Let me start by saying that if you are planning your #playdate at the airport, there is not a lot of help on the internet about what to do while you are there.  In the end I took a bit from everyone and made up most of it on my own.  I made it more of a treasure hunt to be documented with selfies to cement the deal.  Here’s my treasure hunt list:

1)  Find the ugliest/craziest hat in the gift shop, put it on and take a selfie.  I didn’t have time on my way in, but I found it and took a picture on my way back into town…yuck!

2)  Take a picture of the departures board and pick a place you want to travel to.  I didn’t end up with any exotic options, but I chose Portland, Oregon because the guy I was talking to, David, suggested it because the house from Goonies is there…I would totally go see that!

3)  Find the craziest souvenir in the gift shop.  I chose beer stein looking salt and pepper shakers from Pasadena.  Are there people who would really buy beer stein looking salt and pepper shakers that say Pasadena on them??  Maybe I missed the memo.

4)  Take 2 Selfies with a stranger.  I chose David from the departures board, and this lovely flight attendant which brings me to the 5th item that I couldn’t bring into fruition…read on.

5)  Try and acquire a set of wings from the captain.  Remember those?  They would give them out to kids when they traveled.  Well, guess what?  They don’t have them anymore and haven’t had them for years according to this lovely flight attendant.  I asked her to think of something and she did!  She came back with a plastic cup, a napkin, a cookie, and pretzels and said it was the best she could do.  She gets an “A” for effort!!

6)  Find an airport sign that is laughable.  I found one!  In the Burbank airport there is a long stretch of red carpet that runs the length of the path of gates.  If you are paying attention you notice that it isn’t just for decoration, there is a purpose and a sign.  It tells you that the red carpet is supposed to remain clear of people…no loitering basically because it is meant to be used in an emergency only.  Really?  For what emergency?  A shooting where we all run for our lives?  A gas leak that again, has us running for our lives?  I guarantee that no one is going to be looking at that sign or the color of the carpet when that happens.  The best part?  No one was reading it.  There was one person (who moved before I got a picture)  sitting against the wall, on the red carpet, directly under the sign.  No joke.

7)  Take a picture of 5 pieces of artwork at the airport.  Burbank has a hall of art with Amelia Earhart!  So cool!  And Phoenix has an entire exhibit of crazy art there.  Do all airports have art?  I think so…the ones in the Dallas airport…all of the sculptures are pretty incredible.

8) Take a photo with a member of the airline staff or a security guard.  You should get extra points for the security guard…they are super paranoid!

9)  This is a freebie.  I just wanted to be on the look-out for something strange or weird that wasn’t already on my list.  I found it!  Flying Cats!  I sat down and talked to this poor lady who had both of her cats in small carriers and the cats were meowing like mad.  She told me she had already given them Xanax and it was having zero effect.  I took a video, laughed a bit, felt sorry for those poor cats (and their human mama) and chalked this one up as done!

10)  Two plane photos.  You saw my first one at the top looking over Burbank as I took off.  The other one was the best I could do from within the airport, but it totally counted!

Moral of the story…if you have an airport date…here’s the short list to cut and paste and print out.  It really was a lot of fun and required me to use my social skills and to be brave in talking with complete strangers, videoing flying cats, taking pictures of myself in crazy hats and taking a picture of the beer stein Pasadena salt and pepper shakers without the employee looking at me like I might shoplift at any moment.  Be adventurous!  Tell me about your latest #playdate below.  

1.  Find the ugliest/craziest hat in the gift shop, put it on and take a selfie

2.  Take a picture of the departures board and pick a place you want to travel to.

3.  Take a picture of the craziest souvenir in the gift shop.  Or buy it and give it to someone as your next white elephant gift at Christmas this year.

4.  Take 2 Selfies with a stranger.

5.  Try and acquire a set of wings from the captain.  (Let me know which airline you get this from because American Airlines isn’t doing it anymore…so sad!)

6.  Take a picture of an airport sign that is laughable.

7.  Take a picture of 5 pieces of artwork at the airport.

8.  Take a photo with a member of the airline staff or a security guard.

9.  Freebie!  Find something weird/strange/out of the ordinary that isn’t on your list.

10.  2 Plane Photos – One from inside the plane/One from the outside.