Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Tune in to these airport podcasts

Airport guides, , , , ,
Courtesy Library of Congress

Airport podcasts

If you like airports and podcasts, then you should probably be listening to airport podcasts.

We’re not sure we have them all, but we’re starting to put a list together. Let us know what we’re missing,

Here’s what we have so far.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) is hosting a new podcast called the Austin Approach. They kicked it off just in time to dig into some unusual weather issues, such as snow.

Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) hosts Carolina Traveler. Season one episodes highlight attractions and activities in Greenville and Spartanburg Counties, as well as GSP’s economic impact on the Upstate.

At Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), airport CEO Chellie Cameron has been sharing news about the airport in Chellie’s Podcasts.

The podcast from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) is called The Fly Angle. Episodes so far have covered how the airport attracts new air service, shopping at the airport, aircraft noise, and where to find great craft beer at the airport.

Fresh food & drink options at Raleigh-Durham and St. Louis airports

Food, , , ,

NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. has teamed up with HMSHost to open the Whisky River restaurant and bar at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

The menu looks suitably honky-tonkyish, with Spicy Beef Chili, Beer Can Chicken, Texas Tequila Bacon Cheddar Burger and (for breakfast) Peaches & Cream Pancakes and Carolina Biscuits.

But what really makes this spot a nominee for airport amenity of the week is the fact that there’s a wall covered in belt buckles, live music six days week and a ‘made-for-selfies’ stationary bull that passengers may sit on.

Meanwhile, Three Kings Public House has opened in Terminal 2 (by Gate E33) in St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL).

The popular St. Louis-based pub honors three kings – Elvis, Henry VIII and King Kong – has three locations in town and at this fourth ‘streamlined’ airport branch will be serving pub food, house-made infused liquors, local craft brews and an extensive list of specialty beers including the Three Kings Dry Hopped Blonde Ale, made by 4 Hands just for these pubs.

Enjoy!

Books, Shopping, , , ,

A rare and much-loved amenity at Raleigh=Durham International Airport is closing this week after serving passengers for almost 34 years.

2nd ed. Booksellers – a used bookstore located post-security at RDU – is closing it doors on December 31 after 33 and half years at the airport.

“It is quite sad to see it go, but it is time to retire as I have arthritis issues that strongly recommend that I stop lifting and toting boxes of books,” owner Walter High, who operates the store with his wife Karen, wrote on the store’s Facebook page. “We will miss our faithful customers and RDU will lose one of its most unique aspects. A used bookstore behind security at the airport doesn’t happen anywhere else in the US that we know of.Thank you all for your support over the years!”

RDU’s used bookshop was a favorite with travelers and a rarity at an airport. Two other airports have bookstores (that I know of) that also sell used books: Renaissance Book Shop at Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport and a branch of Powell’s Books (selling new and used books) at Portland International Airport.” But these are pre-security.

Terminal 2 at RDU

Air Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Architecture, Art, Events,

Terminal 2 Raleigh Durham Airport

When Continental Airlines and US Airways begin operating from Concourse D on Sunday, January 23rd, Raleigh-Durham International Airport will have completed the construction of Terminal 2.

Concourse C opened in October, 2008 and now everyone gets to move freely through a lovely new one million square foot building that has 40 shops and restaurants, 36 gates and eight works of art and architecture.

New venues include Carolina Vintages, a wine bar offering North Carolina wines and produce,  Jason’s Deli, Five Guys Burgers & Fries and Flavours, a gourmet market.

New shops include Brighton Collectibles, PGA Tour Shop, Hudson News and 2nd Ed. Booksellers, a locally-based used bookstore.

The eight works of art include Robert Kushner’s Welcome, installed along the arrivals corridor;

Lydia Rubio’s Gate of Air, the companion pieces to Gate of Earth, which was installed in 2008;

RDU_Lydia Rubio's Gate of Earth

Gate of Earth, by Lydia Rubio

Mei-ling Hom’s Cloudscape and Ed Carpenter’s Triplet.

Carpenters Triplet is the large sculpture with wood masts and dichroic glass and LED lighting suspended from stainless steel cables in the atrium.

Fresh art at Raleigh-Durham Airport

Air Travel, Art,

Terminal 2 RDU Ed Carpenter Triplet

There’s fresh art at Raleigh-Durham International Airport: Triplet, by Ed Carpenter, was just unveiled as the centerpiece of the Terminal 2 central atrium.

“The piece captures the two themes behind the design of the terminal: handmade and mind made. It also incorporates glass, wood and steel, which are the three major components of the building…. Wood masts, tipped with dichroic glass and LED lighting, are suspended from stainless steel cables. The sculpture creates triangular forms on the ceiling and floor that suggest the Research Triangle Region.”

The first phase of the RDU’s Terminal 2 opened at the end of October. When completed, in January 2011, the terminal have eight pieces of art, 36 boarding gates, 10 security checkpoint lanes and be home to seven of the airport’s 10 major airlines.

RDU is no stranger to great art. Here’s a link to some of RDU’s great pieces – some dating back to 2002 – that have been installed elsewhere in the airport.

Great spots for plane-spotting

Air Travel, Observation Decks, Planespotting, , , , ,

I recently put together a USATODAY.com column highlighting some of the observation decks at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI), and other North American airports.

Minneapolis - Observation deck - wide

Today I’ve got a column about plane-spotting sites outside airport terminals.

The sites listed range from Millbrae, California’s Bayfront Park, which offers great views of take-offs and landings at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), to Gravelly Point near Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (DCA), and a few unusual but, we’re assured, legal spots nearby Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).

For a photo-gallery and a list of other highly-recommended plane-spotting sites  around the country, please see the full column on USATODAY.com.

RDU Observ Park - courtesy RDU Airport

(Raleigh-Durham International Airport’s Observation Park)

And of course, please share your favorite plane-spotting sites.

Signature Art at Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Art, Exhibits

Last year, when North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham International Airport had an open house to let the public see the new Terminal 2 building, they asked everyone who stopped by to sign their name to a sheet of paper.  Artist Dunne Dittman later took those signatures and turned them into a piece of art – Signature Art – by scanning each name and having it etched into a piece of 6 ft. by 4 ft sea foam glass,

RDU SIGNATURES

The work was unveiled last Friday at RDU’s annual Customer Appreciation Day and is now in its permanent home in the window front of the Heritage Room in the Terminal 2 ticketing lobby.

There’s lot more art at RDU: take a look.

Free gifts and music at Raleigh-Durham Int’l Airport on Customer Appreciation Day

Contests, Entertainment, Events, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff,

North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) is having a party this Friday (October 9th, 2009) as part of the airport’s annual Customer Appreciation Day.  On the agenda: free music, free gifts, and a chance to win free airplane tickets and other prizes.

party

During the event, The Shops of RDU restaurants will offer samples of  signature menu items, specialty retail shops will hand out giveaways items, and some airlines will hold drawings for free tickets.

The event, which is part of National Customer Service Week, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the airport’s parking garage atrium.

balloons

But wait… there’s more!  The TSA, the USO, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other organizations and agencies will have exhibits, there’ll be live Calypso and Dixieland jazz music, and there will be drawings for gifts from airport shops.

Don’t you wish every day was Customer Appreciation Day?

Tidbits for travelers: Cashless cabins, clothes-free CEOs, and goopy garages

Fun Stuff, , ,

Cashless:

credit-card-imageOn Monday, June 1st, American Airlines becomes the latest airline to go cashless. If you’re flying on an American Airlines flight in the continental U.S. or on a flight to or from Hawaii, Alaska and Canada and want to buy headsets, meals, snacks or alcoholic beverages, you’ll need a credit card to do so.

The new policy does not apply to American Eagle or AmericanConnection flights; there, it’s still cash only.

Clothes-free

Air New Zealand is getting a lot of attention for this fun commercial in which the airline’s CEO and several employees are pretty much naked.  They’ve got clothes painted on, so at first glance they don’t look naked. But they are. The  “making of” video is also fun to watch.

Goopy garages

rdu-goop

According to an article in the News & Observer, some cars left in the parking garage at Raleigh-Durham International Airport have been getting slimed. The airport can’t quite figure out where the goop has been coming from, or what’s in it, but since 2004 the airport has spent more than $20,000 reimbursing parking garage customers who have had to repaint gunk-splattered cars.

Travel tidbits: DVD’s, flying pets and siestas

Art, Pets, ,

Starting June 1st, you’ll be able to rent DVDs for $1 a day at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) from one of those Redbox self-service kiosks that have been popping up at supermarkets and, increasingly, airports.

joplinWoof! Pet Airways,which I wasn’t so sure would make it to market, has announced that it’s been cleared for take-off and is now taking reservations – for pets only – between a bunch of cities beginning in June.  Fares for Fido: $149 each way. Let me know if your pet has a seat reservation so I can write about it.

mia-siesta-oneAnd beginning April 30, Miami International Airport (MIA) kicks off a new series of exhibitions in its top-notch art program.  The first exhibition in the Hand Made series will be Siesta, featuring forty ceremonial hammocks and bags by the Wayuu people from the region of La Guajira in northern Colombia. There will also be photographs documenting the Wayuu way of life. Siesta will be on display through October 31, 2009 in the South Terminal Gallery at MIA’s Terminal J.

mia-siesta-two