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?

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

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

Categories: Airport shops, Food, Layover, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs
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Our occasional Snack Saturday feature highlights food treats you can find at airports.

This week we take a look at a MooBella ice-cream-making machine at Boston Logan International Airport.

Ice-cream-making machine at Boston Logan Airport

One of two such machines at the airport (there’s one by the United Airlines gates in Terminal C), the make-your-own-ice-cream machine by the Air Tran gates (also in Terminal C) promises customers that their made-to-order cup of ice-cream (about a dozen flavors to choose from), complete with mix-in, will be delivered in about 40 seconds.

I tried it out (mocha ice-cream, chocolate-chip mix-ins; decadent, I know…) and of course I wanted to know how the machine did its “magic.”  So Chan Park, manager of Lean & Green Gourmet, came by and opened the machine. He showed me how the flavors get mixed in with an ice-cream base (premium or light), how that mixture gets turned into ice-cream inside the machine, how the mix-ins get mixed in, and how the concoction gets scooped into the cup.

I’m still not sure how it works. But it does.  And while you can get ice-cream scooped the old-fashioned way elsewhere in the airport, having a machine create ice-cream just for you is tasty, entertaining, and fun.

Categories: Entertainment, Food, Layover
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A new exhibit opening next week at Miami International Airport (MIA) includes the work of Haitian artists who are continuing to create their work despite the challenging circumstances in their country.

Hands of Haiti will be on display at Miami International Airport’s South Terminal Gallery from September 2, 2010 to March 2011. The show features more than 60 works of cut metal, woven sequined flags, sculptures made from discarded urban materials, carnival masks, clay pottery and photography.

Categories: Art, Exhibits
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