane Single Engine Land & Sea ratings. It was fun meeting them both and having our first dinner in “Maine” together.

Keep in mind ladies that if you’re traveling and want to meet other lady taildragger pilots, check out our Pilot Maps. Send me a note if you’d like contact info as you’re traveling and I’ll be happy to pass it along.

Judy.Birchler@gmail.com