Orange County Blog

Courtesy of Gadling

Nice turbines!

Clockwork's invite to Virgin America's inaugural flight to Orange County and John Wayne Airport launch party last week apparently got lost in the mail. Fortunately, Grant Martin received his, attended and lived to blog about it on his Gadling travel site.

Some people say that the Virgin airline brand is the epitome of overindulgence and tackiness. That in pulling away from the legacy carriers they're backing themselves into a velvet lined, absinthe swigging corner. That the millions and millions of dollars they're putting into their brand Virgin America is money poorly spent on a shrinking, penny pinching economy.

Virgin America's inaugural flight and launch party to Orange County fits those descriptions perfectly.

But Grant confessed that he loved every minute, and how could he not given the spectacle of it all.

The boss arrives.

Up pulls an Airbus A320, out of which Richard Branson galavants, careening down the steps with shorts and a surfboard, followed by MC Hammer and joined by members of Real Housewives of New York City. People rejoice. Branson dances around the tarmac, revelers drink champagne, pretty women flaunt their wiles and the celebration of service to Orange County begins.

Free drinks were slurped, free appetizers were whoofed down and free tans were sprayed on SNA tarmac partiers before the action moved to the Pacific Edge Villa and continued into the wee hours of the morning, writes the no-doubt bleary eyed blogger.