Airport art roundup: Best exhibits at a terminal near you

— -- Next time you're at the airport, take a moment to look around. Not just at all the shops, restaurants and harried holiday travelers, but at all the really great art. In addition to some truly wonderful — and valuable — collections of permanent and site-specific art, many U.S. airports offer ambitious rotating schedules of art, history and cultural exhibitions that can be as intriguing as anything you'll find in town. And this time of year, who has time to go into town anyway?

Here's just a sampling of some current exhibitions to seek out next time you find yourself stuck at the airport:

San Francisco International Airport was the first airport in the country to have a museum program accredited by the American Association of Museums and it would be easy to spend an entire day touring the more than two dozen galleries spaces scattered throughout the terminals. If you're here for just an hour, though, make tracks for Inside Track, an exhibit that highlights the golden era of toy trains with more than 200 vintage toy trains and accessories, including two miniature train layouts and a few endearing specialty items such as Mickey Mouse handcars from the 1930s and the "Lady Lionel," a pastel train marketed to girls during the 1950s.

•Find it:Inside Track: Toy Trains is on display, pre-security, in the International Terminal Main Hall through April 13, 2009.

One of two touring exhibitions honoring the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift is currently at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The Berlin Airlift — A Legacy of Friendship includes more than 60 panels of historic black and white photos and pays tribute to the efforts of the U.S. and Allied forces that helped save more than two million men, women and children during a Soviet Union blockade of the German city beginning in 1948.

•Find it:The Berlin Airlift – A Legacy of Friendship is pre-security, next to the Airport Office Building elevators on the south end of the ticketing level through December 31, 2008. The exhibit will be at the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers in January.