Ok, so it's a relatively small airport, and they don't (yet) even have customs...but it's still a very lovely airport, as far as airports go;)
We tried to pick daddy up from work, since he literally works RIGHT next door (Gulfstream aerospace...they need the runways too;).
The first hour of our tour was even spent, taxi-ing on the real runways in the airport shuttle, with the Operations manager giving us the grand tour.
Half the tour was about Gulf Stream next door;) There was another Gulf Stream dad with us. J even called me to see if we were still near his buildings, but we weren't...he was going to step outside and wave to us...which would have been pretty fun:)
I'm sure very few people ever have the opportunity to just drive around the run ways in a real airport. The driver was in touch with air traffic control tower...we had to stop a couple of times to let planes land or take off (they had priority over us;). Like this one:D
We also learned that since there are ponds all around the runways (important or water run-off), that they have tBo keep the ponds clear of alligators. There have been a few alligators on the runways; as well as deer and coyote.
It's also interesting, that the original owners of the farmland (before it was sold to become the airport), are still buried....literally beneath the runway...the only airport in the country with grave sites on the runways:) That was part of the deal of the sale of the land:) These are the grave markers:
Most of the rest of the remaining historic graves, were relocated to the famous Bonaventure Cemetary of Savannah (you know, that famous statue from "Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil.")
The remainder of the tour was back inside the airport, teaching the kiddos about baggage, and ticketing, and the arrival and departures board...as well as a little tour of their small art gallery. A great time was had by all! (I'm telling you, that shuttle tour, taxi-ing us ON the run-way, along with all the commentary from the Operations Manager, was pretty darn cool! (The man furthest to the left, was our driver...he wanted pix of us and wanted to be in the picture...he was pretty excited about the tour...and I imagine driving around the run-way;)...I guess most people just don't know that they offer this service. There is a limit of 25 people per tour, so there will be at least 2-3 more field trips for others from our homeschool group. A great time was had by all!
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