Atomic Monster Cafe: Who Wants To...

...fly to Hawaii in style with me?

Video of United Airlines Stratoliner - 1950

...back when flying was fun and waaaaay before airlines started treating paying customers as self-loading cargo...or worse, criminals...("hands up against the wall, feet back and spread 'em...")

Of course it was an 11 hour flight back then as you cruised along at 215 mph for 2,400 miles over the ocean...but what a luxurious way to spend 11 hours, complete with sleeping berths and cocktail lounge.

The one I really wish I could have experienced, however, is the Hawaiian Clipper...a 1935 Martin M-130...a huge 4 engine flying boat that cruised at 130 mph, making yours an 18 hour trip from California to Honolulu.

...and of course it, too, had sleeping berths and actual food (not just bags of peanuts) they served you to you in a formal dining setting.

But the granddaddies of them all in terms of comfort and style...

...were the Boeing 314s "Clippers" that replaced the Martin M130's...visually very similar, but larger, faster, and even more luxurious.

Cruising along at 180 mph gave you 13 glorious hours in the sky, surrounded by comfort and class that rivaled first rate ocean liners of the day.

Sadly, their reign was shortlived...just a couple of years after they were built in 1938 and put in service, WWII broke out and they ended up being used for the war effort.

By the time the war ended in 1945 their technology was already obsolete and Pan Am abandoned them in favor of faster, less expensive (and less luxurious) airplanes.

So...about that trip to Hawaii...back before all the condos and crowds...

In Ecclesiastes chapter 7 we read..."Say not thou, “Why were the former days better than these?” For thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this..."

I've got to believe one of the reasons we shouldn't dwell on that is because it will make you crazy when you think of what's been lost to our so-called "forward march of progress..."

Turning to happy fare, we have Love United...

...in Holy Matrimony...Marcellus and Rileigh Hare, June 23, 2018.

It truly was a beautiful ceremony and Marcellus and Rileigh are such lovely people I wish them all the best life has to offer as they continue their journey together.

Their wedding was one of the few times my 5 sons and I have all been in the same place at the same time in quite a few years...

Left to right that's Chris, Benjamin, an unidentified old man who wandered uninvited into the picture, Evan, Micah (father of the groom) and Ryan.

Karen organized the quick pic and did a nice job of getting everyone to look the same direction at the same time.

Evan just got out of the hospital a few weeks ago after back surgery when he had two vertebrae fused after a serious bone infection in his spine...

...amazing to see all 6'6" of him standing on two feet unassisted. The above was taken at Craig's Cruisers the night before...fun after the rehearsal dinner...

My grandson Damien with his Uncle Benjamin...

After the wedding Karen and I scooted back to Holland and decided to stop in to Curragh's, the Irish pub there...

...where we enjoyed some Guinness, a Blue Moon, and some actual food...fish and chips and a chicken sandwich with basil pesto and swiss cheese...very yum...

Some recent sightings...

Rocky Raccoon putzing around the deer feeder...

...Bambi wondering why Rocky would hang around his feeder...

...a friend's (Larry...MORA pit crew/driver) newly re-installed deck and his pontoon boat at the family camp near TC...

...and the rare mulier splendidis seen here relaxing in her natural habitat (Starbucks at the mall)...

do NOT tell her I said that...

later, mcm fans...

* Crass Commercialism Corner *