Architecturally it’s one of my favorite places in Northern Virginia. Realistically, it is not people-first. It’s been a nightmare every time I’ve tried to go through, because no matter how much they try to bring down the sensory load of the place, they just can’t. It’s like being trapped in Costco levels of noise, and my nervous system feels like it’s on fire. It’s cognitive dissonance to want to go there just so you can see the building….. while also wishing you were the only one there.
Saarinen built a masterpiece but I am betting there is no pulla inside. Please advise. I live in Baltimore, I’m not curious enough to battle 95 to find out. There wasn’t any the last time I was there, let’s put in that way.
DCA (National) and BWI (Thurgood Marshall) are my preferred airports because they are human-sized. I could also take the Metro from Silver Spring to DCA or get a ride to BWI if one of my friends was free. When I lived in Silver Spring, I didn’t have a car, so it was easier to pay more for the airline ticket than the Uber. Use the airport that’s already part of the infrastructure. Now, I just park at one of the hotels around BWI and get a shuttle.
Of course, now that I have a car, I can use any airport I want. I don’t want a long drive back when I land, so picking the absolute cheapest price is weighing how much I’m willing to haul myself two hours from Dulles to Baltimore. Even a Park & Ride in the DMV is “a long way” compared to BWI. So, most of the time I don’t “comparison shop.”
I also really like other human-sized airports like Hobby. Getting lost in Intercontinental is not my vibe, nor has it ever been. There are just some flights you cannot take from Hobby, and it is not as easy to me to navigate as places like DFW, which is less like one big airport and more like several small towns.
I feel like spiritually, I should be able to navigate Intercontinental. I grew up in Houston, I’ve been there many, many times. Apparently, it was so traumatic I blocked it out or something because my brain bluescreens as soon as I step off the plane. I cannot rush through the airport at any time, but especially that one……
No. Wait. McCarran is the FINAL BOSS of auditory overload. The slot machine noise is obnoxious and it is designed to be because they definitely want you to spend money.
It’s okay if your connection is 30 minutes- you’re probably playing and it’s novel. If you have to sit next to the same machine for four hours, a frontal lobotomy just seems like good medical sense.
Charles De Gaulle (CDG) made me feel like I was losing my mind. The absinthe had set in and I hadn’t even had any. Just spiral after spiral that disoriented me in the worst way, but at least my dad was with me, I had a touchstone. We had a great time in Paris, but I will never forget “spinning” through miles of walkways, not being sure of any direction but “up” or “down.”
So there isn’t really one best overall, but I will say that both BWI and HOU feel like my “home airports.” My center of gravity has moved away from DCA, so even though it’s a good place to get a half smoke on the way, I just have to hope they decide to put a Ben’s Chili Bowl in at Marshall as well.
I will have to see what’s up with my dad because he might want to go to DC for a day. I know he’s here for four days, but we haven’t planned any nuts and bolts. The good news is that it’s cool this morning, so I hope the trend continues. It will be a good break for him from Houston’s heat if it stays like this- 58F at 7:00 in the morning. It will get hot during the day, but Houston does not get the relief overnight that we do.
Plus, you really have to get out to Galveston to feel the Gulf air at its best, which is why I want to take my dad to Annapolis. It’s the part of Maryland that reminds me of that salt air vibe…. and when it rains, the grey makes the green pop out in hundreds of shades that you didn’t really know were there, so you sit with your coffee looking out the window with the kind of look on your face that says, “I didn’t even know I liked rain.”
Stories That Are All True 