After we got home from our errands yesterday I looked on the web to see if I could find any information about the airport we were watching planes take off and land from. It turns out they have a restaurant there that serves breakfast all day. Back in Columbus there was a restaurant called the Barnstormer at the OSU airport that we used to go to on the weekends. We thought we would check out this restaurant for breakfast this morning.

First of all the actual building itself is great. The west side of the building is directly on the tarmac, and large windows span the entire side of the building for an unobstructed view. It was actually pretty busy for a Sunday morning. Planes would land and then taxi right up to the side of the building and come in for breakfast.

The food was good but the prices were slightly higher than what you would pay for a comparable meal someplace else, but we thought it was OK because the location and view made up for it.

However, the service we had was bad enough to spoil the whole experience for me this morning. I think it was just our waitress though. The kitchen and the other waitress seemed competent enough from what we could see.

She came over to drop off the menus and ask what we wanted to drink. Sheri asked for coffee and I asked for decaf and a glass of water. She came back over after about five minutes and couldn't remember if we ordered coffee. She came back with coffee and no water.

When she brought our plates out she asked if we needed anything else. I replied just silverware. She came back a few minutes later with the order of pancakes we were splitting and asked if we needed anything else. Silverware. My food was considerably colder by the time she brought the silverware out.

I normally expect at lease one stop-by during a meal to see if we need anything. About halfway through still no stop-by, and my coffee had been empty for several minutes. She was just chatting with the other workers behind the counter. Not busting her butt on anything. I took my cup to the counter to get a refill.

We finished breakfast and started reading the paper. No visit for coffee refills. Sheri got up to use the restroom. On the way back she walked behind the counter to grab the pot of decaf for me.

The waitress finally stopped by our table at least a half hour after we were done eating and asked if we wanted more coffee. Yes please. She came back with just the regular pot and said she was out of decaf. Did I just want a little of the regular? "No thanks, I will wait for the fresh decaf." Twenty minutes later still no coffee. Sheri went up and got me another cup.

I could have gone for one more cup while we were hanging out, but by this time I was just getting annoyed with the everything and so I didn't bother.

We didn't get a check so we thought they just keep them at the register and you tell the cashier what table you were at. No. The cashier asked for our ticket. She couldn't even be bothered to bring us the fricken check.

It was about a $20 check. I would normally leave a $4 tip, and $5 or maybe even $6 if the service was fabulous and the personality was pleasant and sincere. Sheri said she would take care of the tip and I should go pay the bill. I thought a $2 tip was adequate for the almost none existent service we received, and told Sheri to leave that amount. She is normally the one that gives wait staff the benefit of the doubt in situations like this, but she was so annoyed she said she was only leaving a dollar!

I definitely want to go back, just not to her section.

Her is a high-def aerial of the airport with a push pin of where our table was in the restaurant.

When I was looking around the airport's website I saw something about learning to fly. I have thought about learning to fly gliders before, but I never followed up. I did a little more follow-up this time, and I think I might seriously go for my glider pilot license at some point.

There is a glider club nearby and the instructors teach members for free. They said it depends on the student, but the average cost to get your FAA glider license is about $1,600. That includes about 20 hours of ground training and 40 to 50 flights. At that point you have to fly solo for the FAA and I think take a test.

That doesn't sound bad at all, and the 40 to 50 flights wouldn't even be like a chore. That would just be part of the fun.

The club sounds pretty cool too. The monthly fees are $25, and the gliders cost $20 per hour to rent. It costs $14 to have the tow plane tow your glider to 1,000 feet. There is also a one time $500 initiation fee. And like I said, they have volunteer FAA certified instructors.

I am not going to take any action right now, but it is going to be in the back of my head. Maybe we will start by going out and pay for a half hour ride some day.