Posts in the category "Kids":

In my msnbc.com column this week –Fresh airport amenities make the wait fly by – I offered a run-down of some of the programs and services air travelers can take advantage of this summer.

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!

Categories: Air Travel, Airports, Entertainment, Events, Food, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Kids, Kids travel, Layover, Lounges, Music, Observation Decks, Restaurants, Wi-Fi, family travel, free Wi-Fi
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Some airports are pulling out the stops this summer and throwing parties for travelers.

One example: Miami International Airport is hosting themed weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) events from noon to 3 pm through the end of August.

Havana-themed party at MIA to feature dominoes tables

This weekend’s theme is Havana Nights and will include domino tables, mojito demonstrations, a DJ, rumba dancing and cigar rolling.

MIA Havana-themed party to feature cigar rolling

August 6-9 it will be a Miami-themed Kids Weekend.  August 13-16 will focus on music. And from August 20-23 get ready for a flamenco dance show, Latin food sampling, photo opportunities, games and more.

Flamenco dancing coming to Miami Airport

Photo courtesy National Endowment for the Arts Millennium Project, via Flickr Creative Commons.

All photos courtesy Flickr, via Creative Commons.

Categories: Air Travel, Airports, Entertainment, Events, Festivals, Fun Stuff, Kids, Layover
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Stop by any weekday at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and chances are you’ll hear some really great local music. Austin is just chock full of great musicians (“You can’t spit without hitting a Grammy winner” is how someone once explained it to me) and the airport takes advantage of that with four post-security performance spaces and eleven live performances each week.

Next week, from Monday, July 19^th through Friday, July 23^rd, it’s “Kid Band Week,” with performances scheduled from 3:30 to 5:30 pm at the airport’s Asleep at the Wheel stage at Ray Benson’s Roadhouse by Gate 10.  If you’re around, you should definitely check it out.

Here’s the line-up:

Monday: The Peterson Brothers Band: blue music from brothers Glenn (13) and Alex (11).

Hide Away (By Freddie King) Live @ Momo’s

Peterson Brothers Band

Tuesday: 15-year-old bassist and vocalist Livvy Bennett.
“Bennett is a member of Aftermath, an Austin band that won the first SchoolJam USA National Teen ‘Battle of the Bands’ contest January in Anaheim, Calif.  At the event, Bennett was named “Best Bassist.”

Wednesday: The Aviators. The classic rock group is made up of six students, age ten to thirteen, from the Natural Ear Music School.

Introducing the Aviators!

The Aviators

Thursday: The Apple Trio, an all-girl string trio.

And Friday: The Fireants, the group that won “Best Teen Band” at the 2008-2009 Austin Music Awards.

Fireants “Frankenstein” Edgar Winter Cover

Fireants

Categories: Entertainment, Festivals, Fun Stuff, Kids, Music
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We’re having a heat wave.

Well, a lot of the country is having a heat wave. The kind of tropical heat wave Ella Fitzgerald, Marilyn Monroe and Gale Storm sang about.

And when there’s a heat wave there’s only one thing to do: eat ice-cream and lots of it.

Back in the 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice-Cream Month and set aside the third Sunday of the month as National Ice-Cream Day.  And, as this photo proves, President Barack Obama is a big fan of ice-cream too.

(Photo courtesy Wells’ Dairy, Le Mars, Iowa)

So as you’re traveling around this month, be sure to stop and eat some ice-cream.  If you’re stuck at the airport, it’s a good chance you’ll find a branch of Ben & Jerry’s, Haagen-Dazs or some other well-known ice-cream or frozen yogurt chain in the food court.

Better yet, here’s hoping you land at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, where there’s a branch of Amy’s Ice-Cream, a local favorite, or at Little Rock International Airport, where you can find Arkansas-made Yarnell’s Ice Cream.

Know of some other airports where you can get great ice-cream? Please share your find in the comments section below.

And while you’re out on the road, why not learn something about this sweet treat?  For a recent msnbc.com article, Ice-cream fans celebrate sweet treat – I found a few factory tours that not only offer an ice-cream education but, in the three cases below, a free sample.

Ben & Jerry’s, Waterbury, VT

(Courtesy Jeff Pecor, Yapta)

If you’re in New England and your travels take you anywhere near Vermont, make your way to Waterbury for a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream factory. The adventure includes an entertaining “moo-vie” about ice-cream production and a visit to the “Flavoroom” to taste the flavor of the day. Details at Ben & Jerry’s.

Blue Bell, Brenham, TX (Broken Arrow, OK; Sylacauga, AL)

Named for the Lone Star State’s native bluebell wildflower, the Brenham, Texas-based Blue Bell Company offers tours of its ice-cream plants in Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama. Each tour ends with a complimentary scoop of ice-cream and the opportunity to purchase additional scoops for $1 or less.  Details at the Blue Bell website.

Velvet Ice Cream, Utica OH

(Blue icing getting mixed into a special birthday cake ice cream)

The Velvet Ice Cream factory in Utica, OH makes more than five million gallons of ice-cream a year in “small” (for the industry) 800-gallon batches at the Ye Olde’ Mill, a 20-acre site that houses an ice-cream museum, a historic grist mill with water wheel, a fishing pond and other attractions.  Factory tours don’t usually include a complimentary taste of ice-cream, but for National Ice-Cream Month visitors who show up weekdays between 1 and 3 p.m. will get to taste the flavor of the day as it comes off the line. For details see the Velvet Ice-Cream Company website.

If your travels don’t take you near these shops, consider stopping by one of the Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants participating in the company’s “Scoop for Success” program.  During National Ice Cream Month part of the proceeds of a specially-designed ice-cream dessert at each restaurant will be donated to Dress for Success, an organization devoted to helping women re-enter the workforce.

And we’re not just talking chocolate sundaes. At Firefly in Washington, DC, the designated dessert is peanut butter ice cream sandwich with chocolate decadence, banana’s foster sauce and praline crumb.

NIOS, in New York City, is serving vanilla bean gelato with caramelized popcorn and caramel sauce. And at the Red Star Tavern & Roast House in Portland, Oregon, the decadent dessert is red velvet doughnuts with bourbon-pecan cheesecake ice cream.

On July 15th, 2010 Kimpton Hotels will also be hosting a National Ice Cream Social.  All proceeds from special desserts sold in the hotels’ “living rooms” will be donated to charity.

Do you need any more reasons to go eat ice-cream?  Go!

Categories: Airport shops, Airports, Events, Food, Holidays, Kids, Layover, Restaurants
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If you’re curious about what happens in museums, zoos, aquariums and offbeat attractions after hours you’re in luck.  For a slide show on Bing Travel – Critter Campouts – I found plenty of places where you can camp with critters, sleep with fishes and dream with dinosaurs.

(Courtesy Georgia Aquarium)

Since then, I’ve found even more. For example, it turns out you and your friends can spend the night at the Titan Missle Museum in Sahuarita, Arizona.

(Courtesy Arizona Aerospace Foundation)

For the Bing Critter Campouts show, I was able to squeeze in 11 sleepover sites.  Some of them are just for kids. A few set aside a few nights for adults-only overnights. But most are open to families, making them an unusual alternative to at least one night in a hotel during a vacation.

Here are just two of my favorites:

Do shrunken heads snore? Do two-headed taxidermy cows moo in their sleep?

Brave souls can find out during a night inside Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Extreme Sleepover at the Times Square Odditorium in New York or at the Bedtime with the Bizarre overnights at Ripley’s outlets in Williamsburg, VA, Gatlinburg, TN, Grand Prairie, TX and several other locations. Make it to morning and you’ll get to take home a “Survivor” certificate.

And on June 30^th, after the San Francisco Giants play the LA Dodgers at AT&T Park, 400 fans will get to race into the outfield to pitch tents for the 8^th annual San Francisco Giants Slumber Party.

Evening activities include baseball, of course, as well as movies, peanuts, popcorn and pizza, games, goody bags, photos on the field and a chance to get autographs from former baseball stars.

For more surprising sleepovers, see my Critter Campouts slide show on Bing Travel.

Categories: Exhibits, Fun Stuff, Hotels, Kids, Kids travel, Museums, Recreation, Sleeping, Sports, Travel tips, Unusual places, family travel
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