The Breakfast Club
An Affiliate of the
The Knife & Fork
Breakfast Club Visits
11 Jun 2005
by Warren McIlvoy
When the Breakfast
Club event committee met last November to
map-out the schedule for 2005, one consideration came to the forefront, keep
the summer destinations relatively close and pick places that would be cooler
the desert climates where we departed from.
An early Saturday morning departure from Deer Valley Airport to the north, soon has us over the burgeoning
From where we were all parked, it was maybe a little over a
100 yards to the walk-through gate that would get us to the street-side of the
terminal building. The Air Fare
Café is located on the first level
and about midway down the long lobby area. The Air Fare Café
came under new ownership near the end of 2004 and Kelly Roessig
is the new owner. The Café is a rather small place with seating for
about 15-20 people. Since I thought that we might have 20-30 folks in
attendance, Kelly and I worked-out a plan to have a catered affair on the
balcony level of the terminal building. The open area of the balcony is almost
right above and on the opposite side of the lobby area. The southeast side of
the balcony level is arrayed with a tall, wide window wall that affords a
panoramic view of the ramp area. The northwest side, and the wall above the
lobby area, has clerestory windows the entire length of the building. This view
has a breath taking vista of the snow-capped Humphrey's Peak. This view
can only be had from the balcony level.
Kelly had arranged a series of tables set-up in an "L" shape with the
serving line arranged in front of the ramp windows. The menu consisted of
scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage & bacon, a pastry tray with a variety of
Danish, a fresh fruit tray with several kinds of melons and grapes, three
different juices, and the ever popular, coffee. Out hostess for the morning, Sarena,
did an admiral job of keeping things in order and to attend to any other
necessities that our folks needed. The foods items that needed to be kept warm
were heated just right and the cold items were kept on ice. All-in-all, the Air Fare folks did
an outstanding job of providing the Breakfast
Club group with a tasty and enjoyable meal
in a pleasant venue. In retrospect, the twenty folks in attendance would have
been easily accommodated in a side room that was adjacent to the main floor
café area. I believe that 30 would have overwhelmed the first floor
space and it would not have had the views that we enjoyed on the balcony level.
After our leisurely breakfast meal and time to
chat with many of the other folks in attendance, we went down to the main lobby
level to explore the other features to be had in the terminal building. When it
was time to depart, we retraced our course back to the ramp area. By this time,
the skies had clouded-over with an overcast sky at about 3000' agl. There was an occasional raindrop to let us know that
changes in the weather were looming. Though the temperature had warmed a bit,
the wind had also become a bit more enthusiastic out of the southwest.
We departed runway 21 and with the increased wind,
the take-off roll was somewhat abbreviated. There was an abundance of thermals
in the area that made a climb to 9500' the altitude of choice for the return
trip. Once off the Rim, the air smoothed-out a bit but still had some
turbulence to it. In the vicinity of Sedona, we got another dose of
virga but it did not last very long.
The Flagstaff Group
What's Next?
The July Breakfast Club
event will see us traveling a tad further west to historic, Seligman,
Arizona and Lilo's West Side Café.
In August, we will be heading to Sedona and the Sedona Airport
Café. That's all for now but remember, fly safe.
Click on the Flagstaff link to view photos of this fly-in event.