A sad pilgrimage
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:38 pmDecided to take the El downtown a ways and take a walk today... it was quite cold, and very windy. they ought to call this place "the windy city"... oh, right. ::)
It was already quite late; not enough time to visit the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Adler Planetarium in one visit... but none of those was really on my mind, anyway. Been thinking about visiting this place ever since the first time I fired up MSFS back in '96... but I never thought it would be like this...
I'll never get to fly into Meigs... nobody ever will. It's gone. One of the neatest and most useful airports in America, which first opened in 1948 and became the country's busiest single-runway airport in less than ten years. even after the great seaplanes stopped mooring at the city's piers, Meigs thrived, becoming a proud symbol of Progress and a kind of.. gentility, I guess. A fitting portal to a great city.
It's a mediocre park now, and the land still seems to cry out for a runway.
Not a trace left, except the crumbling terminal and this tower, both apparently unused for anything at all these days.
There is no plaque, no statuary, absolutley no tribute of any kind to this important aerodrome, which brought joy, employment, and revenue into this great city for so many years. >:(
The wind was making my eyes water, but I might have cried anyway... almost regretted going there. :(
As I walked the length of the phantom runway, an old Cessna buzzed by, over the water, at about 1000 feet. I waved, but I'm not sure if they saw me. I was freezing, and I think my camera actually froze, so I went over to the aquarium, which just depressed me for some reason.
It was already quite late; not enough time to visit the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Adler Planetarium in one visit... but none of those was really on my mind, anyway. Been thinking about visiting this place ever since the first time I fired up MSFS back in '96... but I never thought it would be like this...
I'll never get to fly into Meigs... nobody ever will. It's gone. One of the neatest and most useful airports in America, which first opened in 1948 and became the country's busiest single-runway airport in less than ten years. even after the great seaplanes stopped mooring at the city's piers, Meigs thrived, becoming a proud symbol of Progress and a kind of.. gentility, I guess. A fitting portal to a great city.
It's a mediocre park now, and the land still seems to cry out for a runway.
Not a trace left, except the crumbling terminal and this tower, both apparently unused for anything at all these days.
There is no plaque, no statuary, absolutley no tribute of any kind to this important aerodrome, which brought joy, employment, and revenue into this great city for so many years. >:(
The wind was making my eyes water, but I might have cried anyway... almost regretted going there. :(
As I walked the length of the phantom runway, an old Cessna buzzed by, over the water, at about 1000 feet. I waved, but I'm not sure if they saw me. I was freezing, and I think my camera actually froze, so I went over to the aquarium, which just depressed me for some reason.
.