Sacramento International Airport

Love the layover: Easter Bunny Fly-in

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Hoping to see the Easter Bunny at the airport?

Travelers passing through Sacramento International Airport won’t get to see Lawrence Argent’s giant, 56-foot long fiberglass red rabbit until 2011, when the airport’s new Terminal B is scheduled to open.

red_rabbit

In the meantime, be on the lookout for a surprise Easter Bunny appearance at a major airport near you – or head on over to New Jersey’s tiny Solberg-Hunterdon Airport, about 35 miles west of New York City, where the Easter Bunny is scheduled to arrive by airplane for the annual fly-in family day.

bunny-balloon

And travelers who find themselves in or around Boston this holiday weekend might want to hop on over to the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge and take a gander at the egg-ceptional (non-chocolate) eggs in the museum’s “egg spiral.”

boston-egg

Egg specimens in the spiral range in size from a hummingbird egg the size of a coffee bean to the real, basketball-sized egg of the extinct elephant bird, or Aepyornis, which died out in Madagascar in the early 1700’s.

By the way: if this egg still had all its contents, it would hold approximately two and a half gallons – the equivalent of 180 hen’s eggs.

(Egg spiral photo by Adam Blanchette, courtesy Harvard Museum of Natural History)


Head to an airport for sales, Santas and songs

Deals, Holidays, Shopping, , , , ,

(Yummy stuff from Phoenix Sky Harbor Int’l Airport)

It may seem unnatural to blend a holiday shopping excursion with a trip to the airport, but this season many airports are working overtime to court you and your gift-buying dollars with prizes, promotions, festive décor, and lots of top-notch entertainment.

(A TSA choir -really- will perform at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport)

There are plenty of other reasons to shop for holiday gifts at an airport. Over the past few years, airports have been steadily upgrading the quality and variety of their concessions. Stores generally open early and close late to accommodate travelers’ wacky schedules. And many airports impose a “street pricing” policy, which means that the prices charged inside the airport must closely match the prices at local malls. Besides, if you travel by air, you’re already spending a lot of time hanging out in airports. So you may as well be merry while you multi-task.

Where are the best deals? At the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Sacramento International Airport you can pick up discount coupon books. Oregon’s Portland International Airport has a holiday festival with food sampling, demonstrations and a drawing for tickets on JetBlue. (You can enter on-line.) And check out the Frankfurt Airport’s Web site for a chance to win a big diamond.

There’s lots more information about airports offering holiday shopping specials and entertainment in my “At the Airport” column posted today on USAToday.com

Big bunny due in at Sacramento International Airport

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Heads up for rabbits.

OK, one big rabbit. One big, red rabbit.

According to the Mercury News, Sacramento county officials have just approved $767,000 to have artist Lawrence Argent make a 56 foot-long fiberglass rabbit for the new terminal at Sacramento International Airport.

“The rabbit, to be painted fire engine red, will look as if it’s jumping through the building’s four-story atrium toward the baggage claim area. It will be diving into a sculpted stone suitcase with a swirling liquid vortex on its surface.”

The big bunny is due to arrive in 2011, when the work on the new airport terminal is complete. For a preview though, you might check out some of Argent’s other big art works, including this 40-foot blue bear that peers into the Denver convention center.

Stuck at Sacramento International Airport? Grab a coupon book.

Shopping

Each year I gather up information about contests, promotions and events on tap for the holiday season at the nation’s airports. Since I end up doing most of my own holiday shopping at airports, it’s my way of maximize my shopping dollars.

But why wait? In researching this year’s airport shopping list, I came across a coupon book that’s valid at the Sacramento International Airport right now.

There’s no information about the booklet on the airport Web site, but I’ve been told that the current coupon book expires November 15 and is available at the Information desks and at participating merchants, including Nelson’s Books and News, the Massage Bar, butter London (manicures and pedicures), The Paradies Shops, InMotion Entertainment, Vino Volo, Lemon Grass Asian Grill, and the Noodle Bar.

After November 15th, look for the holiday edition of the coupon book at Sacramento International Airport – and be on the lookout for coupon books and special shopping offers at other airports around the country. I’ll be posting my expanded list soon, but if you know of anything in the works, be sure to let me know.

New exhibit at Sacramento International Airport

Art, Exhibits

Breweries, coffee grinders, drugstores and grocery stores were among the businesses that flourished in Sacramento, California during the post-Gold Rush era.

Now travelers can see an intriguing exhibit of fruit labels, store displays, advertising materials and other artifacts from that time at the Sacramento International Airport , (SMF).

The items are from the Sacramento Archives and Museum Collection Center (SAMCC) and are on display in Terminal B.

Photos courtesy: Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and the Sacramento Archives and Museum Collection Center.