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.
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:
Lobster cooking instructions
Tiny stuffed lobster souvenir
And my favorite:
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.
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 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.
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.
Admit it: you thought about getting one of JetBlue’s All You Can Jet travel passes and taking the month of September off to just zip around the country.
I did.
But while we were daydreaming the passes sold out.
The contest kicked off Tuesday morning at 10 am east coast time and end at 9:59 a.m. on Friday morning.
To enter, you’ll need to come up with something catchy and creative. Here’s what the folks at Boston Logan are looking for:
“Simply send us a “tweet” at www.twitter.com/bostonlogan with a haiku, limerick, verse of your choice, or image(s) explaining why you would like to visit destinations served by JetBlue and include the contest hashtag #AYCJBOS. Creativity counts. Limit one (1) entry per unique Twitter handle.”
Good luck! And please make those entries entertaining: I’m one of the judges for the All You Can Jet Boston contest and I’ll be looking through every entry on Friday afternoon.
In my msnbc.com column this week –Fresh airport amenities make the wait fly by – I offered a run-down of some of the programs and services air travelers can take advantage of this summer.
Using a touchscreen, customers choose a flavor (12 are available) and a mix-in. The machine then prepares and delivers the dessert. Boston Logan Airport has two MooBella machines installed: one is at Terminal C at the Back Bay Café (Gates 11-21); the other is at Lean & Green (Gates 40-42).
If you test it out, please send a report – and a photo.
What else is fresh and new at airports this summer?
Mimes among the entertainment at PHL this summer
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) now has free wireless and a Passenger Chillin’ Zone with sofas, tables, chairs, ottomans and foliage (Gate D-3). Throughout the summer, PHL is also hosting a Just Plane Fun program with live music, appearances by mascots from local sports teams, contests and other activities.
From now through the end of August, Miami International Airportis throwing weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) parties with a different theme each week. This weekend’s theme is Havana Nights, with domino tables, mojito demonstrations, a DJ, rumba dancing and cigar rolling. August 20-23 you’ll find a flamenco dance show, Latin food sampling and more.
Observation Deck at LAX now open on weekends
AtLos Angeles International Airport, theoutdoor observation deck on top of the Theme Building in the center of the airport is finally open. Closed since 9/11, and during the building’s $12.3 million renovation and earthquake retrofit, the deck is open weekends, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with free telescopes offering great views of arriving and departing aircraft, the airport grounds and the surrounding area. Pink’s, an iconic Hollywood hot dog stand, has also opened a branch in the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
AtOutagamie County Regional Airport (ATW) in Appleton, Wisconsin, they’re still lining up to get candy from the giant purple machine with flashing lights.
Located pre-security, the Willy Wonka candy machine is one of 25 such machines in the country (there’s one at the Mall of America) and is currently the only one at an airport.
Passengers had so much fun during the special events held at Vancouver International Airport during the 2010 Winter Olympics games that the airport decided to host Take-off Fridays festivals all summer, complete with face painting, DJs spinning music, prize drawings, meal specials and frees samples from a variety of airport shops.
And San Francisco International Airport is presenting You are Hear concerts again this summer. Performances take place every Friday through August 28th between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at three different stages in the airport. This week the line-up includes Quinteto Latino in the International Terminal, Lavay Smith & The Red Hot Skillet Lickers in the United hub and, in Terminal 1, Threeocracy. See the SFO website for the full season schedule.
Today, Thursday, February 25th, 2010, Ivar’s Seafood outlets in Washington and California are celebrating National Clam Chowder Day by offering a 2-for-1 deal on cups of chowder. Happily, the deal extends to the Ivar’s Seafood Bar at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). “The airport Ivar’s is open way longer than the Ivar’s in town,” an enthusiastic employee at the airport Ivar’s told me on the telephone on Wednesday, “So you can get that deal starting at 4:30 in the morning.”
You’d think they’d also be celebrating National Clam Chowder Day over in Boston, where the Legal Sea Foods chain is well represented at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). But no. Via Twitter, the folks at Logan Airport told me,that there was “nothing planned. But we can tell you clam chowder is an airport favorite…and available in every terminal at BOS!”
