One of my favorite memories as a child was when my dad would take the whole family down to the airport to sit in the dirt roadway and watch them take off and land.
It was the greatest thing to us. My dad would say “jump in the car and let’s go for an ice cream”. We would scream and jump in the back of the station wagon, go through the drive thru at McDonalds to get a cone, then head on down the street to the airport.
Once we were there, we’d park in this little dirt road just off to the side of the run way and sit on the hood of the car. Back then, there was nothing but a little chain link fence between the road and the runway, so you could see the take offs and landings perfectly. We would sit there for hours and watch. I couldn’t get enough of it, it was so exciting for me. My dad would always end up having to drag me back into the car because I didn’t ever want to leave.
I have always wanted to take my kids to do the same thing, but now the airport is completely different and there isn’t anywhere to sit and watch like there was before. It makes me sad because as corny as it may sound, it was so much fun to sit there as a family, eating ice cream and watching these huge planes touch down on the runway and come to a screaching stop.
Still to this day, when I see a plane taking off from the distance, I will follow it with my eyes until it disappears into the sky and I think back to the days of being a little girl, sitting on the hood of my dads station wagon, with my head on his shoulders, waiting for the next plane to take off or land. My brothers and sister would be running around in the dirt, licking their ice creams, laughing…
That memory just makes me smile because all was right in my little world back then.
When I lived in dallas, i used to go to the dallas airport and drive under the passway where planes drive over .. you go right under them its so cool .. then i would take my gf to watch them .. it was alot of fun .. i miss those days now that im out in the middle of no where the only excitement is corn growing and farmers tending to their animals .. it was fun at first with the animals but how much seeing cows and chicken houses and horse all the time be .. ohh i forgot to mention deer running out in the middle of the road and you have the pleasure of hitting them ..
ohh one thing fun for the kids .. lighting bugs .. i never got to see those in this city .. hmm ok so i do have some fun lol
Yeah. Exactly!
I live near three airports. A military air station, a small airport, and a big international one. The only one where I can sit and watch, kind of, is the small airport……..with the small planes. I want to show my kids POWER! I want them to feel overwhelmed by the perceived impossibility of flight of huge hulking metal craft flying above us.
Yeah. I miss that, too.
we would do the same thing. my mom used to take me to a park that was across the street from midway airport. and if you ever been there, you know that the planes just barely scrape the roof as they land. it was pretty cool.
Go to a small airport where people fly private planes… It is loads of fun. We have one by the house and sometimes those little planes swoop down land and they cross right over the top of the car while your driving. It is exciting.
We still do this with our kids…where we live the airport is still surrounded by simply a chain length fence…ice cream from braums and sit and watch the airplanes, then head out to the train depot and watch the trains….good times, good times.
How funny! We were just talking about this the other day.
When I was a kid, my grandpa and I would go down to the Kansas City airport and park at the end of the runway. He’d always bring his six pack of beer and would stop and get me a coke or something. It was so very cool.
When I grew up in Houston, if I was feeling blue or whatever, I’d drive out to the airport and there wasa a road (I’m sure still is) that had a little pull over. I’d park there for hours on hours just watching the plans and enjoying the sunshine. Of course there was always sunshine, but it was nice just to sit and imagine where these people were going. I could see them, snug in their seats, happy, looking forward to going somewhere. I wasn’t going anywhere so they were going for me.
We’ve taken our son (he’s three now) to watch planes at the International – still a chainlink fence, and a proper viewing area with information signs showing the different types of planes that use the airport, and the different airlines. (with the recent rash of airline failures, this one is a bit out-of-date)
I used to do this in the Bay Area…there is something quite relaxing about it.
my dad used to do the same thing with us, probably at the same airport you were at 🙂 i hate that there’s nowhere to park anymore, too. and when i’m driving down that street and i see a plane coming? i still slow down so i can see it flying over me. thanks for the memory 🙂