It’s Souvenir Sunday – a day to take a look at some of the fun, inexpensive and locally-themed items you can find when you’re stuck at the airport.
I found these treats at Zurich Airport recently and especially like the flasks spotted, of all places, in the toy store..
If you’ve been anxiously awaiting “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” – set to appear in movie theaters March 26, 2016 – then you may be in the market for something to wear to the show.
If you’re traveling, you may not have time to shop for just the right thing to wear (a cape?, pointy bat ears?) to the theater, but Hudson stores at airports have you covered.
At eleven major airports – including LAX, Miami International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Omaha Airport, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Chicago Midway International Airport, Lambert–St. Louis International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Burbank Bob Hope Airport, Nashville International Airport, and Boston Logan – Hudson shops will be offering two, exclusive, movie-themed t-shirts.
And it looks like you can choose your super hero.
The t-shirts would be the perfect thing to wear on the special Turkish Airlines plane that has a Batman v Superman livery and Batman v Superman amenity kits.
In Washington, D.C., Dulles International and Reagan National airports are celebrating cherry blossom season.
The main terminal at IAD is lit up in pink and, at DCA, the parking bridges – which have glass walls – are lit pink as well. And, at both airports, there are shopping and food promotions and fun activities on deck, including cherry blossom-themed cocktails and cookies, photo booths and stilt-walkers dressed as cherry trees.
Over at San Francisco International Airport, there’s a cool new amenity that might come in handy: Airport Butler concierge service.
It’s a pay-as-you-go concierge program approved by the airport that provides services that arriving, departing or connecting passengers might need — including making sure an elderly or inexperienced travelers gets to their gate and onto the plane to VIP services such as “discreet entry & exit” from the airport.
Fees for basic meet-and-greet services ($250) will show up when a booking is made online, but reservations for other services need to be made on the phone, where they’ll customize the service and quote a price.
After spending a week in Amsterdam – including that touristy classic, a stay on a houseboat – I was actually pleased that bad weather in the U.S.delayed my flight home.
Because that gave me more time to hang out in Schiphol Airport, where I was really temped to buy these (somewhat corny, I know….) souvenirs.
The ginger cake would have been a nice gift for my neighbor (I bought her a tote bag from the Cat Cabinet – shh, don’t tell her..) and those wooden tulips – spotted for sale everywhere in Amsterdam that by the end of week I was tired of them – would have been a long-lasting spot of color in the gray Seattle winter I’ve returned to.
I know… just another reason to go back. Soon.
Today is Souvenir Sunday – the day StuckAtTheAirport.com takes a look at some of the inexpensive, offbeat and/or locally-themed items you might actually want to purchase when you’re stuck at the airport.
This week’s treat comes from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, where I did a bit of cheese tasting at the ‘Say Cheese’ shop and found a cheese grater that doubles as a souvenir windmill.
Share your finds: if you spot a cool souvenir at an airport that’s inexpensive, a bit quirky and “of” the city or region, please snap a photo and send it along to StuckatTheAirport.com.
If your item is featured on Souvenir Sunday, we’ll send you a fun travel-themed gift.
Few hotels actually issue guests real door keys anymore and opt instead for electronic key cards, with magnetic strips on the back.
The face of the key cards often have only the name of the hotel, if that, but some hotels get quite creative with the tiny bit of real estate that guests carry around and look at multiple times during a stay.
Here are two cards I received at hotels in Portland, Oregon that morphed from keys to souvenirs in a snap.
The one on the left was issued to me at the Hotel Lucia, which has photos by Pulitzer prize-winning photographer and Oregon native David Hume Kennerly in the rooms, the hallways and public areas.
The key card on the right is from the Hotel deLuxe, which has a Golden Age of Hollywood cinema theme.
Both hotels are part of the Provenance Hotels group.
The Rolex 24, the first race to take place at the new-and-improved Daytona International Speedway, finishes up Sunday afternoon and one of the many new amenities race fans are finding at the track are updated gift shops and souvenir kiosks that are “just like the ones you see at airports,” one visitor said.
I spotted this oil-can water bottle for sale (for $14.99) in many of the shops.
And, while they can’t take home an actual piece of the start/finish line at the speedway, fans can take home a souvenir snapshot of their signature on the line as everyone is allowed to walk on the track before the race.
Last minute shoppers rejoice: it’s now possible to do all your holiday shopping at the airport and find great – and often offbeat – gifts for everyone on your list.
Here’s a sampling of some of the items I found for a recent article on Mashable.
Those artisanal-painted chocolate caramels above are just a sample of the artist-made gifts that come out of the SouveNEAR vending machines at Kansas City International Airport.
The recently replaced carpet at Portland International Airport became a social medial darling and oodles of PDX carpet-themed items are now for sale at the Made in Oregon shop at the airport. The neck pillow is good for travel, but there are also mugs, t-shirts, coasters, jam, beer and vodka to choose from.
And.. in the over-the-top category, consider this $1500 Iberico ham sold at Miami International Airport that comes with its own leather carrying case.
See the full story – with lots more ideas for last minute gifts to buy at the airport – in my story on Mashable.
It’s Souvenir Sunday – a day we look at some of the fun, inexpensive things you can get at airports or, today, aviation museums.
Through November, 2016, the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum is hosting an impressive exhibition of photographs by Carolyn Russo exploring the Art of the Airport Tower.
Reagan National Airport tower, photo by Carolyn Russo
StuckatTheAirport.com reader Robert Little went to see the exhibition and enjoyed it so much he went home with some Art of the Airport Tower souvenirs – and sent along these photos for Souvenir Sunday.
(As a thank-you for participating in Souvenir Sunday, I’m sending Robert a collectible airplane model. Don’t tell him.)
There’s a nice sampling of Russo’s photos accompanying this interview I did with her for NBC online, but I’m sure seeing the images in person are far better. And, if you’re a fan of great photography and/or aviation (or know someone who is), I’d encourage you to buy the Art of the Airport Tower
On Sundays, we take a look at some of the fun, inexpensive and locally-themed items you can buy when you’re stuck at the airport.
Here are a few of our favorites from the Honolulu International Airport:
Do you spend time in the shops when you’re stuck at the airport?
If you spot something fun, inexpensive, locally-themed and, ideally, a bit wacky, please snap a photo and send it along to StuckatTheAirport.com.
If your souvenir is featured on Souvenir Sunday, we’ll send you a travel-themed souvenir.