Articles

Ascension Aux AF - The USAF contract billeting rooms we got were two rooms sharing a gang style shower/latrine. Clean and has satellite tv. Rooms are $5.00 a night and you pay at the dinning hall. The USAF has a fishing boat that is anchored at Georgetown. Use is free and a crew is provided, however, you need to bring all fishing supplies but the poles. Also, you will have to hitch hike over to Georgetown unless you have about 45-55 minutes to walk from the USAF settlement. People are very frien

Salta, Argentina - Hotel Portozuelo is excellent. The rooms are clean and the hotel sits at the base of a hill overlooking the entire city. Good exercise walking up. Bonus, on top of the hill, they hold outdoor aerobics classes. Good Latin-booty watching opportunity. The food everywhere is cheap. Go to any food stand and eat a "lomito." It's like an Argentinian Philly cheesesteak. Great places to eat are Viejo Jack's (for steaks that weigh more than you do) or Solar. Good wines from that region

Panama City, Panama - A fancy hotel right downtown is El Panama - it sports a FLOATING Bar in the pool , great rooms, fantastic service, and great scenery... Good bars are right around the block: Taboo's, My Place, and Bacchus. (They start hopping LATE and are open till the morn.) The Caesar Park is an excellent hotel for a one night stay: bar/casino, multiple restaurants. Not near town-- 10 minute cab ride downtown. Will be stuck in hotel, but it is an excellent stay. The Marriott is one block

Managua, Nicaragua - Nicaragua is a dump, extremely depressing to see the state people are living in. However, The Intercontinental is a sweet stay. Be warned, avoid the strip bars. The Nicaraguans are budding capitalists, and a 30 min stay with a couple (or three) beers apiece for four crew dogs ended up being a 160$ bar bill! When we protested the rate, and tried to divide the bill among us, they recalculated and handed us four new bills whose total was higher than the first time. We threw wha

San Pedro Sula, Honduras - Intercontinental hotel was a palace! A great place that no one talks about. We had to divert here but for guys transiting this AOR frequently is a perfect place to divert to, airport name is La Mesa Int'l. There is a Honduran Air force base there, HAF were very supportive, we needed an engine change and a MRT to fix us and they worked out of their way to have USAF planes come in to the ramp and work on our tail. Their pilots go to UPT!! So they know your needs... AMC s

Guatemala City, Guatemala - If you're lucky enough to be stuck for the night, a stay at the Westin Camino Real is nice! It was recommended by the Embassy military staff, who also provided us with a driver for pre-dinner shopping and trips to/from the airport. I was there 3 years ago, and the rate was $75--let the Embassy Staff book this for you! To give you an idea of the quality, one of our fellow guests was the Crown Prince from Japan. Several good restaurants are just a short stroll from the

Belize City, Belize - Radisson Fort George Hotel and Marina (P.O. Box321, Belize City , Belize Central America 501-2-33333) is decent and is in Belize City. Consensus of the local taxi drivers say that this is the nicest place in town. The Princess Resort and Casino is rumored to have rats. Booze and food in the hotel restaurant is good. There is a dive shop in the marina that will take you out to the second largest barrier reef in the world for about $90 US. Exchange rate is fixed at 2 Belize t

Antigua, West Indies - Club Antigua is a Great Resort/Hotel... Last time I was there a couple of years ago and it was $95.00 a night. Free dinner buffet and FREE BAR! Small rooms with no phones or TV, but, its right on a great beach with its own cove. WARNING! Don't use the pay phone at the lobby cause you'll get charged ship-to-shore fees and it adds up real quick. Other than that, GREAT PLACE! Jolly Beach Resort (phone: 268-462-0061) was a nice resort. This all inclusive was nice. Rooms are a

Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago - Crowne Plaza hotel is decent and in Port-Of-Spain, right next to the docks. Best place to eat is probably in the hotel. Beer is cheap. Breakfast isn't served until 0630 or 0700. There is a place to get sandwiches and doughnuts near the airport.

St. Lucia - Club Med is an all-inclusive (3 full meals, beer, wine, windsurfing, face-painting, nightly parties, fun activities for your loadmasters, Marco Polo, etc) beach resort 5 minutes from Hewanorra Int'l airport. The Hewanorra service contractor will drive you there. It's on the windward side of the island, but the nicer resorts on the leeward side are a 1.5-hour drive from TLPL. Hey, it's still Club Med. We got 12 rooms at a special $65 rate--the allowance is around $210. Call the hotel

St. Thomas, USVI- Marriott Frenchman's Reef Resort (340.776.8500 / FAX 340.715.6192) was a palace! Alliance Aviation is the current contract FBO at St Thomas. They offer excellent all-around support. WX and flight plan filing for outbound leg is available via 1-800-WXBRIEF [flight service]. We encountered no delays. Islander Taxi service (Delita Parsen 1-340-774-4077, FAX 1-340-776-1328) was used for transportation and provided excellent service. The Frenchman's Reef resort is about a 20 minute

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands - This is a fantastic place to RON. Stay at King's Alley - right on the water, and just blocks from the bars and restaurants. The rum and tequila down here is phenomenal and VERY cheap. Danish Manor was dangerous... ~Be advised we had a crewmember mugged not far from this hotel. After getting back to home station heard another crew had two that got jumped by 6 guys. ~At Chenay Bay hotel, food was expensive but good. The rooms are great - first floor rooms are on th

Norman Manley Int'l, Jamaica -Recommend not staying in the hotel (Morgan Bay?) that is provided by the station manager. Port Royal hotel was decent. Hilton was a very nice hotel. Be prepared for a 2-3 hour ordeal with customs and immigration. We broke here for 3 days and getting the prop and other tools out of customs took all day the second day, which had I not been at the airport all day would have been a good deal. They require a Form C-36 for customs on any parts coming in which they never a

Puerto Rico - Support is non-existent with the Navy at Roosevelt Roads NS (go to San Juan instead),. But if you do RON here, several resort hotels near Rosie Roads will suffice: The Westin Rio Mar, (787)888-6000 is a luxurious resort and hotel, with a beautiful beach, a casino, Greg Norman golf course, gym and spa, plus many pools and hot tubs. The rooms are nice, but everything (food, etc.) is vastly expensive. I've been working with the Westin hotel which is giving us a better rate than the $1

Bahamas - Flew into Governor's Harbor Airport (Eleuthera Island) -- Day VFR only, 7900ft. "Big Daddy" has a 24 hour taxi service (big Dodge van), [332-1592], it costs $42 for the first person and $2 for each additional for a one way trip from the airport to The Cove [1-800-552-5960]. You can also rent a car for $60 a day. Approx. 30 minute trip (roads are bad from hurricane Floyd). The Cove will make arrangements if you tell them. The Cove has several bungalow buildings with four rooms each, rig

Bermuda - Groto Bay Beach Resort was nice and right on the water. 5 minutes from the airport. Moped/scooter rental right next door (cruise the island for $50). Swizzle Inn is a decent bar one block from the hotel. Other bars are in Hamilton (about a 20 minute cab ride). Buy your rum at the Duty Free (half the price that you would pay in town). ~Grotto bay was very nice. SCUBA rentals, little gym, poolside bar, really good omelets in the morning. Pricey, but that's what you get $145 a day per die

Curacao, Netherlands Antilles - Marriott Resort, Curacao was awesome! If you're lucky enough to venture down here for more than 17 hours, bring your SCUBA card! The island is between Aruba and Bonaire; but nobody knows how to pronounce Curacao (ker-uh-sow), so it's often over-looked by the mainstream tourist (although the KLM aircrews swap in and out of the hotel on a revolving-door-like schedule). It's an expensive island, but the turquoise waters of the Caribbean make up for it. The Marriott R

Grand Cayman, British Virgin Islands - The Westin Casuarina Resort (345) 945-3800 is a great place to stay. Right on Seven Mile Beach. Ask for the Airline Pilot rate ($97.50) Across the road is a good pub, Legendz. Grand Caymen is VERY expensive. It is a huge off-shore banking center and their dollar (the CI) is worth $1.25 US. A 12 pack of Miller will run you $19. The hotel is right on the beach, with a great pool and great snorkeling right out the door. The big thing to do on the island is Sti

Dominican Republic - WARNING!!!! Do not play a game called progressive roulette in the Dominican Republic. Despite the fact that it is played in hotel casinos the game is rigged and crewdogs lost lots of money. The guys who run it rent space from the casino and the casino and hotel are NOT responsible for their actions. Stick with the blackjack or craps and you should be fine. This game might also exist in other Caribbean islands so beware.

Thule Air Base - Greenland - Northernmost DOD base, interesting experience to be had. Joint US-Danish base, with most of the base services operated by a group called Greenland Contractors. They'll be the ones coming up planeside once you touch down, good dudes really, but if you are off-loading cargo, make sure they know where it's supposed to go or they'll dump it in a random hangar. Hotel is walking distance from airfield ops, but they will have one of the base taxis drive you. Hotel is actual

Merida Mexico - Fiesta Americana Merida (Phone:52 999 9 42 11 11) was a Palace! www.Fiestamericana.com or 1.877.EXPLORA. Excellent hotel, has huge rooms in the center of Merida, about 20 mins from the airport. Merida is very safe, can walk all over if you want. Rate is within PD. Food and drinks on the town are very reasonable. There is a VIP room on the fifth floor: "The Fiesta Club"; free drinks, continental breakfast, dinner time snacks and very friendly, beautiful hostesses. Ask about it whe

Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada - Cold Lake's not too shabby. The town is separated into two parts--North Cold Lake and South Cold Lake. North Cold Lake (further from the base) is right next to the lake itself (which offers some incredible fishing), while South Cold Lake has the majority of shops, restaurants, etc. The Lakeland Inn is in South Cold Lake and is within walking distance to the movie theater, coffee shops, and car rental place. There's a bar attached to the hotel called Taps that serves

Anchorage, Alaska - The summer is sweet. The base is spread out so get a U-drive from AMCC or get a rental. No U-Drives for AMC crews less than 24 hrs on the ground. We got horrible support from the base (since it's PACAF). The aircrew billeting is barely within walking distance of the shoppette. Northstar Inn is a decent hotel. The BX and Commissary is shared with Ft Richardson and sits between the two on the other side of the flight line. While the F-15s are flying, good luck trying to sleep (

Chyenne, WY - Stayed at the Holiday Inn just outside downtown, nice hotel and very close (walking distance) to lots of fast food. Cowboy Club was only one block away. Great bar frequented by University of Wyoming students and has one of those rodeo bull rides inside! Super 8 was a total dump. Don't stay at the Super 8. The train tracks run right behind the hotel and since Cheyenne is a railway hub, they run all night. Holiday Inn is the best place in town and a lot closer to everything. Right ne

Wisconsin should be avoided in the late fall and winter, as weather is horrible and unpredictable. From Thanksgiving to Easter, it will be cold, and if not cold then it will be raining or snowing. If you have not packed accordingly you will be miserable. The remainder of the year the weather is amazingly pleasant, and it never gets too hot or too humid. The summertime, particularly the last week of July during AirVenture in Oshkosh, is fantastic for outdoor activities, and almost all major activ