What can you do when you’re stuck at the airport? Eat!
And if you’re lucky, you’ll find yourself stuck at an airport where the restaurants and shops serve and stock local foods.
Philadelphia-made Tastycakes for Snack Saturday
Hungry at Pennsylvania’s Harrisburg International Airport (MDT)? Head for the Perfectly PA gift shop. The store stocks Pennsylvania-made treats such as Tastycakes, Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer and Pennsylvania Dutch candies.
PA treats for sale at MDT Airport
More sweet PA-made treats for sale a MDT Airport
(Thanks to MDT Airport for the photos)
Is there a locally-made treat that you look forward to eating at certain airports? If so, please share your finds here and, if possible, send a photo. Your airport snack may be featured on a future edition of Snack Saturday here at StuckatTheAirport.com
On Sundays we take a look at some of the inexpensive souvenirs you can pick up for around $10 when you’re stuck at the airport. This week, we’ve got some fun stuff to share from the Indianapolis International Airport (IND).
Of course, there’s the requisite candy ‘poop.’ Here, it’s Cardinal Poop, in honor of the state bird.
Marcella Gruelle created the Raggedy Ann doll in Indianapolis back in 1914, so you’ll find plenty of Raggedy Anns and Andys for sale at the airport. Only the tiniest sizes, and maybe the books, fit our $10 or under budget for Souvenir Sunday, but its fun to see the different-sized dolls all piled up and ready for new families.
There’s also the Just Pop In popcorn I featured yesterday on Snack Saturday, but it’s a fair bet that if you buy this as a souvenir, you’ll end up eating it all on the airplane. Or before you get from the shop to your gate.
So consider doing some souvenir shopping at the airport spa. Yes, the spa. IND is the only outpost for Erin Humphrey’s Enroute Spa and the spa is headquarters for a locally sustainable retail program Humphrey calls Hip and Handmade in Indy. I had a chance to sit down and chat with Humphrey about the program and she told me how much fun she’s having scouring craft and DIY fairs in search of products to feature.
I’d already spotted these purses and Humphrey pointed out that they’re made by ReFind Originals, an Indiana company that turns reclaimed leather from everything from discarded old car seat covers to well-worn bomber jackets into purses and handbags.
The purse I had my eye on was over the $10 Souvenir Sunday limit, but the Enroute Spa also has this nicely smelling line of locally-made body care items with all natural ingredients. The blends have names such as Stress Relief, Immune Support, Elysia and Winter Magic and in addition to the $10 price tag on many of the containers, the selling point for me is the fact that body lotion also comes packaged in TSA-friendly solid sticks.
Have you found a great souvenir while you were Stuck at the Airport? If it’s $10 or under, “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.
Is there a local snack you look forward to eating when you’re Stuck at the Airport? If you’ve got a favorite, please snap a photo and send it along. You snack suggestion might be featured on a future edition of Snack Saturday.
Souvenir Sunday is coming up tomorrow, so if you’re at an airport today and find a great souvenir that’s under $10, “of” the city or region, and sort of offbeat, please snap a photo and send it along.
In the meantime, today is Snack Saturday, in honor of something unique I came across while researching a story about service at very small airports.
While telling me about the outdoor observation deck (officially “The Promenade”) and the other charms of the New Bedford Regional Airport (EWB) in Massachusetts, airport manager Ed DeWitt let slip that the airport is also home to what he believed to be a “rare” vending machine dispensing Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream.
Rare? Well, sure enough, it is. Joseph Beaudette, the owner of Scoopless Ventures, told me that he’s placed some of these vending machines in colleges and other places in New England, but that the New Bedford Regional airport is indeed the only airport in the country that has a Ben & Jerry’s vending machine.
And here’s a twist: while at many airports ice-cream, coffee, and just about everything else costs more than it does in your neighborhood, Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream purchased from the vending machine at New Bedford Regional Airport is about 20% less expensive than at most convenience stores or carts. And, says Beaudette, “These machines hold twelve different flavors.”
Do you have a favorite snack you indulge in when you’re stuck at the airport? Tell us about it! Before you scarf it down, take a picture and send it along to us here at StuckatTheAirport.com.
We’re thinking about making Snack Saturday a regular dish.
