Arrival

New Year, New Airport

There are two forces in the world (maybe you’ve heard of them): good and evil. For every shadowy corner there’s a sunlit path. For every hunk of granite a floating feather. For every…daytime a…nighttime. And for every Los Angeles International Airport there is a Hollywood Burbank Airport.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A gorgeous airport on a gorgeous day! Terminal one, at Hollywood Burbank (Bob Hope) as a majestic Southwest flight takes off in the distance. It’s practically quaint! (source)

That’s right. To leave this city you don’t always need to descend directly into hell. Instead, you can cross the rolling brown hills of Griffith Park to love and light. It doesn’t always work out (salvation is not easy)—sometimes depending on your flight time, your destination, and your budget, LAX is your only option. But occasionally God shines their golden light on your journey and you find a seat on Southwest in your price range.

Why is the Hollywood Burbank airport so wonderful? Because it is small, and it is close to my house. There are no jet bridges. You walk up stairs to your plane, like a president or a movie star. One of the baggage claims is outside, a phenomenon that makes you think, “Wow, I’m really in California.” Its full name is “Hollywood Burbank (Bob Hope)” which feels right, because we all love Bob Hope (even though he was bigamist, but who wasn’t in those days, in this town). There are only a few restaurants, and they’re all terrible, but who cares? You aren’t at LAX.

On the first day of 2024 I arrived back in this fair city at the Hollywood Burbank (Bob Hope) Airport. Sleep deprived, I glided down the special airplane stairs into sixty degree weather as jet-fuel hit my nostrils, ready to claim the ten thousand bags waiting for us at the baggage claim (the inside one, but close enough to the door to practically be outside). What a way to begin!