Holly Run Recap

12/2/2012

Holly Run Recap

I'm back and I know you all missed me.  The Holly Run for 2012 was perhaps not the most successful and we have Mother Nature to thank for that.  The Bay Bridge Airport which is the operation base for the pilot's mission was socked in with fog which prevented anyone (with brains) from flying in or out   

While Jeff made and received calls and checked the weather frequently, my friend and I had coffee and had a long uninterrupted chat - the kind you can't have at work - because work gets in the way!  An hour after we were supposed to leave, we loaded up and took off for Frederick.  Once there we could see the lower visibility at the airport which meant a lot of standing around at the flight school while instructors, students and pilots all eager to be on their way discussed the weather.

While waiting out Mother Nature we wandered over to the airport's restaurant which is homey and serves good food in a casual and friendly atmosphere.  Those of you who live in the area should have a meal at the airport restaurant - you won't be disappointed and you'll get to see planes land and take off.  Jeff found pilots to sit with and my friend and I enjoyed our "free" breakfast on Jeff while sitting alone and engaging in more girl talk.

After a lot of back and forth and many hours later than we were supposed to have departed, Jeff decided to fly directly to Tangier Island which had clear weather.  I took the backseat of the plane which allows me to nap relatively unnoticed and allowed my friend to be copilot.  I guess the flight was smooth but I wouldn't know I slept all the way and because the plane is loud - nobody would know if I was snoring (ladylike of course)!

After we landed we could see a line of residents and children standing by the fence waiting.  For us?  Nope for Santa and he wasn't there.  In fact nobody was.  There was one young chatty high schooler pilot who had flown in for the day and us.  A true disappointment for the locals.  We unloaded all the paper products we had brought to donate to the soup kitchen and walked to the church to put money in their cash box.  It is a beautiful little church and one of the things I like best about it is that the parishioners are able to leave a personal item in the pews.  We saw pillows and what looked like some kind of hearing aid devices in several pews.  Clearly, whoever owns those things must return to the same spot every Sunday.  How refreshing it must be to just leave something sitting around and know it will be there when you return in a week.

Lorraine's is a local restaurant that is open all year was told to expect 100 diners and so she was prepared with her crab cakes and soups.  Unfortunately, at the time we sat down for lunch there were us, the chatty high schooler and another pilot who had just flown in for the day and knew nothing about the Holly Run.  A huge disappointment for the restaurant.  We had crab cakes and vegetable crab soup which was so good we bought several pints to go.  They put our "to go" soup in glass canning jars wrapped in foil - no cardboard carry out containers for them.  We also had the homemade apple crisp and took one of those for the road, minus the ice cream.  

After lunch there was no reason to stick around, we had been told by the restaurant owner, who was in touch with the coordinator of the Holly Run, that Santa was being driven to Cambridge and would fly in around 2:30.  We decided to head back to Frederick with soup and dessert in hand.  I assume that the return flight was as smooth as the earlier flight but again wouldn't know - had another nap.  What a perfect day.

While on the island we met a woman whose daughter is a teacher at the school who told us that the school has lost it's funding and they are in desperate need of school supplies, which none of us had been told about. Jeff made sure that the coordinator of the event knew this and when we got home found a general email to pilots asking for school supplies.  The plan is to return to the island next Saturday armed with school supplies.  Jeff and I will go shopping this week to get our donations bought and I think I will also include some arts and crafts supplies in our package.  Notebook paper and pencils are needed but foam shapes and glitter is more fun!

To my local readers - the food at the restaurant is amazing and it was written up in the July 2012 issue of Southern Living.  You should make the trip over and I know a pilot that would be happy to take you any time you're ready.  When you visit you could bring your donations of paper goods, school supplies or you name it and leave it at the restaurant.  This is a small island and Lorraine will get those items to the right people.

Happy Sunday.

P