If you've been in an airport and ONLY the airport in a state, does that count as having visited

[raccoon]

the state?

[Richardo]

1. Yes.

In my book, you cross the state line, it counts. :thumbsup:

[TZ]

2. Yep.

Just as much as merely driving through a state on the way to someplace else...

[nickgutierrez]

3. I'd be inclined to say no.

To me, "visited" means that you stopped long enough to take a look around. If you never set foot outside of an airport*, there's no real way you could have looked around.

* I'd say the same thing about driving a car through a state on the way to another place.

[JonLP24]

20. Does it count if you step outside the airport to smoke a cigarette and go back inside when you're

done? I'd say no. The St Louis airport however has those death boxes. A glass room covered in smoke which is a designated smoking area. I'm a smoker but would never go into one unless I already bypassed security checkpoints.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. Depends on your use of the word "visit"

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/visit

not the first recognized use of the word. No.

3. to come or go to:

[bigwillq]

5. Yes.

And what I say goes! :P ;) :)

[Deep13]

6. No, it's not a destination. nt

[peekaloo]

7. Did you buy a tacky souvenir?

If so, yes. }(

[DarkTirade]

8. If the answer is yes, then I've been to Texas. If not, I haven't.

I've been through Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. But only to switch flights. :)

[Chan790]

9. Having spent an eternity in Houston one week...

you're not missing anything. The best part of the trip was leaving.

[hobbit709]

12. Houston doesn't count.

At the Texas Chili Parlor here in Austin they used to have a big jar with a sign on it
"Environmental Protection Fund"
"All your donations will go to building an escape proof fence around Houston."

[kentauros]

38. You didn't have the right guides, then.

houstonpress.com - restaurant guide

[Chan790]

42. It was a business conference...

the only thing we did do was eat at fancy restaurants. My coworker and I wandered around the city for 4 hours on a Saturday afternoon around 5ish during our only free time and found the defunct Enron building and nothing was open and saw maybe 40 people total. For a "10 largest US cities" city, it was a ghost town. We ended up going to a movie at the Angelika.

[kentauros]

46. You have to go underground to see anything, and "downtown" Houston

is only open for "business hours" (Mon-Fri, breakfast and lunch-only.) Thus the link to the Houston Press. We have a very large city here to explore ;) There are some downtown clubs and restaurants, but they are few and far between. Venture out into the rest of the Greater Houston Area for what you missed.

Houston also has the second-largest Indian population in the country, a huge Middle Eastern population, Russians, Latinos, Cubans, Venezuelans, you name it. The cuisines are almost endless. And as mentioned, we have some wonderful museums and collections. Check out Houston Press and you'll see more :)

[Heidi]

39. Then you clearly didn't get to The Menil Collection, including the Cy Twombly Gallery,

in Houston.

http://www.menil.org/collection/CyTwomblyInDepth.php

[Chan790]

45. No, I never made it to any museums.

If I make it back, I might check it out.

[Heidi]

48. Call Me Wesley and I have absoluty no reason to visit Houston. Outside of DU, we

don't know anyone in Texas -- but if we come home this year, The Menil will be worth a drive to Houston, just for the Twombly Gallery and the Rothko Chapel. :)

[kentauros]

53. Then we'll take you to see the Orange Show and the Art Car Museum and Parade

:D

[charlie and algernon]

15. that's with Georgia for me

I switched flights in Atlanta. If it counts, I've been to Georgia.

[Iggo]

16. +1

I've been to DFW, but I've never set foot in Texas.

[raccoon]

21. That's the way it is with me & Minnesota (Minneapolis airport, where else?).

And Ohio (Cincinnati airport). and Washington (Spokane airport).

[cwydro]

10. Only if your last name is Palin. nt

[begin_within]

26. For the win!

[MrCoffee]

11. No.

[3.14158675309]

14. You're just being a contrarian, aren't you?

[tabbycat31]

13. I would say no

For example, I've had layovers in Chicago, but have never been to IL otherwise. I don't count that state as one I have visited.

I'd say driving through is different because you get to see the scenery (even if it's just highways and rest stops) more than an airport would allow

[SoxFan]

17. No

Airports are a weird Forbidden Zone.

I've changed planes at CVG a million times, but I would never claim to have visited Kentucky. Kentucky is horses, mint juleps, coal mines, and kick-ass basketball, not a food court and the Comair gates.

[Gormy Cuss]

18. Only if you were stranded over night.

[JonLP24]

19. I don't think so. I never tell people I've been to Germany or Iceland

when in fact we just stopped at those airports for the plane to refuel. The reason why I say that is because we never got the opportunity to walk around and experience the culture. I think Iceland has one airport. The airport in Germany was the frankfurt-hahn airport. I must say though Germany is quite beautiful and it's style is unique to what we have in America from flying above Germany. Lots of windmills that I saw. For that matter I never been to Atlanta, just the airport other then that whenever a plane lands somewhere either I'm going there or I've already been inside the state as I usually travel along the west coast.

[Kali]

22. can't be any worse than driving through and only stopping at highway intersections with the same

chain restaurants. I mean is Denny's or IHOP different in other states?

[jobycom]

37. Not so. If you are driving through, at least you are encountering local people, and scenery.

And yes, I can tell you from experience that IHops and Denny'ses vary from state to state.

[Kali]

44. by those standards the aiport would count too

[jobycom]

49. Well, there's no controlling legal authority to say otherwise, but I don't see it.

IMHO, in an airport you are mostly going to meet travellers and you're not going to see any landscape or architecture outside of the building, so it's not much different than flying overhead in a plane. Driving across a state, you're going to at least view the scenery. I've spent longer stranded in a Denver airport than I spent driving through Deleware, but I feel more like I've been to Deleware than to Colorado.


Set your own rules, though, life is all about perception. :)

[DS1]

23. If you don't get through customs in a different country, and are simply switching planes

I don't think that would count. So stopping in a state and looking out the window shouldn't count either.

[petronius]

24. No - you have to put both feet on teh ground and perform a clear, location-specific,

non-travel-related action. Otherwise, you're just in transit, not visiting.

IMO, that is... :)

[applegrove]

25. I had a friend in college. She used to be dropped off at the airport and fly to university. Her baby

sister, about 4 years old, thought the airport was the university. How cute is that!!!

[dysfunctional press]

27. when i visited the australian embassy in d.c., i was on austrailian territory...

so i've been there(and back), mate. oy.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

28. If you

spend money on an overpriced sandwich or beer or something to contribute to the local economy :)

[Tom Kitten]

29. When I flew from PDX to Boston I had a three hour layover at O'Hare

One of the most famous places in Illinois. I got accosted by a Hare Krishna who gave me a book and asked for a donation, I gave him the change I had in my pockets, ten cents, and he took the book back and left. I was 16 years old and wary, no way was I gonna pull money out of my sock to give him for a book I didn't want and had no interest in! I think I also ate a hamburger and French Fries there. I visited the shops there at O'Hare, the main airport of Chicago, but bought no souveniors. On arrival and takeoff I got to see the majestic Chicago skyline rimming the edge of the huge blue Lake Michigan...

So yes and no to have I visited Chicago, I have memories of the place and haggled with one of her fine citizens while there but unlike Elvis I never left the building!

[elleng]

30. Count for what reason?

REALLY having VISITED, or something else? Doesn't count as REALLY HAVING VISITED!

[Liberal_in_LA]

31. no

[Kickin_Donkey]

32. Nope ...

On a transcontinental trip, I once had a stopover at O'Hare, but I would never claim to have been to Illinois.

My opinion is that to say you've been somewhere, you have to have an impression of the place, although that criterium is not cut and dried. Airport terminals, which are hermetically sealed bubbles unto themselves, definitely don't count.

[stewartcolbert08]

33. I dont think so

and here is why. You can say that you have been to the state, sure! But I dont think that it counts as actually VISITING the state! Know what I mean jelly bean?! I was in Phoenix once for an hour layover on the way to Vegas so technically I have been there but I didnt actually visit the city.

[Jokerman]

34. I was stuck at Newark International once for 7 hours.

It sure felt like I visited New Jersey.

[LynneSin]

35. That's the only way I'll say I've been to Alabama - we had a layover there

then again I can now say I was to Guatamala too (layover from Costa Rica to Denver)

[jobycom]

36. I never include it in "What states have you been to?" discussions.

[kentauros]

40. Hell, I count it for countries, too.

I spent three hours in Australia, at the Sydney Airport, on April 20. I was never supposed to be there, but as rain in Houston forced me to miss my Auckland flight, I got to see the famous operahouse from the air as well as much of the rest of the city. I spent all of the rest of my time in a three-hour layover in the International Terminal ;)

[blueraven95]

41. only if it's the Las Vegas airport

otherwise I'd be inclined to say no.

:D

[JVS]

43. If not, I've never been to Scotland. Although I did have beer and shortbread at the airport pub.

[raccoon]

47. I tend to think it doesn't count. However, it occurs to me that suppose

you're arrested in an airport. You'd be tried in that state, wouldn't you?


(I guess the moral of this is, don't commmit crimes in an airport. Don't even get ARRESTED in an airport.)

[DemBones DemBones]

50. What if you have to de-plane and re-board on the tarmac?

Definitely outside the airport! And what about long delays that force you to sleep in the airport?

[SCantiGOP]

51. I say yes

that way I've visited all but 4 states: Alaska, Hawaii, and the Dakotas

[SacredCow]

52. I'd have to say no..... n/t

[Rambis]

54. If Failin counted it as a foreign policy trip you

should be ok to count it:toast:

[MajorChode]

55. What if you just flew over it and didn't stop?

Would that count?