Sepia Saturday #121 My First Flight

It was 1961 and my sister, Barbara and I both had 2 weeks vacation coming to us. So we decided to take a trip to Mexico. I had never been on a plane before, but Barbara had. So she convinced me that there was absolutely nothing to be afraid of.

We were probably inspired by this ad to fly Aeronaves de Mexico:

There was only one thing. Aeronaves only flew out of Tijuana, Mexico. But it was cheap, so we threw caution to the wind and purchased our tickets, round trip to Mexico City.

I tried to find a photo of us the morning of our flight. But, unfortunately, couldn't find it. But it's such a funny picture of the two of us posing in front of my 1955 Volkswagon with our luggage strapped to the front of the car. The bags wouldn't fit inside.  We both had these big hairdos with blond streaks put in. We heard that Mexican men really loved blonds. And afterall, what is a vacation for but to meet men!

So off we went to Tijuana and our big adventure.  We had to board the plane from the tarmack. And note, this is a prop flight. Can you imagine? 

I white knuckled it for the first couple of hours (the flight was 8 hours!) because this plane made a lot of noise. Barbara had to keep reassuring me that everything was just fine.

But then it was time for dinner.

We had the best dinner I've ever had on any plane, even including first class flights (of which I've only had 3 - and all because of flukes). But the dinner was bacon-wrapped filets. I can still taste that wonderful dinner. So much better than the bag of peanuts you get now.

Everything was going along fine. Until I looked out the window and saw that we were losing altitude. And fast. I was panicked. Holding onto my seat for dear life. There was no announcement from the pilot. The stewardesses didn't seem alarmed. But we were descending faster and faster and all I could see out the window were corn fields. Finally we landed. No crash at all. We asked someone, "what in the heck was that all about?" It turned out they were letting off a few of the crew in Leon, Mexico.

Finally we arrived in Mexico City.We did all of the tourist stuff including a trip to Xochimilco, the famous floating gardens.

That's me on the left and Barbara to my right. I don't know who those other people are. They just put them on our boat. The nerve.

It turned out to be a wonderful trip. We had such a good time. I really didn't want to go home. I especially didn't want to get on that plane again! But I did, and we got home just fine.

Oh, did we meet any men, you might be asking. Well, the answer is a big YES. I met the man of my dreams. He even left his number in my address book:

Of course, by the time I got back to Los Angeles, Fredrico was forgotten.

But the best thing that came out of this trip was our plan to open a Mexican gift shop so we could take more trips to Mexico. And we did. Here it is on Third St. in Los Angeles about 2 blocks from the Farmers Market.

So that first flight led to many others. But the shop, unfortunately, went bust.

Take other flights of fancy by clicking on Sepia Saturday.