Mon 07.17.06 - I really do like airports. I may be the only human on the planet who so enjoys them that I offer to drive 2.5 hours each way to take a friend to the airport just to go see an airport I haven't been to before.

The Shannon Airport in western Ireland is a great 1970s single terminal airport, with some recent additions. It reminds me of a better version of the original John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, CA.

I like the hustle and bustle of airports. I love the comings and goings. I love to see all the folks and imagine all the places they are going. At the Shannon Airport this morning, I loved the high ceilings, the old parking lot with its bright yellow NO EXIT signs, the second story restaurant with its 1960s styled wood, chrome & leather modernist tables and banquettes, and the fact that the departures were on the left (west) side of the single story, single terminal building, and the arrivals were on the right (east) side of the building. In the middle was the Best Part of the Whole Airport, a good thorough book store.

A good book store makes for a great airport. The places people will travel and the books they will read. Now there is Ms. Jen's idea of paradise...