The Airport

Last night I had occasion to visit the Dane County Regional Airport - I wasn't flying, but seeing off an unaccompanied minor, which means I got to have an experience that is extremely rare these days: I got to go upstairs and wait for the plane, then watch it take off from the boarding area.

I remember doing this when I was a kid. What fun it was to ride to the airport, and either wait by the gate for our arriving family member, or be there to drop them off. And if it was me traveling, knowing my family would be there when I walked off the plane. These days it's goodbyes downstairs and then a trip through security, then wait by your lonesome. What fun is that?

There was a line at the ticket counter, which is highly unusual in my experience with this flight. We made it through with just a few minutes to spare, or so we thought. The woman at the counter neglected to mention that our flight was DELAYED. By two hours. So instead of running around outside for a bit, or even going to get dinner, we ended up having dinner in the terminal.

It wasn't so bad, actually.

The DCRA has several food choices on the second floor, past the security area. As is the standard, most of the eats were overpriced. A slice of pizza from the Unos will run you around $6, a sub from the Quiznos about the same. We ended up eating at The Great Dane, which was actually not too bad, nor too grotesquely priced. It was a mitzvah. Our group had the Chicken Pot Pie, Weber Street Chicken Salad and a bowl of Tomato bisque. Everyone was happy with their grub. The booth (with long, cushy benches) gave our dinner an intimacy that is hard to come by in the airport. Having a chance to eat some food off of a table with a real fork was very nice as well. And the specialty brew of the day (I forget the name, but it was very very hoppy), was refreshing.

I was happy to notice the Ancora coffee stand across the hall from the Great Dane. I'm not sure how good a deal it is for the local business to have space in the terminal; all of the food concessions (and likely the gift shops) are run by a single company, the Compass Group. Having a presence there seems a very positive thing for those business. Now we just need to replace the Ben & Jerry's with a Chocolate Shoppe, and the Unos with a Glass Nickel, and all will be well...

The terminal building, which has been under construction for several years, seemed to be done. I remember walking through construction areas with bare bulbs overhead just about a year ago, so it was pretty impressive to see everything so tidy. Although the site says Phase 3 isn't yet done (although it seems no one has bothered updating the site for over two year?!?), I do believe what I saw yesterday indicates a finished Phase 3...
Ah, further searching reveals that indeed, the $65-million project is complete.

As far as the building itself, it is quite comfortable and nice to look at. While I don't know much about Praire-style or what it really means to be Frank Lloyd Wright-y, this is what Madison Magazine had to say:

"It's hard not to notice the luxurious feel of the place -- the granite wainscoting, cherrywood trim, gleaming floor mosaics and soft leather seating. There's even a cozy "meeters and greeters" lounge with a fireplace at the bottom of the new central checkpoint. Look to the huge, vaulted ceiling as you move up or down the escalators and find classic and classy Prairie-style chandeliers, one of many odes to Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural aesthetic found throughout the remodeled Dane County Regional Airport."

You can get good coffee and good beer there, the bathrooms are really nice, and the seats are comfy enough. Like I said, not so bad.