Detroit Free Press Ellen Creager column

Source: Detroit Free PressNov.mini storage 07--At Detroit Metro Airport, where far-out is never far away, don't just trudge grimly through security gates toward your destination. Have a psychedelic experience. Eat at the fastest Wendy's in town. Listen for a song.Those flashes of purple and red? They're a trip on the way to your trip.Metro was ranked the third best airport in the U.S. last year by Travel & Leisure magazine, and with good reason.It has one of the most beautiful airport terminals in the world -- the sleek, stainless-steel McNamara Terminal. While the 5-year-old, $431-million North Terminal may be newer, McNamara is the one with high-end features most terminals can only dream of. They are luxuries, really, created in the pre-9/11 days by Northwest Airlines when it spent $1.2 billion on a facility that included features that had nothing to do with flying and everything to do with grandeur and architectural boldness.McNamara is now 11 years old, but it still looks as sleek as a Prada shoe. To transit McNamara, home of Delta Air Lines, is to feel as if you are going somewhere important.Get to McNamara early and experience:-- The Psychedelic Tunnel: The airport calls it the Light Tunnel, but anyone who has been through it knows its groovy waving lights ambiance is like being inside a 1960s lava lamp.Connecting the A concourse with the B/C concourse at McNamara, the 700-foot tunnel features moving walkways and banks of glass panels created by Foxfire Glass in Pontiac. Behind the glass are 9,000 feet of LED lights, which are synchronized and change colors -- purple, red, green, yellow -- as the zen-like music plays.If you have a few minutes before your flight, take the kids through the tunnel and back -- or just go by yourself.-- The birds:儲存They're the real frequent fliers at Metro. Since the terminal opened 11 years ago, airport officials have diligently attempted to get rid of the sparrows and starlings living inside and perching in the rafters. You can hear bird calls sometimes, which actually are recorded owls and hawk sounds designed to scare away the songbirds.-- The fountain: Technically, it is called a "water feature" in the center of the McNamara Terminal. The black granite fountain, designed by WET Design (designer of the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas) has 45 jets that shoot streams of water in patterns.-- The giant bamboo: One of the most beautiful hotel lobbies in Michigan is part of the McNamara Terminal. Go to the far end of the terminal and down the escalator into the lobby of the the Westin Detroit. Towering stands of bamboo and tropical trees create a quiet hideaway. A pond in the center, a bar and the small Dema restaurant dot the massive lobby. A good area for dozing, waiting, meeting friends or feeding a baby.-- Dining: The people at Metro Airport who work hard to get top restaurants into the terminals probably will sigh heavily when they read this, but other than the beautiful, elegant Musashi Japanese restaurant (soba noodles are a perfect pre-flight meal), my favorite places are the curvy counter at National Coney Island ("one with heavy chili") and and the fastest Wendy's on the planet in the B/C Concourse, where manager Bryan Wegryzn and his speedy staff process 2,400 orders a day, often in seconds, to the delight of travelers in a hurry, shouting out numbers with gusto as the orders come up: "33! 34!"Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Detroit Free Press Visit the Detroit Free Press at .freep.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉