{"id":13284,"date":"2013-05-16T19:31:55","date_gmt":"2013-05-17T00:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=13284"},"modified":"2022-05-29T08:25:21","modified_gmt":"2022-05-29T13:25:21","slug":"hundred-dollar-hamburger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/hundred-dollar-hamburger\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred Dollar Hamburger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sometimes I wonder if I’m the last person to find out about things. A reader who identified himself as “Jasper” mentioned a $100 hamburger when I put out a call for southeastern Kentucky travel suggestions<\/a>. I thought he was referring literally to a hundred dollar hamburger. Such a thing does indeed exist<\/a> so I didn’t rule out that possibility. Maybe he had a thing for ground beef wrapped in gold foil, infused with truffles and rolled in caviar, or something. I don’t know. I try not to make value judgments (and generally fail miserably).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jasper provided a convenient link to explain the hamburger reference as a term of art used in general aviation in the United States (perhaps with variations on the theme elsewhere?). A lot of pilots like to pick a random airport a couple or a few hours away, drop-in for a meal, refuel, and then take off again to fly back home. The sheer joy of flying seems to serve as the primary motivation, like someone taking a sports car out into the countryside for a weekend getaway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The $100 price tag refers to the cost of flying to a distant runway for no reason other than wanting to fly to it, and not specifically to any meal that may have been purchased there. It’s a euphemism, or a wink-and-a-nod, or both, even though fuel prices today would make a hundred dollar round-trip flight a bargain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sounds like the most awesome idea ever. I’d be all over it if I were a pilot. My county counting<\/a> abilities would be over the top, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s Actually Quite Common<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I had to check into this further. Various sources mentioned anywhere from 1,500 to 2,500 different fly-in restaurants. The 100 Dollar Hamburger<\/a> is a website for a book with the same name that provides a compendium of such locations although it requires a subscription. A competing site provides a similar service and takes pride in NOT requiring a subscription. Do I detect some bitterness, perhaps? [UPDATE<\/strong>: the competing site is no longer available<\/em>].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"London-Corbin<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jasper said he flew into London-Corbin<\/a> airport for his $100 hamburger, stopping at the restaurant found on-site there (map<\/a>). That’s an example of a restaurant AT the airport, probably offered as a service by the airport’s fixed-based operator (FBO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It surprised me how commonly general aviation airports offered restaurants within their facilities, although usually only in the larger ones. Their clientele extended beyond $100 hamburgers, though. Fly-in restaurants are patronized by airport staff and also by plenty of local residents especially in the smaller towns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Best<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I consulted several websites in search of the best $100 hamburgers. One source included a list compiled in 2011<\/a>. I can’t vouch for Rick’s Crabby Cowboy in Montauk, NY or the Pik-N-Pig at Gilliam-McConnel airfield in Carthage, NC, although I liked both of their names so I thought I’d give them a mention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n