Road Trip to Brady, Texas--Celebration of Armed Forces Day

Why not add a little food to our palate as we take a journey to Brady, Texas.  This was Culinariasa Food and Wine Festival at Becker Vineyards.  The first course was this delicious compressed watermeleon with seafoam, crab and H2O bubble!  What a delight to eat!!

Soup course was  tomato bisque infused with lavendar, served with rosemary sprig.

The entree was short rib served over a bed of lentils, cucumbers, peaches--yummy!

And last but not least was this interesting take on bread pudding--cornbread pudding seated on blackberry peach sauce and topped with whiskey ice cream!  All these courses were served with a variety of wines--total of 9!

As we checked into our Brady, Texas hotel for the evening we spotted this poster on the main event wall.  In celebration of Armed Forces Day--a real fly-in!  It was a must for the following morning before we continue on our road trip.

Curtis Field in Brady was opened in August 1941 to accommodate a civilian contract pilot school as CAAF or Civilian Auxiliary Field.  Pilots or cadets were given Primary Flight Training in PT-19's and later Basic Air Training in BT-13's for the USAAF Gulf Coast Training Center.  In all, over 10,000 cadets were trained at Curtis Field during World War II.   On the field as we arrived was The Fairchild PT-19.

In 1940, the Fairchild PT-19 went into production as the US Army Air Corps' primary trainer for its cadet pilot trainees. 

Inside the cockpit--some instruments and the center stick.  This particular PT-19 was completely restored in California in 1989.  A piece of history that continues to live on.

"Little Noodle"

This massive piece of equipment arrived as we were viewing the PT-19.  This is a Big Gun Army Helicopter!  It was an interesting morning for us.  We met WWII pilot and spoke with Andrew, who was retired SouthWest pilot.  Andrew knew all about the flying equipment on site and then some.  We were fortunate to hear some of his flying stories and be proud of our military people who serve their country for our freedom.