The Breakfast Club
An Affiliate of the Arizona Pilots Assn
The Knife & Fork
Breakfast Club Visits Williams, Max &
Thelma's
18 Apr 2005
by Warren McIlvoy
The Breakfast
Club found a new fly-in destination that
is only an hour’s flight away, Williams, Arizona. Or as some might say "The
gateway to the Grand Canyon".
We were delayed by a week due to foul weather on our scheduled date but our
alternate date turned-out just fine. It was quite by accident that I discovered
the possibilities for a fly-in destination. We were returning from Valle when
we stopped-in for some "cheap" fuel and met the airport manager
George Barendse. George said that he could
take care of our transportation needs to get us into town.
A
direct track from Scottsdale to Williams
would take us over Cottonwood and a bit further to the north, the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area. The
Wilderness Area is, in reality, an extension of the red rock cliffs and
formations that form the backdrop to Sedona. The only major difference
is that they lack the upscale shopping centers, restaurants, and tourist
information centers. I "logged-on" to our group flight following
frequency to announce our attendance and quickly got a response from several
other Breakfast Club folks. There are no early morning weather reports for Williams
but there is an unpublished AWOS phone number that I had called prior to our
departure so I forwarded that information to the rest of our group. Since Williams
is only a little over 100 miles away, it did not take us long to get there. I
was tuned-into the Williams Unicom and could hear other aircraft making
position calls in the pattern. It turns out that Williams was also
hosting a safety seminar and pancake breakfast to benefit a local resident who
was undergoing treatments for cancer.
After landing, I taxied over to the fuel station that is just to the north of
the ramp area. There were already three aircraft taking-on fuel and I could see
that parking on the ramp was at a premium. By the time that I had finished
refueling, a parking space had opened-up and we towed my aircraft over to the
space and chocked the wheels. I found George, the airport manager, in the
terminal building and he gave us the keys to three "airport limos"
that would get us into town. Since I had been here previously, I was given the
responsibility of leading the way to the restaurant.
I did a "Google" search on Williams and this is what I came-up with:
Williams
is in Northern Arizona. It is in Coconino County. The town of Williams
is nestled in the valley at the base of the Bill
Williams Mountain,
in the Kaibab National Forest. Williams is located on
Interstate 40, just 30 minutes west of Flagstaff.
You can get to Williams from Phoenix and Tucson by taking
Interstate 17 north out of town. You will continue on Interstate 17, until you
reach Flagstaff.
Once you are in Flagstaff,
you will get on Interstate 40 and head west to Williams. Williams is 170 miles
from Phoenix and 280 from Tucson.
Williams,
the city and the mountain, were named for William S. "Bill" Williams,
a famous master trapper and scout on the Santa Fe Trail.
Williams, at an elevation of 6,780 feet, maintains its attractive small-town
atmosphere, while large-town conveniences and entertainment are only 30 minutes
away in Flagstaff
via I-40. The Grand Canyon Railroad offers historic steam-engine train rides
between Williams and the Grand Canyon. In
addition to the Grand Canyon, attractions in the Williams area include Bill Williams
Mountain, elevation 9,264
feet, and White Horse Lake and Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area to the south.
Within an hour's drive are Walnut Canyon and Wupatki
National Monuments, sites of several 12th-century Indian ruins; Sunset Crater,
the remains of a once-active volcano; and the San Francisco Peaks, the highest
elevation in Arizona . Air and ground scenic tours are available in Williams.
In
1926, U. S. Highway 66 was established through Williams, Arizona. A little over half a century later,
on October 13th, 1984, it became the last bypassed town along the "Mother Road,"
as old Highway 66 became Interstate 40.
Today,
all of downtown Williams is on the National Register of Historic Places, and
its largely-unchanged main street evokes images of the legendary route.
Williams the town is also like a slice of small-town America, a place where they still
hold a local beauty queen contest, and seven visiting travel writers make the
local paper.
Old
Route 66 runs from I-40 Exit 161 to Exit 165. Parallel one-way streets run
through downtown, and the eastbound one, Bill Williams Avenue, is old Route 66.
There! Now that you know all that there is to know
about Williams, I'll get back to my story.
We pulled into the parking lot
that is across the street from Max & Thelma's Restaurant and gift
emporium. Max & Thelma's is part of the complex that make-up The
Grand Canyon Railroad headquarters in Williams. The Grand Canyon
Railway station is right next door with the GC Hotel rounding-out this
tourist attraction. The dinning room is quite large with a railroad motif and
could probably seat several hundred people at one time. The dinning room host
was able to seat all of us at a long table next to the window overlooking the
train boarding area which was in progress as we watched. As we enjoyed our
meal, the train started its journey to the Grand Canyon.
Most all of the restaurant and depot folks lined the ramp and waved to the
passengers as the train departed. It must be a local tradition.
After breakfast, most of us went out and wandered about the train station
complex. I walked along the dock area getting photos of the area and one of the
steam engines that is used to pull the train. My wife and Grand Daughter had to
make the mandatory visit to the gift shop to see what they positively
"could not live without". By the time that we arrived back at the
airport, most of the breakfast and seminar folks had cleared-out leaving some
wide open spaces on the ramp.
Williams will definitely be on our "return list" for future fly-ins.
We would like to explore more of the town that lives along the "Mother Road".
George Barendse, the airport manager, will go
out of his way to accommodate your needs and fuel at Williams is considerably
less expensive than in the Phoenix
area.
The Williams Gang
- Warren &
Jeri-Ann McIlvoy and Nicole Dreos in 4544X, BC-1 & 1.5& 1.75
- Ken Calman in
5323K
- Paul Fortune in
31870, BC-201
- Glen
& Judy Yoder in 31TC, BC-007
- David
Lester and Alex
Reyes in 32832, BC-77
- Bert
& Dee Davis in 44286, BC-42
- Allan &
Patricia Wallace and Peg Roberts in 33RX, BC-39
- Richard Azimov and
Jordan Ross in 6864Q, BC-2
- Jerry & Nancy
Grout and Bruce & Diana Long in 2862W
What's Next?
The May Breakfast Club
event will see us traveling north to Echo Bay.
The Breakfast Club went there about 4 years ago but I was not able to make
that trip so this will be a first for me. Our June event is supposed to be the
airport café at Flagstaff
but they may not be able to accommodate a group of our size so it looks like we
might go to Kingman. Stay tuned for that one. That's all for now but
remember, fly safe.
Click on the Williams
link to view photos of this fly-in event.