Last night Randall called with Mr. Mischief in his lap. I told him, "I'm looking forward to the scheduled spaceflight tomorrow. The event reminds me of your Dad's and my flight on the Concord. That was the closest I'll ever get to seeing a spaceship cockpit." Randall said, "You need to start writing these stories down, Mom".
I can't remember the date, sometime in the early 80's. I was reading Bob's frequent flyer airline miles statement. All the way down at the bottom was a minuscule footnote - the number of miles needed for a round trip flight on the Concord. I checked Bob's miles, he had more than enough. Showed him the statement, he read it and looked at me, eyes twinkling. Book the trip!
The bonus miles included round trip on a regular AA jet Dallas/NYC, Concord to London and return. I've researched a bit and it seems all the flights would have been $40K to $50K for both of us. Back in the day we dressed for flights, but for the Concord we DRESSED. My Mom loaned me her mink coat, I wore my highest heels and Bob wore a suit and even a tie, oh my.
The Concord had it's own lounge at JFK with butlers, incredible food and drink. If only I'd had a bigger purse, I could have snuck an extra lobster tail on board. No worries, the food on the Concord was incredible.
Bob and I visited the cockpit on the outbound and inbound flights before the plane reached Mach 2. Bob tried to take in every detail to tell his Dad, a pilot who trained WWII fighter pilots. Bob's Dad would have loved to take a seat with the pilots.
We met dear friends Pam and Ronnie in London. We arrived a little early, our flight taking 3 hours and 30 minutes, theirs 7 and a half hours. I'm sure our time in London was wonderful, but it's only the flight on the Concord I remember in detail.
Just another adventure in the wonderful magic world of J.R. "Bob" Minick, the Love of My Life..