As an avid traveler and west-coast transplant who is lucky enough to travel home to NY a few times a year – I am no stranger to airports.  I have run from one end of Chicago O’Hare to the other (only slowing to enjoy the underground laser light show) more times than I care to recount.  I have been re-directed, put up in hotels, paid-off for my seat and had my bags lost while in Europe for just a week. Earlier this year a flight to Amsterdam with a stop-over in Chicago resulted in additional stop-overs in Philadelphia and Manchester, England – a 24-hour flight adventure.  The combination of crabby travelers, relentless and often mind-boggling security procedures, utterly confused seniors and over-energized kids, all crammed into a prison-like mall makes the airport an unlikely place to look forward to.  That is, unless, you happen to be in Portland, Oregon.

I Look Forward To Going To PDX Airport

Whereas the requirement to arrive an hour or two early for the airport is one of those frustrating rush-and-wait situations, I actually give myself more than enough time to hit up PDX.  My flight this evening leaves at 10pm – but I actually got here at 7:30.  Why not?  I’m sitting at the Rogue, having a delicious beer and enjoying one of their mouth-watering bacon-swiss burgers.  The ‘Brutal Bitter’ is a spectacular pre-flight pint and absolutely crushes the typical 20-ounce of corporate swill with optional side-shot served at most over-priced “bars” in airports around the US.

Getting to PDX couldn’t be easier.  I basically walked four blocks from our studio over to the MAX line and took the red line all the way out here.  $2… sit down… 35 minutes later I’m at the airport.

And how and I’m writing this blog post?  Am I spending $9.95 for 2 hours of internet access?  NOPE…  FREE WIFI at PDX Airport!  I’m assuming they are aware they could charge for this – that they could join all the other airports in this country in sucking you dry of every last penny by forcing you to provide your credit card to some unknown entity.  My guess is that someone in the organization must have said, “Yah – but that would be a really shitty thing to do.”  And so PDX provides you internet at THEIR cost.  This allows me to get work (ie blog posts) completed while I await my plane – and another reason why getting to PDX early makes sense.

Best Non-PDX Airport Bar

I think of all the bars I’ve waited for planes in, my absolute favorite would be a little Irish bar called Murphy’s Irish Pub located just beside gate D10 in Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol).  I discovered it the first time when returning to the States after my 2-month stay in Barcelona. I returned for another cold pint in May when visiting Dublin and the bartender actually remembered me – now that’s a solid bar!  You literally feel like you’ve not only left the airport, but also Holland when you walk into this classic pub.  A good selection of Irish brews and always an interesting person to strike up a conversation with at the bar.

Worst Airport Artwork:

SERIOUSLY?  George Bush Sr. in bronze, looking like Clark Kent trying to find a phone booth.  The first time I saw this ridiculous statue at Houston Airport, I thought perhaps our former joke of a President had been frozen in carbonate like some sort of cold-hearted Republican Han Solo.  Of course Houston is Bush country – and this ain’t no joke.  Bush is the real deal and all man (regardless of what his casually curving legs might suggest).  I stopped to take a photo of this amazing work – and then realized folks looking at me taking this photo probably couldn’t discern that I was finding this work ridiculous, rather than trying to capture a great moment in my life.

Most Bizarre Way To Get Around An Airport

By far the oddest way to get around an airport occurs in Dulles Airport in Washington DC.  They call them the “Mobile Lounge Transports” – but I call them the really weird rooms that slowly roll across the parking lot.  First off – a lounge should have drinks – or at the very least good lighting. This is not a lounge.  This is like a large elevator that goes sideways.  A hallway would have probably worked better – but the rocket scientists at Dulles decided to create these outrageously large and completely bizarre contraptions to carry folks around their horribly laid-out airport. If you’re going to waste my time getting from A to B in an airport – it better be a monorail!  This is no monorail.

Filed under: Portland, Travel by gspies
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