Hi, friends!
What sorts of features are the key ones for you with a public space?
I spent some time in airports this week. For me, being able to find a reasonably uncrowded area to de-stress is more important than drinks or food or shops. But I have friends who prefer airports that have good food options and don’t mind being packed in like cattle before they even board.
The less people the better. I’d happily give up food for peace and quiet.
The flow in and out of a place is tops. Waiting in line is just awful for me.
I think a lot of designers think that building bottlenecks and confusion into a space makes people linger, like IKEA does. But I think if the things in a place are good, people will linger regardless.
Supposedly the Colosseum in Rome could be evacuated in minutes. On the other hand, parking lots for a lot of events can take hours to empty out even after the building is empty.
I gotta say, the Air France lounge at Charles De Gaulle has the DREAMIEST food.
I had some chocolate mousse I’m still dreaming of.
This has been my super bougie post.
Meg, your Mousse sounds AWESOME!!!😁😃🤗
My FAVORITE airport meal happened in NYC (JFK) back in 2012, when a former roommate & i were traveling back to MSP, from a trade show we’d worked for her company.
We *thought* we’d gotten tothe airport with LOTS of extra time, and had JUST put in an order at Todd English’s Bonfire restaurant, when we heard *our* fight number being called for boarding!😳😲😱
We quickly flagged down the server, to ask if there was any way we could get our food “to go,” or of we’d just have to pay for it & leave…
He managed to get it all changed over to “to go,” including our drinks!😁🤗🥰💖
So, instead of shitty airplane “snacks,” we managed to have Mimosas, French Toast with Berries & Maple syrup, AND bacon, for brunch on our flight!😉😂🤣
We *were* totally “those assholes” in a way (unintentionally!), and we had SO many folks in the surrounding seats asking “WHERE did you get that, it smells DIVINE!” and they were all stunned, when we explained that 1. It was airport food, 2. Bringing it on the plane was 100% not the plan--that we’d *meant* to have a leisurely brunch *at* the airport, but had misjudged our timing, and 3. We were even able to bring our DRINKS with, to consume *on* the plane–because we’d ordered them *in* the Terminal!
Basically, *multiple* of the folks around us told us THEY were going to “copy your idea!” and get food “to go” the next times they had to fly!😉😂💖
Since this is apparently “that time of year” that I deal with parental hospitalizations (Mom’s Toe Amputation was on October 25th-ish of 2013, Dad’s catastrophe/covid stay, thanks to his dementia *last year* was November 22nd, and October 22nd *this* year was the start of the latest round of it, with him!)…
My biggest suggestions/recs are 1. Fridges, Toasters, & Microwaves available for “Family Use” in hospitals, *and* “Guest Houses” or *at minimum* showering facilities within *walking distance* of your local hospitals💖💞💝
St. Cloud Hospital has the Gorecki Guest House, and it is an absolute godsend, when you’re exhausted, need a shower, and/or need a quiet, inexpensive, place to sleep!
https://www.centracare.com/locations/centracare-gorecki-guest-house/
They only charge a minimal amount per night (it was $45.00 a night, last summer), and if you just need a shower, to cook a meal, or to wash some clothes, while you’re waiting with your sick loved one, *those* things are free of charge, when referred by the hospital’s Social Workers💖💞💗 (I was able to shower over there, when Dad was at St. Cloud, recovering in the ICU, from that heart bypass surgery he had, back when he *somehow* managed to *not* have the Heart Attack, back in 2016).
Between the Fridges & Microwaves in the Family Lounges at St. Cloud, and the ones at North Memorial in Robbinsdale, I’ve become a massive fan of “Hospitals where families can eat *inexpensively* and relatively *healthily* while their loved one is sick.”
It takes SO much mental *and* financial stress off you, when you KNOW that you can run to Walmart/Target/the grocery store to grab some *inexpensive* food that meets your needs, and you don’t need to worry about spending *desperately needed* money!💝💖💞💫
I’m brewing beer now and I need to air out the house, and it suddenly occurs to me another one is fresh air and no big smells.
I don’t want to be hit with the stale beer smell of a stadium that hasn’t been hosed down in a while, or the smell of a Cinnabon in an airport or a Yankee Candle store in a mall.
Whatcha brewing? I have to time my brewing to when the family is gone or brew in the garage. I love the smell & the wife can’t smell but the kids bitch like crazy!
A bare bones IPA with Centennial and Amarillo hops. I wanted something easy to use up hops in the freezer I could knock out while my wife is off with her mom for the night.
1. Space. Even pre-pandemic, space was important to me.
2. Seating preferably with a backrest.
3. Shade.
I just spent 10 hours in layover time in Charlotte airport this month. Hated the crowds but the breweries & food options were nice.
I don’t fly. I mean, I will if I absolutely have to, but my Ridgeline pickmeup has heated seats with lumbar support and a kickass sound system. If I can go by land, that’s what I do.
On the other hand, I pick up my wife at airports a lot, and the little Roanoke field has little in the way of amenities. Dulles is OK, and I did have some decent barbeque at Charlotte if I remember correctly. My wife says Oslo is pretty decent.
rotterdam airport is nice
its tiny and the one bar thats there has a smoking allowed terrace thats so close to the planes you damn near need to duck when they take off
its wonderfull…
still charge airport prices for drinks tho
Agreed on the first class (Air Canada) lounge at Charles DeGaulle… Only time I flew business class for business back when they paid for shit like that.