On the first weekend of every month more than 100 museums, zoos and attractions around the country offer free admission to anyone with a Bank of America card as part of the Museums on Us program.

Visiting one of the participating venues is a great way to stretch a weekend entertainment budget and a good excuse to get acquainted with the work of a new artist or get reacquainted with a favorite animal at your local zoo.

One place on the list this month is the Wichita Art Museum in Kansas, which is hosting a traveling exhibition from the National Air and Space Museum through the end of September.

In Plane View: Abstractions of Flight features 56 large-format photographs by Carolyn Russo showcasing the elegance and beauty of airplane design.  For example, this photo shows grooves in the exhaust cone of the North American X-15.

Can’t make it to Kansas? When the exhibit leaves the Wichita Art Museum, it will travel to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia and then, in January 2011, to the Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences in Peoria, Illinois.

You might also take advantage of the Museums on Us program to get free admission to the Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan (Saturday only), where the 15 planes in the Heroes of the Sky exhibit includes this 1926 Fokker Trimotor used by Richard Byrd in his attempt to be the first to reach the North Pole by plane.

According to the museum notes:

Because Edsel Ford funded Byrd’s trip to the Arctic, the plane was named for his daughter, Josephine. Tony Fokker, the manufacturer, wanted to be sure no one mistook the plane for a Ford, so he painted the giant “FOKKER” on the wings and fuselage. There’s no heater in this plane, so temperatures inside the cabin could have easily reached -50° F while flying through the Arctic sky.

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Categories: Airplanes, Art, Aviation history, Exhibits, Museums, aviation

What with my appointment to see how the new make-your-own ice-cream machine works and the three hours I spent cooling my heels waiting for a friend’s flight to arrive, I ended up spending a lot of time at Boston Logan International Airport last week.

That was fine with me. The ice-cream was yummy. The Wi-Fi was free. And there were plenty of comfortable rocking chairs to sit in.

Most of the airport’s rocking chairs are plain white models, but a fair number of the chairs have been transformed into colorful works of art.  Next week, there will be even more: the airport is having a reception to celebrate the addition of 19 new art-adorned rocking chairs to the fleet.

We’ve put in a request for photos, so stay tuned.

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Categories: Airport shops, Airports, Art, Events, Exhibits, Fun Stuff, Seating, Wi-Fi, free Wi-Fi

On the first Sunday of each month, the terminal at Düsseldorf International Airport turns into an event space. One Sunday last winter a circus showed up. Last month, it was a platoon of chefs.

This coming Sunday, it will be dancers.

During “Dance Terminal, Dance, ” professional dancers will descend on the airport to teach and perform Latin dance moves and compete in a dance tournament.

Travelers can watch the championship tournament, take a turn on an airport dance floor or join a workshop in Salsa, Merengue, Disco, Neotango, Bachata, West Coast Swing or Dirty Dancing.  There will also be a kids’ disco and performances by a variety of dance groups, including Step Dance World Champion Bernd Paffrath.

So when was the last time you danced at the airport?

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Categories: Airports, Entertainment, Events, Festivals, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Layover, Music

There are more than 700 aviation and space-related museums in this country.

Each Monday we profile one of them. Eventually we’ll hit them all.

This week: Looking for Lindbergh

Aviator and explorer Charles Lindbergh died on August 26th back in 1974, so it’s as good a time as any to take a look at some of the museums around the country that display items relating to Lucky Lindy.

First stop: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., which displays Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis airplane in the Milestones of Flight Gallery.

(Photo by Eric Long/NASM, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)

Next stop: The Missouri History Museum, which has an ongoing exhibition dedicated to Charles Lindbergh’s life. The exhibit includes some of the medals and gifts that Lindbergh loaned to the Missouri Historical Society for ten days back in 1927, shortly after the famed aviator completed the first solo, transatlantic flight.

Crocheted, stuffed airplane made for Charles Lindbergh

“The Missouri Historical Society exhibited the items on top of the archaeological cases in an attempt to display the items as quickly as possible. The exhibition opened on June 25, 1927, and a local newspaper estimated that 116,000 people viewed the Lindbergh items during the first four days of the exhibition. The exhibition’s popularity led to Lindbergh agreeing to extend the loan of the collection; five years later, Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, donated the extensive collection to the Missouri Historical Society.”

There are plenty of other museums around the country that display a community’s link to Lindbergh, but for today our final stop will be the Stanley King Collection of rare Charles Lindbergh commemorative memorabilia at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center down the road from Washington Dulles International Airport.

(Photo by Eric Long/NASM, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)

Do you have a favorite aviation or space-related museum you’d like others to know about? If you do, please write a note about it below and it may be featured on a future edition of Museum Monday here on StuckatTheAirport.com

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Categories: Airplanes, Aviation history, Exhibits, Museum Monday, Museums, aviation

Souvenirs at Boston Logan Airport

Each Sunday here at StuckatTheAirport.com is Souvenir Sunday;  the day we give thanks for the fun, inexpensive souvenirs you can find when you’re stuck at the airport.

This week’s treats come to us from Boston Logan International Airport’s Boston Tops shop, where the clerk on duty was kind enough (after a bit of cajoling..) to model this cute lobster cap for us.

Gebra models lobster cap for sale at Logan Airport

Not a hat person?  We also found these fun Boston and Massachusetts-centric souvenirs in the store. Like the pot-holder with lobster-cooking instructions, each items sells for under $10:

Lobster cooking instructions

Tiny stuffed lobster souvenir

And my favorite:

Souvenir chocolate at Boston Logan Airport

Have you found a great souvenir while you were stuck at the airport? If it’s under $10, “of” the city or region and, ideally, a bit offbeat, please snap a photo and send it along. Your souvenir may be featured on a future edition of Souvenir Sunday.

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Categories: Airport shops, Food, Layover, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs