Today we flew
to Redding to eat at Jack's
Grill. First the flight. Dave's friend Rich Prillinger is in a flying club.
He has a non-commercial pilot's license and the club has several planes
that members can check out and fly. Dave flew with Rich once and he
thought it was great and wanted to do it again. So going to Jack's
Grill accomplished two things: great steak meal and flying there and
back.
Steve Yockey was going to go with us but had to bail out at the last
minute because he brought us a bit over the weight limit of the plane
(700 pounts with a full tank). Dave called Woo and convince him to
drive and make the trip at the last minute.
The plane we used is a new aquisition of the flying club, thought it's
an old Cessna Skylane. It's a
single prop airplane that sits four not overly heavy people in a
somewhat cramped compartment. It is incredibly noisy when flying, both
from the engine and the wind. I had noise cancelling headphones which
reduced the noise to a dull roar.
Now, flying in a small plane is freakishly scary. It's really sensitive
to wind and to small steering adjustments. Rich is a fairly good pilot
but there were still times when there was turbulence that the flew up
or down to avoid and the turns were awfully tight. At least a large
airplane you have a better feeling that the world around is stable. It
also doesn't help that there is a lot of window to look out of.
|
But the view
is quite stunning. We were always flying less than 8000
feet and usually more like 6000 feet and at that altitude there is a
lot of detail to the land. You can see individual houses and trees and
the cars moving and the roads and the whole panoply of civilization
laid below you. From the air, cities are beautiful. And you get the
whole view which gave me a better appreciation of how familiar
landmarks are laid out.
Anyways, Jack's Grill is the same four
years later. Even the menu looks the same, except the prices are
slightly higher (much less than inflation) and their web site is listed
on the front cover. We got a corner booth and everyone ordered the New
York steak with french fries. The salad was great as usual though I
didn't feel the anchovies this time (I did see a few in my salad).
I don't know if it's nostalgia or my taste buds have deteriorated or if
Dave realyl hyped upt he steak, but it wasn't as good as I remembered.
First time I ate at Jack's it was the best steak I've ever had before
or since. This time it was good, even excellent, but not great. I'd
rate it as the third best steak I've ever had, after Moe's in Milwaukee.
Woo was also unimpressed, mostly because Dave and I have been hyping
Jack's for the past five years.
Still, it as a nice trip and an interesting experience. Frankly, I'd
rather not fly again. But I'd be willing to do it if they desperately
needed another person. Luckily I weigh a lot so me being the key fourth
is less likely than you'd think.
|