Most people try to avoid connecting flights when they’re flying from one part of the country to another. But if I can book a trip that offers the chance to spend an hour or two at San Francisco International Airport, I take it.

That’s because, with an airport museum program that organizes a few dozen exhibits a year, it’s a good bet there will be something fun and educational to see. And earlier this week I finally had an unhurried hour at SFO to tour the exhibit of more than 90 vintage gambling devices on display in Terminal 3.

For Amusement Only: Slot Machines and Other Gambling Devices of the Mechanical Age includes slot machines, guessing banks, coin drops, poker machines and punchboards dating from the late 19^th through mid-20^th centuries.  The machines are on loan from Joe Welch’s San Bruno American Antique Museum and will be on exhibit through May, 2010.

Once you’ve toured the gambling machine exhibit, head on over to the International Terminal, where there’s an exhibit of 36 vintage pinball machines, including a few you can play for free.

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