On Friday, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is opening “the world’s first airport aeroponic garden.”
What’s aeroponic? It’s a way of growing things with just water and a mineral solution; no soil.
What will the garden grow? Fresh vegetables to be used by O’Hare restaurants. It will also, hopefully, be a nice spot for passengers to visit and relax.
I’m planning on heading that way soon to see, and maybe nibble, for myself. But in the meantime, I was pleased to see that WLS-TV got a sneak preview of the garden and of the 44 different types of organic herbs and vegetables growing right there at the airport.
Look for the garden in the rotunda building, between terminals 2 and 3.
Photo courtesy: Clark County Department of Aviation
There are lots of changes going on, concession-wise, at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.
Many of the hotel-themed and other shops in the pre-security concession area they call the Esplanade are gone and shops with new concepts are moving in.
One of them is iCandy, a locally-developed shop with its own mascot and a wide variety of sweets, including chocolates by local favorite Ethel M and Tipsy Truffles, alcohol-infused treats ranging from cupcakes to chocolate alcohol drops. Yum!
Vancouver Airport has one in the terminal, Newark airport has one on airport property, but Dallas-Fort Worth Airport is slated to get what is being billed as the first 7-Eleven inside the secured gate areas at an airport.
The first secure-side 7-Eleven will be one of several new concessions that are part of a remodel going on in Terminal A, but come 2013, travelers will be able to sip slurpees between flights and take Big Gulps with them onto the airplanes.
Here’s a quick round-up of some fresh amenities airports are offering.
On Wednesday, May 18th, 2011, Oakland International Airport will put into service eight ChargePoint networked charging stations for “new generation” electric vehicle (EV) such as the Chevrolet Volt, the Nissan LEAF, Tesla Roadsters and others.
Los Angeles International Airport now has a cadre of bomb-sniffing canines on duty who are trained not just to sniff out explosives, but to pick up the scent of explosives in the air and track down the person who may be carrying the explosive material -even if that person is on the move.
And some time next year there will be a new food hall on Delta’s Concourse G at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport filled with new food and beverage outlets that are branches of, or partnerships with, local favorites.
The $2 billion concourse upgrade will include a Media Bar that OTG Management is billing as the first virtual newsstand. Passengers will be able to rent an iPad and download publications, movies, music, apps and other items before boarding a plane. (Those with their own iPads will be able to download material as well.) If you do rent an iPad, you’ll be provided with a postpaid envelope so you can mail the iPad back when you’re done.
The OTG Media Bar is going launch at MSP airport, but plans are already in place expand the program to other locations.
What can you do when you’re stuck at the airport? Eat!
Lucky for you there are some new dining options at several U.S. airports.
If you’re hungry at JFK’s Delta Terminal 3 and don’t want to give up that seat you finally found by the power outlet, starting Thursday, May 5th they’ll be an app for that.
HMSHost and Airside Mobile are launching the B4YouBoard iPhone App that will let you use your smartphone to order food, pay for it and have it delivered to you within 20 minutes (they promise) at six delivery zones inside the terminal.
The service will expand in the future, but for now the app will only work at JFK’s Delta Terminal 3, only on iPhones and only if you want to eat something from Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market or Chili’s Too between noon to 8 pm.
Still, if it’s a busy afternoon and you’ve finally found a seat and spread out your stuff, you can see how having in-airport food delivery – to eat there or take on the plane – might be very convenient.
Elsewhere…
The first airport outlet for Papa John’s is open at the food court in Charlotte Douglas International Airport. On the menu: an 8-inch “Papa’s Pizza for One.”
A candy-filled store called Sugar Pop recently opened in mall area of Terminal 1-Lindbergh, and the offerings include retro candy such as Sugar Babies, Pop Rocks, Runts and Lemonheads (remember those?) as well as specialty items such as these giant rainbow lollipops.
San Francisco International Airport will re-open its newly renovated Terminal 2 to the flying public on April 14, but first there will be a media day (April 6th) and a community open house (April 9th.)
For those who can’t attend the open house or who won’t be flying to or from San Francisco on American Airlines or Virgin America – the two airlines that will be using T2 – anytime soon, StuckatTheAirport.com has been offering previews of the terminal.
That artwork includes a fun piece by Charles Sowers that includes mechanical butterflies.
Elsewhere in the terminal, sound artist Walter Kitundu has installed interactive benches that double as musical instruments.
The wings in one of the birds in Kitundu’s mural can also be played.
Part two of our SFO T2 preview focused on some of the special touches, such as live plants, living-room style furniture, work areas, generous restrooms and those handy water bottle refill stations.
There’s more…
The dining options – which were still under construction when I toured the building – will include: Andale – made-to-order Mexican food
Burger Joint
A restaurant/lounge by Cat Cora, one of the Food Network’s Iron Chef judges
Lark Creek Grill
Napa Farms Market
Vino Volo
Peets Coffee & Tea and Starbucks
Wakaba Sushi & Noodle
and The Plant Organic and Pinkberry frozen yogurt
Shops will include:
Compass Books
Greetings from San Francisco
I-Tech X-perience
Kiehl’s (skin and hair products)
Mango (clothing)
Mosaic Gallery
Natalie’s Candy Jar
Pacific Outfitters
Sunset News
and a branch of XpresSpa
Here a few more photos of what you’ll see in T2:
Artwork that was been stored away during renovation:
Elyse Pasquale, a blogger who calls herself Foodie International (www.foodieinternational.com), is finishing up her quest to travel 100,000 miles and consume 100 of the world’s best meals – in just one year.
Looks like she’s going to succeed.
As of Wednesday evening, Elyse has traveled 94,490 miles – and certainly eaten more than 100 great meals – and there are still a few days left in 2010.
As she nears the end of her project, this well-traveled foodie was kind enough to take a few minutes to share her tips for finding a great meal when you’re stuck at the airport:
As someone who loves to dine around the world, I make it a point to seek out traditional cuisine in international airports. An airport layover in a foreign city is a great opportunity to sample the local fare. In Oslo, grab an open-faced smørrebrød at the Salmon House Seafood Bar, at Tokyo’s Narita airport, try the conveyer-belt sushi at Ganso, and at Frankfurt’s Goethe Bar wash your weisswurst and pretzels down with a fine German brew.
Salmon smørrebrød in OSL (Oslo Airport) from the Salmon House Seafood Bar
First introduced in 2009, Coca Cola Freestyle machines are touch-screen, self-serve soda fountains-in-a-box that let consumers choose from among more than 100 mixed-to-order sodas, juices, teas and other beverages.
This first machine is at Famous Famiglia, by gate T6. Four more machines are scheduled to be installed at the airport by the end of the year: three by Gate A11 and one by gate D30.
Kids (of all ages..) will no doubt love this machine. And with 100 choices, there’s no reason you have to ask the machine to make you a sugary soda.
Drink up!
For more on what to do when you’ve got a few hours to spend at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – or 49 other airports – see the airport guides I created for USA TODAY.
