And now for the most exciting part of the trip: taking the kids up in a plane for the first time! (Although, to be totally accurate, Alice flew when she was 10 months old, a great source of pride for her even although she has no memory of it.)
Our flight was scheduled for noon, but they weren't busy so they took us out to the plane right when we arrived (more of that Arcaro Travel Luck in action). Since most beach stays are for a week, the weekends are actually their slow time since that's when most tourists are either leaving or arriving for the week and aren't in need of entertainment. I'd originally booked two 15-minute flights back to back since you're only allowed to have three passengers. But the pilot said Simon looked like a two-year old and that we could all fit into one flight, so we did one 30-minute flight instead. For the aviation geeks: it was a Cessna 172.
This first video is when we're just getting lined up on the runway.
This second video is of take-off and being in the air.
Zac and Simon sat up front with the pilot, while Alice and I sat in the back. The one problem was that since the plane headed south along the coast, Alice mostly just had ocean out her window, so she wasn't took interested in the view, and even had the audacity at one point to say that she was bored. This kid!
Simon, meanwhile, was up front flying the plane.
Seriously, Simon was the only one with his hands on the controls a lot of the time. He was a very steady pilot and has great potential.
Alice had the most fun using the headphones to talk.
We flew over the Wright Brother's Memorial.
Jockey's Ridge
Bodie Island Lighthouse
On the way back, the pilot did some sharp turns just for fun, and flew in parabolas twice to give us the sensation of zero gravity. Alice, future daredevil, loved it. Simon did not.
