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?

In honor of National Park Service’s fee-free weekend  – today and tomorrow, August 14 -15, 2010, here’s a contest you can enter to win a trip to one of ten National Park ‘units’ around the country.

Courtesy NPS - Dennis Mulligan

The folks at Bausch+Lomb are hosting the “Inspiration in your Eyes” contest.  To win a trip to one of ten ‘inspirational’ places in the Continental United States (the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, Great Smokey Mountains National Park, the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge, Glacier National Park, Waimea Canyon, the Columbia River Gorge, Colorado’s Garden of the Gods, or Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park) write up – in 1,500 characters or less – a story about a place you find inspirational and send along a photo.  Details on the Inspiration in your Eyes contest here. Deadline: 9/30/10.

Giant Sequoia at Sequoia National Park - NPS, photo by Alexandria Picavet

And for a little inspiration while you’re thinking about what to write about, take a look at my recent article for msnbc.com:  National Parks: Offbeat, unusual – and free.

The story includes notes about the country’s smallest and largest national parks: Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas and /Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, in Alaska; the park that’s home to some of the largest living things: record-setting Giant Sequoia Trees in Sequoia National Park, CA; and the battiest national park: Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, which is home to up to a million Mexican free-tailed bats.

That same shop is where you’ll find one of this week’s Souvenir Sunday picks: socks decorated with an Amish horse and buggy scene.

Novelty socks for sale at MDT Airport

I’m sure there’s a shop or two over at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport that stocks novelty socks as well. (Moose anklets, anyone?)  And it’s a good bet there’s a coupon in the airport’s summer coupon book that can be used towards that purchase.

Don’t need any socks? It’s still a good idea to download the coupon book from the MSP website or pick up a copy at an information booth inside the airport. There are dozens of two-for-one and free-with-order drink and meal deals in there, along with discounts and gift-with-purchase deals in many airport stores.

You should also pick up the MSP summer coupon book if you’re a pet owner. MSP has a 24-hour pet boarding facility – it’s called Now Boarding – on airport property and there’s a coupon in the booklet good for a free bath or nail trim for pets staying overnight.  That seems like a great airport souvenir for pets – and their people.

Did you find a great souvenir last time 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 on StuckatTheAirport.com.

One amenity that didn’t make it into the story is self-service ice-cream sundae machine at Boston Logan International Airport.

We all scream for ice-cream at the airport

Using a touchscreen, customers choose a flavor (12 are available) and a mix-in. The machine then prepares and delivers the dessert.  Boston Logan Airport has two  MooBella machines installed: one is at Terminal C at the Back Bay Café (Gates 11-21); the other is at Lean & Green (Gates 40-42).

If you test it out, please send a report – and a photo.

What else is fresh and new at airports this summer?

Mimes among the entertainment at PHL this summer

Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) now has free wireless and a Passenger Chillin’ Zone with sofas, tables, chairs, ottomans and foliage (Gate D-3). Throughout the summer, PHL is also hosting a Just Plane Fun program with live music, appearances by mascots from local sports teams, contests and other activities.

From now through the end of August, Miami International Airport is throwing weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) parties with a different theme each week. This weekend’s theme is Havana Nights, with domino tables, mojito demonstrations, a DJ, rumba dancing and cigar rolling.  August 20-23 you’ll find a flamenco dance show, Latin food sampling and more.

Observation Deck at LAX now open on weekends

At Los Angeles International Airport, the outdoor observation deck on top of the Theme Building in the center of the airport is finally open. Closed since 9/11, and during the building’s $12.3 million renovation and earthquake retrofit, the deck is open weekends, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with free telescopes offering great views of arriving and departing aircraft, the airport grounds and the surrounding area. Pink’s, an iconic Hollywood hot dog stand, has also opened a branch in the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

At Outagamie County Regional Airport (ATW) in Appleton, Wisconsin, they’re still lining up to get candy from the giant purple machine with flashing lights.

Willy Wonka candy machine dispenses mixed candy treats

Located pre-security, the Willy Wonka candy machine is one of 25 such machines in the country (there’s one at the Mall of America) and is currently the only one at an airport.

Passengers had so much fun during the special events held at Vancouver International Airport during the 2010 Winter Olympics games that the airport decided to host Take-off Fridays festivals all summer, complete with face painting, DJs spinning music, prize drawings, meal specials and frees samples from a variety of airport shops.

And San Francisco International Airport is presenting You are Hear concerts again this summer. Performances take place every Friday through August 28^th between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at three different stages in the airport. This week the line-up includes Quinteto Latino in the International Terminal, Lavay Smith & The Red Hot Skillet Lickers in the United hub and, in Terminal 1, Threeocracy. See the SFO website for the full season schedule.

Enjoy!

Free drinks in Economy Plus on United Airlines

According to the airline website, anyone sitting in the Economy Plus section August 6-16, 2010 will get a free drink.

But you may have to ask for it. According to the Terms and Conditions of the offer, the complimentary beverage is only available during the first beverage service and is “upon request.”

Flying car design gets updated

And it seems there’s news about design changes for The Transition, the “roadable aircraft” that the folks at Terrafugia claim is the world’s first flying car.

According to Adam Hadhazy’s TechNews Daily story, mild design makeovers to the car include “a more car-like front courtesy of traditional headlights and a license plate holder” and “On the engineering side of things, the next generation of the vehicle has an improved wing that folds up smoothly per a command from the cockpit, rather like a convertible.”

And in the in-dash espresso maker?

Each Monday here at StuckatTheAirport.com, we feature one of them.

This week: The National Museum of the US Air Force.

This museum has a lot of fans and I took a lot of heat for leaving it out of a recent msnbc.com column – Aviation Museums that Soar – that only had room to mention six aviation and space museums around the country.

So here we go:

Northrop B-2 Spirit at the National Museum of the U. S. Air Force

With 17 acres of indoor exhibition space and more than 400 aerospace vehicles in its collection, the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, OH, is the largest military aviation museum in the world.

In addition to an IMAX theater, and more than a half dozen huge galleries filled with one-of-a-kind aircraft and aerospace  vehicles, the museum has  personal artifacts, photographs, documents and exhibits that help tell the Air Force story.

The Air Power Gallery at the National Museum of the US Air Force

If you plan to visit, you might have to pick just a few galleries to see.  And choosing won’t be easy.

In the Early Years Gallery, the aircraft, exhibits and artifacts start with the Wright brothers and continue through World War I and the beginning of World War II.

Reproduction 1909 Wright Flyer at National Museum of the US Air Force

In the 140-foot tall, silo-like Missile and Space Gallery you’ll find a collection of missiles that can be viewed from the ground level or from a platform that runs around the inside of the gallery. There’s also the Apollo 15 Command Module, Mercury and Gemini capsules, rocket engines, satellites and balloon gondolas.

The Missile and Space Gallery at the USAF Museum

And in the Presidential Gallery, for which there are special entry requirements, you’ll see the airplane that served as Air Force One the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as well as airplanes used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

President John F. Kennedy disembarking Air Force One

There’s more – lots more – so before you visit be sure to poke around the National Museum of the US Air Force Museum website.

SPAD XIII at National Museum of the United States Air Force

The USAF Museum is open daily. Admission is free.

A great time to visit might be during Labor Day weekend (Sept 3-5, 2010) when the museum hosts the Giant Scale Radio-Controlled Model Aircraft Air Show with model jets, helicopters and warbirds doing acrobatics in the sky.

Do you have a favorite aviation or space museum? If so, leave a comment below and we may feature your suggestion in a future Museum Monday on StuckatTheAirport.com.

If you have a choice about when to travel to or through Vancouver International Airport (YVR) this summer, choose a Friday.

YVR is entertaining pretty much anytime, but this summer, the airport is throwing Take Off Friday parties with face painting, DJ’s, and free treats and samples from airport shops such as Daniel Le Chocolate Belge and the Absolute Spa.  You can also enter a sweepstakes to win weekly prizes such as a tour of the airport or a night at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport, where many of the (very soundproof) rooms have great views of the airfield.

The party takes place each Friday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. through the end of August in the Departures Level of the Domestic Terminal.

While you’re there, be sure to check out YVR’s free, pre-security observation area and all the great art.

(YVR photos courtesy Vancouver International Airport)

And if you’re at Tucson International Airport (TUS) any time before September 30th, 2010, make your way to the Center Gallery to see Peter Kresan’s photographs.

Kresan specializes in nature, desert landscapes, national parks and monuments, with special attention to geological features. The work on display features Arizona locations, including images of Sonoran desert wildflowers, Mexican poppies and the Sacred Datura flowers at the Grand Canyon.

Chock stone in the Dive of the Buckskin Gulch. Paria Canyon, Northern Arizona.

An aerial view of Monument Valley in northeastern Arizona
and on the border with Utah.  Most of Monument Valley is in Arizona and is part of the Navajo Reservation.

Thanks, Peter, for sharing your photos.

Lucky for you there are more than 600 aviation and space-related museums around the country.   Each Monday, StuckatTheAirport.com visits one of them.

This week, it’s the Mitchell Gallery of Flight inside Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport.

(Hamilton Metalplane display, courtesy Mitchell Gallery of Flight)

Like the airport, the museum is named in honor of General Billy Mitchell, who is regarded as the Father of the U.S. Air Force.

Mitchell is profiled in the People section of the museum, along with Wisconsin-born fighter ace Dick Bong and other aviators with Wisconsin links, including Charles Lindbergh, who visited the Milwaukee airport in 1927.  Two exhibit cases display artifacts and photos about Captain James Lovell, who is best known for his four Gemini and Apollo spaceflights.

In the Aircraft & Airships section of the museum, you’ll see antique propellers, aviation-related artifacts and loads of models, including a 22-foot, 1/36^th scale model of the Graf Zeppelin II (a sister to the Hindenberg) and models of military jets, WWII aircraft and airplanes of all eras.

(Photo by Prateek Bahadur, via Flickr Creative Commons)

Best of all, the museum is located pre-security at Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport and admission is free.

For information about hours and exhibits, see the Mitchell Gallery of Flight website.

(Photo by Prateek Bahadur, via Flickr Creative Commons)

Do you have a favorite aviation/space museum? Please feel free to nominate it for a future edition of Museum Monday.

Last week, just in time for the busy 4^th of July holiday travel weekend, PHL announced that the airport-wide Wi-Fi service would now be free.

Now that’s fun!

This week? Well, there’s not much that can match free Wi-Fi for excitement, but on Wednesday there will a CPR/AED (Automatic external defibrillator) workshop.  And on Thursday and Friday – live music.

For times and locations, see the PHL website.

What’s next? Throughout the summer, travelers are promised art demonstrations, pep rallies with local pro sports teams and team mascots and, our favorite, free stuff.

Last week, the airport also unveiled a new art exhibit honoring the Liberty Bell.

(Philadelphia Mayor Nutter was at PHL for the exhibit opening)

Picturing Liberty: Philadelphia’s Legendary Bell includes 50 black and white photographs about the history and legacy of this iconic American item. The exhibit is in Terminal A-East, post-security through June 2011.

Thanks to the Bank of America’s Museums on Us program, admission to more than 120 museums will be free this weekend for anyone who has one of the bank’s ATM, credit or check cards.

If you’re visiting New York City, you might head on over to the Bronx Zoo or to the Intrepid Air & Space Museum

Or, if you’re in Detroit, spend a few hours at the Henry Ford Museum (Bank of America free admission on Saturday only),  which has just about everything, including a collection of Presidential limousines and a great Heroes of the Sky exhibit.

(From the Henry Ford Museum collection; a photo of Wilbur Wright in the Flyer)

An even better deal: admission and parking at the Henry Ford Museum is free to everyone on July 16^th as part of Target Family Days

(1917 Curtiss JN 4-D “Canuck” Biplane. On display at the Henry Ford Museum)

See the Museums of Us website to find other museums, zoos and attractions offering free admission this weekend as part of the Bank of America program.  And don’t forget that through Labor Day, September 6, 2010, more than 850 museums around the country are offering free admission anytime to active duty service members and up to five family members as part of the Blue Star Museums program.