High There

by David Perloff

Born and raised in San Diego, Maegan’s a hairstylist at A Robert Cromeans Salon downtown. She helps Tease Boutique in the Gaslamp with its photo shoots and was the “mane” girl for this issue’s cover and fashion editorial pages. “For fun, I just like to hang out,” she says.
Chris is a diesel mechanic from Springfield, Virginia. When he isn’t fixing engines, he likes to “skateboard, surf, race motorcycles, rock climb, travel, the list goes on.”

The Epic Limo stretch Lincoln that picked up this evening’s blind daters at their homes (him, in Pacific Beach, then her, Downtown) about half an hour ago is now dropping them off at Coast Flight, a pilot-training and airplane management company based at Montgomery Field in Kearny Mesa.

Before they board a Cirrus (an ultramodern plane that features a rocket-ejected parachute in case of engine failure) for a sunset ride along the coast, let’s review the pre-date interviews.

PacificSD: What makes you a good catch?
MAEGAN: I am me. What I put off is what you get. I love traveling and being adventurous, but at the same time I think silence can be beautiful.
CHRIS: I can’t swim away that fast.

What are you looking for in a date, physically and/or otherwise?
MAEGAN: Physically, I tend to love myself a tall, dark and handsome man. A person’s eyes, aside from their hair, are normally the first things I notice. I just want to meet a guy who’s fun, interesting and, if all goes well, hopefully is a great kisser, too.
CHRIS: Obviously, someone who’s attractive, and I prefer taller girls, but really just someone who is fun to spend time with, intelligent and can deal with my sarcasm. She should look cute in a beanie, too. I spend a lot of time in the mountains.

How are you feeling about the date tonight?
MAEGAN: I’m a bit nervous, I’m not gonna lie.
CHRIS: I’m stoked. Blind dating is a new experience for me. Plus, we get to fly a plane, and you guys are buying us dinner and drinks.

What’s the sexiest thing about you?
MAEGAN: Aside from being the total package? Just kidding. I’d say the sexiest thing about me is my smile.
CHRIS: I’ve been told I’m tall, dark and handsome. We’ll have to wait and see if she agrees.

What do you like least about yourself?
MAEGAN: That I can be a little shy when I first meet someone.
CHRIS: I’d like to clean my smile up. If any of your advertisers want to hook me up with Invisalign in exchange for some PR, that’d be great.

What’s your biggest fear?
MAEGAN: My biggest fear is missing out on an amazing life opportunity because I was scared to commit to the unknown.
CHRIS: Boredom.

What’s your surefire trick for making a date end with romance?
MAEGAN: Be a little mysterious and undress them with your eyes.
CHRIS: Keep my foot out of my mouth.

What’s the best thing that could happen during the date?
MAEGAN: We totally mesh and have a super great time.
CHRIS: We join the Mile High Club in the plane while doing barrel rolls.

Thank you!
Coast Flight
3753 John J. Montgomery Dr., Kearny Mesa
858.279.4359, iflycoast.com

Into Thin Air

The blind daters vanish from sight

After being fitted for headphones and briefed on safety guidelines, Maegan and Chris board a four-seater plane. With pilot and plane-owner Will at the helm (and PacificSD’s fearless photographer riding shotgun), they take-off.

The plane flies to the coast, south along the water to Downtown and then back to the airport in a 45-minute loop. Once back on solid ground, the daters high-five, Top Gun-style, and then jump back into the limo for a sunset ride by the embarcadero before heading to Glass Door in Little Italy, where they’ll have dinner overlooking the airport.

At dinner, they seem to be getting along well, laughing and looking into each other’s eyes as they talk over drinks and appetizers. Once they’ve had a chance to settle in, they’re split for mid-date debriefings.

PacificSD: How’s it going so far?
MAEGAN: It’s going really good. He has been such a gentleman and he’s interesting, and we are able to talk to each other very easily.
CHRIS: She’s really cool and, I mean, you can’t go wrong flying, driving around in a limo with free booze. Absolutely zero to complain about.

Is this the type of person you’d normally go out with?
MAEGAN: He is somebody that I would definitely be interested in. I think he’s fun and he’s good-looking and he’s entertaining and I think that the more we get to know each other, we can definitely find out we have lots more in common.
CHRIS: Personality-wise, yes. But I probably wouldn’t pick up on her at a bar, because she’s shorter. I normally pick up on tall girls, but she’s cute. Everything is there.

How was the flight?
MAEGAN: I was kind of nervous about it in the beginning, but once we started going, it was great. He made me feel super comfortable. He actually has flown himself before, so he was definitely ready to do this experience. And I recently went skydiving, so I was like, “If I can jump out of a plane, I can fly a plane.” I saw such beautiful views that I’ve never seen before and I am so happy I said I’d do this.
CHRIS: I’m always stoked to be up in a plane, and it ended up being a way better operation. All the planes are brand new. I expected to be up in an old plane, so a brand-new Cirrus was a great experience.

What’s the most attractive thing your date has done so far?
MAEGAN: Asking me if it was okay ordering what he wanted out of the menu. He wanted to order some mussels. I said yes and it ended up being good.
CHRIS: She told a lot of really funny jokes in the limo. She’s not afraid to be herself.

What would your parents say?
MAEGAN: They’d be like, “Wow, he’s really tall. And really cute!”
CHRIS: As long as I’m happy, they’re happy.

Rate your date on a scale from one to 10 for looks.
MAEGAN: Like a 10. No, like a nine. I mean, I can’t give him a perfect score, right?
CHRIS: Nine. I wish she was a little bit taller, but she’s cute.

And for personality?
MAEGAN: Eight
CHRIS: Ten.

Do you want to kiss your date right now?
MAEGAN: Maybe.
CHRIS: I can make out with her later.

Does your date want to kiss you right now?
MAEGAN: Yes.
CHRIS: I think so. We were doing some of the photo shoot stuff and we got close, so it might be there.

What on Earth?

A mysterious occurrence after touchdown

As their entrees arrive, Maegan and Chris are finally left alone for the rest of the night. With the limo at their disposal, they linger as the PacificSD crew departs. We call the next day to see what we missed.

How was Glass Door?
MAEGAN: The ambiance and view were fabulous, and so were the food and drinks. We tried a little bit of everything.
CHRIS: Cool place. Great view of the bay, and we managed to catch the tail end of the sunset. We had a few things they had prepared for us that weren’t on the menu, like oysters and ceviche, and I really liked the sound of some of the dishes on the menu, so I ordered the bacon and bleu cheese mussels as well. For entrees, we had a veggie lasagna, which was good. We also had a tortellini stuffed with beef short ribs, and that was delicious.

What happened after the magazine crew left you alone?
MAEGAN: We hung out and had some drinks. It was a fun time.
CHRIS: We drank some more tequila shots in the limo and got dropped off at Craft & Commerce to finish off the night.

When did you get home?
MAEGAN: I don’t recall an exact time.
CHRIS: One or two-ish.

Was there a kiss or romantic exchange?
MAEGAN: He’s a big, strong, tall, handsome man. How could I not feel some chemistry there?
CHRIS: Maybe, but only the two of us and the limo driver know for sure.*
*[Editor’s note: that’s only kinda true, Chris.]

What was the best part of the date?
MAEGAN: Flying in the plane. The coastal view of San Diego was gorgeous, the flight was fast and smooth, and I discovered that I think it would be awesome to learn how to be a pilot.
CHRIS: My date.

Will there be a second date?
MAEGAN: Yeah, I’d hang out with him again. He was fun company.
CHRIS: She’s actually going to be in my part of town later this evening, so we’re going to meet up.

AFTERMATCH: Like planes that vanish in the Bermuda Triangle, a chunk of time seems to have disappeared last night.
The limo dropped the daters at Craft & Commerce, that’s a fact, but what happened next remains murky. Chris says he got home at “one or two-ish” (with the “ish” confusing matters only further), but Maegan says she isn’t sure.

Luckily for everyone involved (especially you, dear Reader), PacificSD can shed a little light here: when we called the daters just before 11 p.m. to see if they still needed the limo, Chris said, “Uhhh...I guess not. We’re already back at her place.”

Last night’s blind daters may not be members of the Mile High Club (aka Pie in the Sky), but there may have been some membership status achieved back on terra firma. PacificSD’s agents aren’t trained like the TSA, but they can sure spot when passengers are hiding something.
Blind date safety tip: bring your seat to its upright and locked position. And always try to fly (and keep your stories) straight.

Thank you!
Epic Limo
340 14th St., Downtown
858.270.LIM O (5466), epiclimo.com

Glass Door
1835 Columbia St., Downtown
619.564.3755, glassdoorsd.com