Thursday, May 25, 2017

Flying Away

I preface this entry by writing I know that the old terminal building at Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport has outlived its usefulness, and it had to go.  Everything has a shelf life.  The expiration date on the old building has arrived.  It's demolition time.

I am very sorry to see that building go.


It was an occasional destination on Sunday afternoons with the family when I was a kid.  There was a burger or a slice of pie in the airport restaurant, which had huge windows looking out on to the runways.  Then, it was upstairs to the observation deck to watch planes arrive and depart.  It was a nice way to kill a couple of hours.  I can still see that restaurant-- a line of stools at a counter, a long series of booths on the window side.  I can still see the airline signs-- Eastern, Altair, Allegheny...  If memory serves, it cost a dime to get through the turnstiles up on the observation deck.  I don't think I ever paid.

Even when I got older, old enough to drive, friends and I would occasionally venture up there for a little plane watching, and a lot of life planning.

Obviously, things changed.   Security.  Tight security.  No views of the runway.  No observation deck.  Airports aren't fun.  They're not designed that way.

Below, the old and the new.


Still, you can look back on safer and simpler times, and smile at the memory.