One of the cool things about visiting Ann Arbor from southwest of town is that the drive takes a person past the Ann Arbor Municipal Airport at the corner of State Street and Ellsworth.

The airport is interesting for several reasons.  The first is that the approach to the runway cuts right over State Street.  On several occasions, I have driven right underneath a landing airplane. 

Another very cool aspect of the airport is that it is an official blimp landing pad.  Over the years, I have seen the Goodyear blimp 5 or 10 times and a variety of other blimps.  While researching this blog post, I tried to see if Goodyear ever published a flight schedule for the blimp.  And I couldn’t find one.  I’d bet that they keep that pretty secret for security reasons.

But I’d bet that during the weekend of an important football game in Ann Arbor, it would be a good time to drive by on the Friday night to see if the blimp is “sleeping” at the airport.

BTW, I took the above picture of the Outback Steakhouse blimp this past Friday evening on my way home from Ann Arbor.

Here’s a cool link to a story about blimp rivalry that took place at the Ann Arbor blimp port.

http://delldeaton.com/photos-blimps.htm

Here’s a blog from a guy who actually rode in the blimp.  I’ve got to come up with some kind of scam to get on one:)

http://ericnuzum.typepad.com/eric_nuzum_dot_com/i-rode-the-goodyear-blimp.html

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