Pilots land at Annapolis bar

ANNAPOLIS (AP) — Old fliers never die — many just rest their wings and relive their glory days at McGarvey”s Saloon and Oyster Bar.

Mike Ashford had two dreams growing up in Joliet, Ill.: To fly, and to become a bar owner modeled after Rick Blaine, the charismatic owner from the movie “Casablanca.” That first wish came true as a longtime pilot for the now-defunct Eastern Airlines.

Thirty-two years ago, his second dream came true when he bought a former tobacco warehouse on what was then a crumbling section of the City Dock, renovated it and opened the kind of place he”d always wanted to have.

Shortly afterward, his former aviator buddies started hanging out there, and a tradition was born. McGarvey”s doesn”t advertise “Aviator Night” on Mondays. It”s something area fliers just know about.

“When we come in here at 6 p.m., and the host asks, ’How many tonight?”, we say, ’We don”t know.” We just sit down and a group gathers,” said Tom Corboy, a retired American Airlines pilot. “The reason we come here is that we”re treated very well. We get treated better here than we do at the private clubs to which we belong.”

US Airways pilot Warren Weakley, who”s nearing retirement, agreed.

“I come down here for all my friends … My friends understand me here,” Mr. Weakley said. “It really is like the old, classic saloon. It makes it so wonderful to come in here and appreciate conversation.”

One of the attractions might be Mr. Ashford himself. He holds court on a stool with his back to the wall.

“Wild Bill Hickok turned his back and got shot, so I sit in the corner,” he said.

He sends out rounds of drinks to pilots celebrating birthdays or anniversaries.

And he always has a story to tell, whether it”s about the book he”s reading — William F. Buckley Jr.”s “Miles Gone By” — or his latest adventures flying his two-seater plane.

And of course, there”s always those good old days, when he earned his wing every day with Eastern Airlines. He”s still known to his friends as “Bald Eagle,” a nickname he got while flying for Eastern.

Bill Brown, a retired American Airlines pilot, recalled that he and Mr. Ashford used to “race” to New York”s LaGuardia Airport when both flew the same route.

“I”d pass him up, and I”d contact New York first. I would tell the controller, ’Tell the Bald Eagle that American won again,” ” Mr. Brown said. “I always won.”

McGarvey”s isn”t just for pilots. It”s prime location just off the City Dock makes it a haunt of choice for the yachting set, college students and tourists.

Legendary newsman and avid yachtsman Walter Cronkite dines there whenever he”s in town.

But few appreciate McGarvey”s as much as the pilots.

“Mike Ashford has done a favor to all of us by giving us a location to get together and relive the good old days,” said retired US Airways pilot Ward Anderson. “He”s a great friend — a great friend of aviators and a great friend of Annapolis.”