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.

Related posts:

• Snack Saturday: Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Machine at New Bedford Regional Airport
• Snack Saturday: Pennsylvania-made treats from Harrisburg International Airport
• Fresh airport amenities for summer travel
• Snack Saturday: automated treats

Categories: Entertainment, Food, Layover

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.

Related posts:

• New exhibit at Miami International Airport’s mia Gallery
• Party alert for Miami International Airport
• Walk on the beach at Miami International Airport
• Celebrate Cinco de Mayo at Miami International Airport

Categories: Art, Exhibits

Here’s a brilliant idea:

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has partnered with the Dutch Public Libraries to open the world’s first airport library.  The library is just past passport control, on Holland Boulevard, and offers passengers waiting for a flight a place to read books in 29 different languages, listen to music, watch films and download material free of charge.

This from an airport that already offers travelers a great collection of art, a casino, a seafood bar, a chocolate bar, a fun forest for kids, a branch of the Rijksmuseum and lots more.

Her Royal Highness Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands was on hand for the opening of the Schiphol Airport Library on Holland Boulevard

Now… when we will have library branches in US airports? 

Related posts:

• Kids Forest now at Amsterdam Schiphol
• Stuck at Schiphol: Café Chocolat now open at Amsterdam Airport
• Souvenir Sunday: treats from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
• Amsterdam Schiphol Airport: for the birds

Categories: Airport guides, Airport shops, Alcohol, Exhibits, Layover

Admit it: you thought about getting one of JetBlue’s All You Can Jet travel passes and taking the month of September off to just zip around the country.

I did.

But while we were daydreaming the passes sold out.

Well, you’ve got another chance.

Boston Logan International Airport is having a twitter-based contest to give away a pair of All You can Jet 7 passes – the kind that let you travel any day of the week from September 7th through October 6, 2010.

If you want to enter you’ll have to act fast.

The contest kicked off Tuesday morning at 10 am east coast time and end at 9:59 a.m. on Friday morning.

To enter, you’ll need to come up with something catchy and creative. Here’s what the folks at Boston Logan are looking for:

“Simply send us a “tweet” at www.twitter.com/bostonlogan with a haiku, limerick, verse of your choice, or image(s) explaining why you would like to visit destinations served by JetBlue and include the contest hashtag #AYCJBOS. Creativity counts. Limit one (1) entry per unique Twitter handle.”

Sounds easy, right?

Here’s a link to the All You Can Jet Boston contest rules and some additional information.

Good luck! And please make those entries entertaining: I’m one of the judges for the All You Can Jet Boston contest and I’ll be looking through every entry on Friday afternoon.

Related posts:

• Tues at Boston Logan: Belt one out for the Red Sox
• Red Sox fans: belt it out at Boston Logan Airport
• 9/11 commemorated at Boston Logan Airport and at LAX
• RED SOX FANS: SING TO WIN AT BOSTON LOGAN AIRPORT

Categories: Air Travel, Contests

There’s a fresh piece of art at Spokane International Airport in eastern Washington.

But you’ll have to look up to see it.

Fresh art at Spokane International Airport

Louise Kodis’ new textile sculpture “Conversations Between Clouds” in now installed in the rotunda of the airport. The sculpture is a flock of three dimensional floating shapes suspended under the ceiling and is made out of bamboo rod, curved acrylic rod, colored and textured silks and synthetic fabrics.

(Photos of Conversations Between Clouds courtesy Gay Waldman)

There’s another great piece of art at Spokane International Airport that you’ll need to look up to see:

Ken Yuhasz’s Aer-O-Toaster

Ken Yuhasz’s Aer•O•Toaster was installed in 2009.

Yuhasz says his toaster is based on the classic Sunbeam toaster from the 1930s and the ‘Flying Toaster’ used as a screen saver on countless computer screens during the 1980’s and is a re-creation at one-half scale of a Gee Bee racing plane from the early 30′s.

Related posts:

• Flying Toaster at Spokane International Airport
• Souvenir Sunday at Spokane Int’l Airport
• In Spokane: the world’s oldest flying Boeing airplane
• Tidbits for travelers: Free Wifi at Toronto airport; fresh art at SNA; contraband at JFK

Categories: Air Travel, Art, Exhibits, Layover, aviation