Extreme Makeover: Springfield Edition

Midfield Terminal

A recent flight out of Springfield-Branson Regional Airport's new Midfield Terminal yielded the following exchange between my husband and I:

"Woh, it's like a real airport in here."
"Yeah, totally. Wait -- where's the bar?"
"Oh my God, there's no bar. There's no bar!?!"

Despite the panic (the bar will arrive in the fall with a McAllisters Deli. In the meantime there's a temporary kiosk selling beer and wine. Phew), the new terminal is quite swanky. Gone is the random fishing boat and the outdated ads for the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum at the baggage claim; here instead are vaulted ceilings, more spacious check-in counters, efficient security lines, bigger shops and a funky nature-themed carpet pattern. And the forthcoming bar. Oh the bar! While we'll miss that wee little "lounge" with the pizza of questionable naissance, jugs of wine and constant broadcasting of Fox News (maybe we won't miss that), we wait in breathless anticipation for the Bloody Marys that will greet us before our next (delayed) flight to Chicago. Fall can't get here soon enough.

Extreme Makeover quotient: 5 out of 5 Ty Penningtons