Here is an unusual Twofer Tuesday for you in that it involves two references to the John Wayne Airport located in Orange County, Santa Ana California. The rest of the story goes like this.
Last Thursday I heard Jim Palmer being interviewed by the folks on Baltimore’s radio station 105.7 “The Big Bad Morning Show.”
Jim was phoning in from an airport awaiting a connecting flight back to Baltimore. He had flown out earlier in the morning from the John Wayne airport near his home in Newport Beach, California. Before talking Orioles baseball, he discussed how the planes taking off from John Wayne have to ascend very quickly due to noise ordinances. He noted how it can be a little scary.
Since I have never flown thru John Wayne Airport, I found this to be somewhat interesting. I later googled it and found this description of that takeoff process:
That was my first reference to John Wayne Airport, but then on Sunday, in Buzzy’s Country Store, I encountered a second reference to it.
A young lady named Brook asked me about my photo of John Wayne Raley on the shelf. She noted that John Wayne was the name of the airport she flies in and out of when traveling to and from St. Mary’s College. Brook and her friend Hattie are seniors at St. Mary’s College and had dropped in Buzzy’s with Hattie’s folks just to check things out.
As I talked with them I learned that they are members of the College’s sailing team. For those of you not familiar with the St. Mary’s College sailing connection, it is a very big deal. They have been a sailing powerhouse for a number of years competing against Division 1 colleges. They have won 13 National Titles (click here) and have hosted a couple of National Championships at St. Mary’s City as recently as last year. Through the years, I have had several other California-based visitors to Buzzy’s who are at St. Mary’s College mostly because of its sailing program. Talk about a niche interest!
But back to the John Wayne Airport. I also “landed” on this video discussing its scary takeoffs:
This Steve Miller tune comes to mind for some reason. Maybe it’s that line “You know you got to go to hell before you get to heaven” (3:20 mark.)