airport music

Secrets of Sea-Tac International Airport

SEA RAINIER

Seattle Met recently put together an Insider’s Guide to one-flight vacations from Seattle. All those adventures begin (and end) at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), and I was honored to be asked to put together a list of Sea-Tac Airport secrets.

Here they are:

1. Hidden Art
Sea-Tac’s museum-worthy contemporary art collection includes works by Louise Nevelson, Robert Rauschenberg, and Frank Stella, not to mention regional hotshots like Trimpin, whose multimedia kinetic sculpture On Monkeys, Matter and the King is on Concourse A. There’s art everywhere, including the baggage claim area and in some restrooms—download a tour map here .

2. Tune In & Turn Off
Wi-Fi is free throughout the airport and the Quiet Zone (Concourse B, Gate 4) has powered seats, but no TV noises or overhead announcements. There are (usually) more than a dozen rocking chairs by the giant window in the Central Terminal and a meditation room on the mezzanine level above Checkpoint 3.

3. Food Forever
Anthony’s Restaurant (Central Terminal) is the highest grossing sit-down restaurant at any U.S. airport. All airport food venues, including Ivar’s Seafood Bar, are open for breakfast.

4. Shopping Sells
While Sleepless in Seattle sleepwear is still a top seller at Sea-Tac, sexy is gaining: in 2012 more than 20,000 copies of the erotic page-turner 50 Shades of Grey—also set in our fair gray city—were sold at Sea-Tac. And because of the airport’s “street pricing” policy, all food and retail prices match those at the same vendors in town.

5. Lost is Found
Last year the Sea-Tac Lost and Found department logged 30,000 items, including 1,105 laptops and 1,220 cellphones—and 40 percent of them were returned to owners. After 30 days, unclaimed items are donated to charity, so if you lose something, hightail it to the mezzanine level of the Main Terminal or file a lost item report immediately.

6. Burn Before Boarding
Work out while you wait: It’s a half-mile from the Central Terminal to the end of Concourse A. Walk the full length of Concourses A, B, C, and D and you’ll have traveled over two miles.

7. Kids Play Free
There’s an aviation-themed play area at the Concourse B entrance; nearby, kids can search for bronze fish in the terrazzo “stream” that meanders along the Concourse B floor. Talking fountains (well, they play a recorded gurgle) are in Concourses B, C, and D.

8. Fly with Fido
Dogs find relief at either end of the Main Terminal; the south pet area is outside and park-like, with a yellow painted steel sculpture by Robert Maki at its center. There’s also an indoor pet area with artificial grass and a red fire hydrant post-security, near the Concourse C entrance.

9. No Sleep Till Takeoff
Most restaurant concessions open by 5 am, but 24-hour options include the pre-security Starbucks in the Main Terminal, the post-security Starbucks kiosk in the Central Terminal, Alki Bakery in baggage claim and, in the Central Terminal, Qdoba and Dilettante Chocolate.

10. Local Beats
That’s Macklemore, Sir Mix-a-Lot, and other local musicians voicing the safety and public service messages on the airport’s overhead announcements. Regional music is also played overhead and on screens throughout Sea-Tac; tune into the airport’s recently upgraded multichannel web player via the Wi-Fi landing page or here. A live music program is rumored to roll out later in March.

11. Fix Everything
If something’s wrong, Ken’s Baggage and Frozen Food Storage (in baggage claim, between carousels 12 and 13) can likely help. The bouquet of services includes stroller and infant car-seat rentals, a notary, copy services, packaging material and pet kennel sales, and tool rentals to jump a car battery or open a locked car door.

Forget the Super Bowl. Party at the New Orleans airport.

The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) is all gussied up and ready for the throngs of football fans making their way to town for the Super Bowl XLVII festivities.

New Orleans mugs

In addition to Super Bowl souvenirs already on sale at the airport, there are many new restaurants and shops. And the airport has a stellar line-up of music planned to entertain arriving passengers. From Thursday, January 31, through Saturday, February 2, here are the bands on tap:

new orleans music

The exact music schedule won’t be out until Wednesday. And while you might not get a police escort like the one the Baltimore Ravens got on arrival, it’s a sure bet that anytime you touch down in New Orleans this week, it’s going to be a party.

NEW ORLEANS RAVENS police escort

(Photos courtesy Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport)

Thanksgiving Travel Tibits: food, music & smoke

If you’re traveling through an airport during this week’s Thanksgiving travel madness, here are some travel tidbits to keep in mind.

Worried about second-hand smoke?

Then don’t stand near airport smoking lounges  – and consider holding your breath when you walk by.

According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average air pollution levels from secondhand smoke directly outside designated smoking areas in airports are five times higher than levels in smoke-free airports.

The CDC studied five large hub U.S. airports with designated smoking areas accessible to the public (Denver International, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Las Vegas’ McCarran International, Salt Lake City International, and Washington Dulles International) and also found that air pollution levels inside designated smoking areas were 23 times higher than levels in smoke-free airports. In the study, designated smoking areas in airports included restaurants, bars, and ventilated smoking rooms.


Turkey dinner in the sky and at airports

Virgin America has a holiday turkey sandwich on the buy-on-board menu

If you end up spending your Thanksgiving Day in an airport or on an airplane, you may not have to give up on Turkey Dinner.

In Florida, the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport, inside Orlando International Airport, is serving a mid-day Thanksgiving buffet and several restaurants inside Miami International Airport, including the Ice Box Café (Turkey Special with all the works, pecan pie and a glass of vino for $ 20, all week) and the Top of the Port restaurant in the Miami International Airport Hotel, are also planning to serve traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

At JFK International Airport in New York, passengers flying out of the JetBlue’s Terminal 5 (T5) will be able to load up on turkey dinner in the Food Court Hot Bar. (Price is by the weight of your plate.)

In the air, Southwest Airlines is offering passengers a complimentary alcohol drink on Thanksgiving Day, Virgin America has a holiday-style turkey sandwich on its buy-on-board menu, but no other domestic airline I contacted is making any special note of the holiday.

But several international airlines are:

Etihad Airways, Air Berlin and Singapore Air are among those offering special Thanksgiving meals to passengers flying to and from US gateways.

And many airports have their holiday entertainment schedule underway:

On Wednesday, Nov 21 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport will have a costumed character to read to children near the Red Balloon Bookshop across from Gate C12 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the hour and half-hour.

At Miami International Airport, there’s a whole bunch of activities going on Wednesday Nov 21 and again on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 24th and 25th, including a caricaturist, opportunities to get your photos taken in a harvest background, craft projects for kids and giveaways.

San Francisco’s You Are Hear concert series is underway, with performers scheduled in various spots throughout the airport on Wednesday, Dec. 21.

There’s live music scheduled for several spots in Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports on Wednesday as well. Find details about those airport concerts here.

And the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, which has 19 (or is it 100?) live concerts each week, has several performances scheduled for Wednesday as well.

Kid Band Week at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

Each week, travelers passing through Austin-Bergstrom International Airport have 15 chances to enjoy live music..

Next week there’s an extra special treat: the Austin airport is hosting the sixth annual “Kid Band Week.”

From Monday, July 16 to Friday, July 20, 2012, young bands will play on the Asleep at the Wheel stage at Ray Benson’s Roadhouse (post-security) near Gate 10.

There will be five performances, one each day, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Here’s the 2012 Kid Band Week line:

Monday: Mikah Young (Singer Songwriter)

Tuesday: Broch Evans and Greyson Weedman from the band Taco and the Enchiladas (Tunes You Know)

Wednesday: Charlie Belle (So Pop)

Thursday: The Aviators (Rock and Roll)

Friday: The Peterson Brothers (Down Home Blues)

 

Airport or night club? Fresh tunes at Sea-Tac Airport

Seattle is not just a great place to drink coffee, it’s a great place to make and hear music.

And you shouldn’t have to wait until you’re in the city to start your aural adventure.

That’s why I’m delighted to learn that this weekend Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
will be kicking off the Sea-Tac Airport Music Initiative.

The program will include overhead music featuring local artists such as Fences, Beat Connection and Allen Stone, along with local legends ranging from Ray Charles to Heart and Nirvana.

There will also be safety and informational announcements read by local musicians such as Ben Gibbard, LeRoy Bell, Macklemore, Jerry Cantrell and Sir Mix-A-Lot, and video segments on the terminal monitors.

But wait, there’s more:

The project will include a web-based music player available via the airport’s free WiFi and an Android mobile app, that will offer links to the music playlist, videos and local concert listings. (iPhone, Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry apps should be coming soon.)

It’s going to be party-time all the time at Sea-Tac.  So I hope the TSA doesn’t start pulling people out of line for dancing.

I’ll have lots more information shortly, but in the meantime, here’s a video of some of the music you’ll likely hear.