If you’re looking for a dining experience like no other, I highly suggest you book a flight out of the Minnesota airport during a wind storm. This past Tuesday evening, I spent sixteen hours in the St. Paul airport.

The airline provided all weather- delayed  passengers with decadent processed crackers and lovely lukewarm sodas. I sifted through the artificial cheesy crackers and hundred calorie pack chocolate chip cookies, choosing plain Ritz as my “appetizer.”

These crackers, in a red bag sealed just tightly enough to make you struggle to open it, were fantastic. Just the crunch of the crackers was enough to make me forget I had at least five hours until I was to fly (Well, 12 hours actually, but I was not aware of this until later.) By far the best cracker of the bunch, these Ritz crackers trumped the more artificial, highlighter-orange cheese crackers and the Newton Fruit Crisps. The cheese crackers were in packaging far more elegant than that of the plain Ritz crackers, however, as the wrapper was clear and allowed the consumer to see the powdered cheese coating the inside. (Yum!) The fruit crisps were enjoyed by a trashcan conveniently located near my oh-so-comfortable black pleather seat, when I decided they were not quite up to par.

Several crackers and cookies later, I found myself thanking my lucky stars that I had grabbed more than one of the tasty snacks, as everything in Humphrey terminal, and by everything I mean the two “grab n’go” sandwich places, coffee shop, and fishy smelling restaurant—“Fletcher’s Wharf”—closed at 8, and the majority of passengers from my flight were going to be in the St. Paul airport for at least another four hours.

And, even luckier for me, while all the other passengers were finally boarding a plane and probably dining on run-of-the-mill airplane peanuts, I got to have an overnight VIP dining experience.  My ever accommodating airline decided that, because I was under 18 and flying alone, I would be much safer sleeping in the Minneapolis airport, under the watchful eye of a supervisor, than I would be flying into Denver and awaiting my connecting flight there.

During the night, I had the privilege of visiting the Mecca of airline snacks: the airplane snacks storage area. I was so overwhelmed by all five choices of mini crackers and cookies and found that I just couldn’t choose which snack was best suited for the ripe hour of 2:30 am. Better save some room for those airline peanuts, I thought, and politely declined, choosing instead to steal some shut-eye in the office.

I only hope that you have better weather (and possibly a legal adult) to accompany you on your next trip to the St. Paul Minneapolis airport.