LIVERPOOL, England — Nobody visits a city to see an airport terminal. Nobody except me.
I've flown into Tempelhof in Berlin twice, making oddball connections just so I could sweep in over the rooftops just like the C-47s during the Berlin Airlift of the Cold War.
I've stayed out at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris for the sleek, Concorde-style Sheraton hotel, and at the hotel atop the man-made island of Kansai International Airport near Osaka, Japan.
I'll endure connections just to land at the Marine Terminal at New York's LaGuardia Airport. My favorite Southern California airport is the jammed art deco gem in Long Beach.
So you'll understand if on my recent stop in Liverpool, England, I wasn't so much looking forward to sites linked to those hometown boys, the Beatles, or the museum exhibits marking the 800th anniversary of the city or its role in the bicentennial of the slave trade.
No, I was there for the airport terminal. Not the terminal at the airport with planes. The old terminal. The closed one.
The Liverpool Marriott South isn't a very promising name. But the corporate moniker hides the reality of one of the more interesting (and reasonably priced) hotels in Britain. It's built within the shell of the old art deco terminal at what's locally referred to as "Speke Aerodrome." Along with Tempelhof Airport, it is considered one of the two best preserved pre-World War II airport terminals in Europe. Speke and Tempelhof have been designated European Union heritage sites.
During my two prior trips to Liverpool (lots of Fab Four then), the Old Speke Airport Terminal was just a dirty shuttered relic in a scruffy part of town. Then came a spurt of redevelopment and a big retailing area across the street. Suddenly the area was hot property. Developers jumped in and buffed up the old building, making it look even better than the 1960s, when it was sending off the Beatles and other bands with "the Liverpool sound" around the world.
The brick art deco terminal has sweeping curves as if it were ready to take off. Inside are classic British Overseas Air Corporation posters in the lobby and Starways Restaurant.
My room was modern and comfortable, built into an addition made to match the rest of the terminal. Outside were classic aircraft in various states of restoration, to be set out by the restaurant or in front of the hotel. I had a corner room with curved windows that looked out on one of the two classic hangars that have also been protected. One is a gigantic health club.
I thought of the Tustin helicopter hangars back in Orange County and wondered why we could save just one out of the two from their date with the wrecking ball.
Obviously there are differences — the Speke hangars are brick, the Tustin hangars are wood (and significantly larger). But here in an old industrial zone, where new development was bringing in big-box stores and condos, was an aviation buff's dream. Worth a pilgrimage out of your way — and at about $140 per night, it was a steal.
If I could have just closed my eyes and awakened to find a Lockheed Constellation or Bristol Britannia out front, props whirling, waiting to fly me off to London or Dublin or Paris.
Speke Airport is now John Lennon International Airport, named after the late great Beatle. A modern terminal has been built at the other end of the airfield. A 7-foot tall statue of Lennon is inside. Out front is a large model of the Beatle's cartoonish "Yellow Submarine."
The airport slogan comes from a Lennon lyric on "Imagine":
"Above Us Only Sky."