Layover

Souvenir Sunday: Lovin’ the lobsters at Boston Logan International Airport

Airport shops, Food, Layover, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs, ,
Souvenirs at Boston Logan Airport

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.

Lobster Hat for sale at Boston Tops shops

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:

How to cook a lobster pot holder

Lobster cooking instructions

Stuffed lobster at Boston Tops shop at Logan Airport

Tiny stuffed lobster souvenir

And my favorite:

Souvenir chocolate at Boston Logan Airport

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.

Snack Saturday: Ice-cream-making-machine at Boston Logan

Entertainment, Food, Layover, , ,

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

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.

Make-your-own ice cream

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.

Fresh art at Miami International Airport

Art, Exhibits, 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.

Miamia International Airport - Haitian Art

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.

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has world’s first airport library

Airport guides, Airport shops, Alcohol, Exhibits, Layover,

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.

Schiphol opens world's first airport library

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? 

Fresh – flying – art at Spokane International Airport

Air Travel, Art, aviation, Exhibits, Layover, ,

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

But you’ll have to look up to see it.

Spokane International Airport Art

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.

Spokane Int'l Airport - detail of Louise Kodis art

(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:

Aerotoaster at Spokane International Airport

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.

Ken Yuhasz’s “Aer•O•Toaster,”

Souvenir Sunday: Free rides on Singapore Airport’s Giant Slide

Air Travel, Airport shops, Entertainment, Free Stuff, free Wi-Fi, Layover, Shopping, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs,

Each Sunday we take a look at some offbeat, inexpensive souvenirs you can find when you’re stuck at the airport.

This week, the airport souvenir is an experience:

A ride on Singapore’s Tallest Slide and the World’s Tallest Slide in an Airport.

The Slide @T3 is actually two slides: one is a free-to-ride“preview” slide one and half stories long;

The other is four stories high and is free to ride if you’ve spent at least $30 at one of airport shops.

Here’s a video of the “making of” the slide:

Looks like fun!

Have you been through Singapore’s Changi Airport lately? Did you ride on the slide?

And..next time you’re stuck at the airport, look around. If you find an inexpensive souvenir that’s “of” the city or region and, ideally, a bit offbeat, please take a photo and send it along. It may end up featured on a future edition of Souvenir Sunday. And if it is, we’ll send you a Stuck at the Airport souvenir.

More cute airport pet parks

Air Travel, Layover, Pets, , , , , ,

Earlier this week I posted a picture of the cute sculpture in one of the pet relief areas at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)

Pet relief area ATL

ATL pet relief area

And the smart park at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

PHX pet relief area

PHX pet relief area

Both are pretty doggone cute. But the folks at Reno-Tahoe International Airport felt left out – so they sent me a note about the spot they’ve set aside for Spot.

Reno-Tahoe International Airport pet relief area

RNO airport pet relief area

It’s hard to tell how cute the park is -but I love the name: Bark Park.

And here’s the park for pets at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Austin Airport pet relief area

Austin-Bergstrom Airport dog park

Have you and your pet found an airport pet relief area that’s fancy AND functional?  Let us know and we’ll try to sniff out a photo and post it here.

Museum Monday: Elvis’s airplanes at Graceland

Airplanes, Aviation history, Celebrities, Exhibits, History, Layover, Museum Monday, Museums,

There are more than 700 aviation and space museums around the country. Each Monday we profile one of them. Eventually we’ll hit them all.

Today, to mark the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death on August 16th, 1977, we’ll make a stop at Graceland, where two of Elvis’s jets are on display.

This Lockheed JetStar was dubbed Hound Dog II:

Elvis Presley Lockheed JetStar

Hound Dog II, Elvis Presley's Lockheed JetStar

(Photo courtesy jbcurio, via Flickr).

According to this article, Elvis purchased this  Lockheed JetStar in September, 1975 for $899,702, while waiting for his other plane, the Lisa Marie (below), a Convair 880 Jet previously owned by Delta Airlines, to arrive.

At Graceland, visitors sit in a mock 1970’s-era airline terminal to see a short film about Elvis and his airplanes and are then allowed to tour the JetStar and the Lisa Marie, which was also known as Hound Dog I or Flying Graceland.

Elvis Presley's airplane, Lisa Marie, on display at Graceland

Elvis Presley's airplane - the Lisa Marie - at Graceland

Gold sink on Elvis's plane: the Lisa Marie

(Photo courtesy rgblasson via Flickr

Sadly, I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting Graceland. Yet. But when I do, I’ll make a beeline for the airplanes. First stop, the Lisa Marie. According to this article, the airplane has a seating area, conference room, library and plush bedroom with an executive bathroom equipped with gold washbasin and faucets.

Have you seen Elvis’s airplanes at Graceland? Share details of your visit below.

And please let us know if you have a nomination for an aviation or space museum you’d like to see featured on a future edition of Museum Monday here at StuckatTheAirport.com.

Elvis and Nixon

A favorite: Elvis and Nixon

Souvenir Sunday: emergency underpants at the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co.

Air Travel, Airport shops, Events, Layover, Shopping, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs, ,

What would the souvenir stand look like at the airport where flights took off for outer space?

Greenwood Space Travel Supply co.

Shopping at the Greenwood Space Travel Supply co

No doubt just like the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. in Seattle, where there’s an Atomic Teleporter on-site and shelves full of useful and just plain fun and bizarre things for that out-of-this-world trip.

Greenwood Travel Supply Co. space teleporter

Come by later

Unfortunately – or maybe, fortunately – the space teleporter was out of service this weekend when we stopped by, but that just left more time for shopping.

Travel supplies at Greenwood Travel Supply Co.

Our goal on Souvenir Sunday is to find the best and, ideally, the most offbeat items in the under $10 range. Often, that’s a challenge.

Not here.

We found these luggage tags good for intergalactic travel:

Luggage tags for intergalactic travel

Don't lose your luggage in outer space

A useful repair kit:

And the perfect snack food for the ride.

Freeze-dried ice cream

Snacks for the trip

And, because you never know just what will happen on any trip, we stocked up on some emergency underpants in convenient reusable tins.

Emergency underpants in tiny can

Be prepared

Whether the space teleporter ever gets fixed or not, the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. is an incredibly fun place to stock up on travel supplies for any sort of adventure.  It’s also a good cause: all proceeds from the shop benefit 826 Seattle, a non-profit writing center that helps young people develop their writing skills. When we stopped by there was a neighborhood-wide hang-out-in-the-street-event going on and these young writers were creating and performing poems based on quick interviews with passersby.

Greenwood Space Travel Supply co. front

If you’re stuck at an airport somewhere on earth, take a look in the souvenir shop. If you find something there that’s fun, offbeat and under $10, please take a photo and send it along. Your souvenir may show up on a future edition of Souvenir Sunday. And if it does, we’ll send a special souvenir your way.

Greetings from Earth

Wish you were here

National Parks: Offbeat, unusual – and free

Contests, family travel, Free Stuff, Layover, ,

Some people have enough money to go everywhere they want. The rest of us enter our names in sweepstakes and contests in hopes that one day we’ll be the lucky dog whose name is picked.

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.

Statue of Liberty NPS

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 - Sequoia National Park

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.