Steak your life on it
You've clamored for gourmet coffee, hungered for $100 hamburgers, so maybe now you're ready to chow down on the ultimate cow. For California pilots, there's just one destination: the Harris Ranch Inn and Restaurant in Coalinga. The Harris family serves what is arguably the best cut of beef in the West, perhaps the country. They control virtually every process of beef production from grazing to grilling — and, as a result, the quality stands fast. (Vegetarians may want to avert their eyes as they toddle over to the salad bar.)
Planning your trip
Harris Ranch Inn and Restaurant is located midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on Interstate 5 at Highway 198, near Coalinga, California. Harris Ranch features a 123-room inn, two restaurants, a lounge, country store, two service stations, and a private landing strip. The landing strip (3O8) is 2,800 feet, and is paved and lighted. Avgas is available daily from dawn to dusk; there are ample tiedowns; and no fees are charged.
Room rates at the inn range from about $95 to $250. For information and reservations, contact Harris Ranch Inn and Restaur-ant, 24505 W. Dorris Street, Coalinga, California 93210; telephone 559/935-0717; or visit the Web site ( www.harrisranch.com).
Nestled in California's lower San Joaquin Valley, Harris is an easy and pleasant short-to-medium hop from just about anywhere in the state. And while the temperatures can soar in the summer, Harris Ranch can be a tolerable stop-in during the fall and early winter.
Harris Ranch Airport (3O8) is located immediately adjacent to Interstate 5, and finding it is a breeze. It sports one north-south improved, but somewhat narrow, strip. The paved runway is lighted from dusk to dawn. Parking is ample with some hard-surface tarmac and a large grass field.
The presence of an airport at Harris Ranch is no accident. John Harris is a pilot and owns a Cessna 210 that he flies on short hops between his home in Piedra, his facility at Agra-West, and, of course, the Harris Ranch Inn and Restaurant. Also in the Harris stable are a couple of Beech King Airs — reserved for those longer sorties. Beef Division Chairman David Wood makes routine use of one King Air while traveling to and from Beef Council functions.
The dirt strip that was included in the development in 1977 was paved and improved in the early 1980s. Aircraft parking can be a challenge on weekends during the spring and fall months, but in the dozen or so times that I have been there, there has always been room for one more set of wings.
The Harris Ranch Inn and Restaurant is part of the much larger Harris family of orchards and ranches. Grazing more than 100,000 head, Harris is the largest producer of beef in California; they dress more than 700 head of beef daily in their own packing plants. Additionally, the company produces nuts, fruits, and vegetables — and for you race fans, thoroughbred racing horses as well.
Be sure to watch the weight and balance after visiting the impeccable meat counter and butcher shop. My wife could have grossed out a C-130 with her credit-card-crumbling shopping spree. Even after a full meal of grilled quadruped, you'll want to pack a few steaks to take home for later.
What the outstanding restaurant menu does for healthy appetites, the Harris Ranch Inn does for the frazzled nervous system. For one, the atmosphere is overwhelmingly tranquil. Hours melt into sunset, the warm evening air caresses, fragrant flowers delight. It's just what the flight surgeon ordered.
The Harris Ranch Inn offers a brilliant display of fresh flowers nearly all year around. Red-tile roofs and stone archways accent the early California Hacienda-style architecture. Even a presidential suite is available for those special trips. Outside, you'll find an Olympic-size pool, while inside reside two spas, a pair of restaurants, and a fitness room. Nearby are two golf courses.
Guest accommodations range from about $95 for a double queen to $250 a night for the "Lincoln Bedroom." Between the great food and service, relaxed atmosphere, and numerous other sensual delights, one never really wants to leave. Never mind that you can enjoy all of this adventure and eat the proverbial two hundred and fifty dollar steak; you get to fly your airplane there to boot!
Troy Foster has been flying since 1980 and is a commercial pilot with a helicopter rating.
