Birthday…or a Survival Celebration!

Yours truly recently celebrated my 75^th birthday… In my mind, the celebration centers on surviving this long!

Nevertheless, my better half wanted to have a party to commemorate my continued presence on this planet.  I rejected the idea!  But then along came a happy surprise… Our son David II told me that the family was coming down to East Tennessee from Omaha just for this occasion!

David II took off a couple of days from the law firm that he works for and he flew from Omaha Nebraska to Charlotte North Carolina to Knoxville Tennessee.  This is a view of the ‘busy’ concourse at our airport as we waited for his plane to arrive… The bears, rocks, water feature and greenery welcome visitors to the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.

No…this isn’t the plane that our son flew in on.  But it was sitting on the tarmac and since I really like planes, I took this photo just because I wanted to…after all it was my birthday!  FYI, this is a version of the C-130 Hercules. 

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a 4-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed.  Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac, and cargo transport aircraft.  It is the main tactical airlifter for many military forces across the world. Over 40 variations of the Hercules operate in more than 60 nations.  The Hercules has been in continuous production since 1954 and over 2,500 of them have been built.  I didn’t see any identifying marks on this particular aircraft.

Here’s the plane that our son flew on into Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport.  Five airlines serve this airport providing direct flights to 20 different cities in the United States.  The airlines servicing this airport include American, United, Delta, Allegiant and Frontier.

…and here he came down the concourse!  Yea!

The rest of the family, mom Amy and both grandsons, David III and Emmett Lee had been on the road for more than a week visiting friends and family in Chicago, Indianapolis and Cleveland.  When we checked from the airport they were just a bit north of Knoxville headed in our direction down I-75 south.

For a birthday lunch we went to Hot Rod 50’s in Alcoa Tennessee.  This 1950s style diner isn’t far from the airport and the whole family really likes the comfort food and the casual fun atmosphere!  Even though it was after normal lunch hours, we still had to wait about 20 minutes for a table for 6…

The timing turned out perfectly!  It was about 5 minutes after we were seated that Amy and the boys arrived at the restaurant… Laurie took this photo of David II, David III, Amy, Emmett Lee and yours truly.  It was a great way to begin celebrating my big day! 

Information about Hot Rod 50’s restaurant can be found at http://hotrods50sdiner.com/.  FYI…try the Fried Twinkie Sundae…it is amazing!

Another restaurant and another photo… For dinner we went to a local Mexican Restaurant that we like…Cielito Lindo in Vonore Tennessee.  This time I took the photo… (From the left, Amy, David II, David III, Emmett Lee and my better half, Laurie) Note the ladies’ green Margaritas! 

Then Laurie, who is a much better photographer than I am, took another photo, this time with me included.  I even sort of smiled…

For information about Cielito Lindo Restaurant in Vonore Tennessee, go to https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g55397-d2204159-r146048730-Cielito_Lindo_Mexican_Grill-Vonore_Tennessee.html.

Yes readers…that is me.  As you can tell from the photo I’m not crazy about making a scene in public.  

However when we were placing our order my bride mentioned to the waitress that it was my birthday.  So…after dinner she and the rest of the waitstaff arrived at the table with that big sundae and the humongous sombrero.  It got much worse, with my sheepish embarrassed look further enhanced by the waitress when she smeared chocolate over parts of my face.  Thanks to grandson Emmett Lee and Photoshop, at least those elements have been purged from the photo!

On the day that we actually celebrated my birthday, it was really hot outside so we stayed home.  As one might guess based on the previous photos, I was off my diet for these 2 days.  We started our second day with a huge breakfast with scrambled cheese eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown potatoes, fresh fruit and toast.  

While the ladies chilled on the screened porch with Sangria and the ceiling fan, us guys snacked and played Bananas, Dominos, Sequence and Yahtzee!  (Imagine if you can…teenagers without a computer in their hand for hours!)

Grilled pork steaks, burgers, coleslaw,….??? Rounded out our evening meal.  Then it was time for my cake.  I really prefer pie but I deviated from the norm and decided to have a nice glazed Bundt cake.  I poured half and half over mine!

It was a short visit but it was a hoot with lots of fun and a real surprise to boot!  Hopefully we can all get together again for my 80th birthday…

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave