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An old-time major league pitcher once said he worried about only two types of batters — righthanders and lefthanders.

Similarly, only two kinds of airports present hostile environments: origin and destination. Origin airports are often the worst, but destination airports present their challenges, as well. Here’s how to avoid some of the worst problems. 1. Schedule. Even before you get there, you can ease destination airport problems by scheduling your trip to minimize hassle. • In a multi-airport city, try to book the most convenient airport — closest to your final destination, the smallest and easiest to navigate, the one with the best access to downtown, or some combination. • Try to avoid arriving at local rush hours. It’s especially important to avoid morning rush hour arrival on overnight flights. You’ll fight the worst of the day’s traffic getting to your final destination, and your hotel room probably won’t be ready. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve passed through London hotel lobbies at about 10 in the morning where a bunch of jetlagged travelers sat around the lobby, with their baggage, waiting for a room to open. • If you can’t avoid an early morning arrival, and you’re eligible for an airport lounge program, you might be able to use a post-immigration “arrivals lounge” located at a few big airports. Use a lounge finder like loungebuddy.com to see if you can use one. 2. Getting to where you’re going. Unless someone is meeting you, solving the “last mile” transport riddle can be a problem at any unfamiliar airport. Do it before you get there, not after you arrive. • The gold standard for last-mile transport is a taxi or Uber, taking you directly from airport to your hotel, office or house door, with no intermediate schlepping. But cab and ride rates vary tremendously, depending both on distance and local rates.

In the U.S., distance is the primary factor, with rates that soar from remote airports. A cab from airport to city center ranges from about $17 in San Diego to $60 at Washington/Dulles.

Cab or ride rates are much higher at some remote foreign airports, such as $160 from Tokyo/Narita or London/Gatwick. On the other hand, cabs are inexpensive in China — for example, $25 in Shanghai.

Check current rates at taxi fare locators such as Ride Guru (rideguru.com), Taxi Fare Finder (taxifarefnder.com), or World Taximeter (worldtaximeter.com). • Next, check public transit options. The best way to locate them is to look at the airport’s website. Every airport website includes a page or two about local access, usually with links to appropriate

transport services. • Often, the next-best option to a cab is a shared-ride door-to-door shuttle. Unless you’re headed for the first stop, a shuttle takes longer than a cab, but at a fraction of the cost. Airport websites list shuttle operators and usually link to their websites for fare information. • Rail access can often be your best option, especially at the more remote airports. In the U.S., 24 airports feature rail service. But light rail and metros can be very TRAVEL TIPS crowded at rush hours, and few provide facilities for baggage. By Ed Perkins Keep in mind that transport other than cabs/rides is priced per-person: A stiff taxi/ride fare could be a non-starter for a single traveler, but divided by two, three or four, it’s often low enough to tip the scales. Send email to Ed Perkins at eperkins@mind.net or check out his rail travel website at rail-guru.com. © 2021 Ed Perkins. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Letters to editor

From page 2 pianist who once filled our home with music and joy. She has moved on, living her own life, as we hope they do, but has left us with a very quiet home. We miss hearing her play. Listening to you this evening brought back wonderful memories of her musical talent.

Thank you for sharing your talents that offered beautiful dinner music this evening! Glad you are pursuing your goals and inspiring others to do the same.

Carol Messerly Via website Dear Editor:

I just wanted to express my appreciation for the Beacon and its staff for consistently helpful and easy-to-understand articles about a variety of topics relevant to seniors.

I have aging parents, and your articles have helped me understand and start discussions with them on many topics that I knew nothing about beforehand. And those same articles allow me to put plans in place for my own senior years.

Thank you so much for your publication and keep up the good work!

Kenneth Kennedy Via email

Dear Editor:

I was happy to learn that people were recognized for their actions in January (“H & S Bakery rises to the occasion,” March cover story). I do believe, however, that Casey Holihan Noe should be given extra recognition because it was her phone call of compassion that caused the great act of kindness to happen.

Thank you to the Beacon, a most helpful and informative newspaper for me and all my fellow ladies and gentlemen over the age of 50.

Nancy Sniadach, Baltimore

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Arts & Style

PHOTO BY WALLY GOBETZ

You can view the art exhibit described below at the World Trade Center in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

On top of the world with a Baltimore artist

By Tina Collins

Baltimore native and visionary artist Ernest Shaw Jr. is a unique storyteller. In his decades-long career, Shaw, 53, has won numerous awards and accolades for his dignified and spirited images of the people of the African diaspora and their impact on American culture.

This month, Shaw’s paintings of this complex story are exhibited in his solo show, “Continuous Line,” displayed at Baltimore’s “Gallery in the Sky” on the top floor observation level of the Inner Harbor’s World Trade Center.

Shaw believes, as James Baldwin said, “Art has to be a kind of confession.” He says his art is witness to everything he studied and learned, and “illustrates aspects of the Black experience from a historical, social and cultural perspective” that extends back thousands of years.

In his artistic narrative, Shaw seeks to dispel the myth that African culture was lost and forgotten in the violence and chaos of history. Instead, he sees a lasting and unbroken connection.

Shaw’s own storyline starts in West Baltimore, where he was raised by a creative family of musicians, dancers and visual artists.

West Baltimore prodigy

As a child, he was influenced by his mother’s passion for painting, and by family visits to museums and theaters. Today, his inspirations range from Impressionism to the rhythms of West African drums to his own Baltimore upbringing and education.

“It’s not easy to raise a child artist,” Shaw admitted. “I was blessed to be raised by two parents who provided for me everything I needed.”

Since second grade, Shaw was afforded the opportunity to attend the first giftedand-talented program in Baltimore City. He feels that nurturing environment set the trajectory of his life.

Shaw went on to earn a B.A. from Morgan State University and an M.F.A. from Howard University. In blue-collar Baltimore tradition, he worked in quality control at Bethlehem Steel to fund his education.

Shaw’s devotion to educating and mentoring young artists led him to teach in Baltimore public schools and as an adjunct professor at MICA and Towson University.

In 2019, he was artist in residence at Motor House, a creative hub in the arts and entertainment district of Station North.

Murals of Toni Morrison, others

PHOTO BY JUSTIN TSUCALAS

Baltimoreans may be acquainted with Shaw’s murals, which have decorated the city for more than 20 years. He sees his accessible, public canvas of street art as a way to overcome negative stereotypes of Black men and women.

In collaboration with other muralists, he depicts vibrant icons of Black history, hoping to remind the community of “the beauty of being an African in America.”

In 2019, Shaw painted a mural in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison in Baltimore’s famed Graffiti Alley. He considered her passing, at age 88 in August 2019, not a loss but “an acquiring of an ancestor.”

Shaw works in multiple media, including

Muralist and teacher Ernest Shaw Jr., now 51, showed artistic promise even as a child. His artistic and musical family saw and encouraged his talent. acrylic, graphite, charcoal, oil pastels, oil stick and colored pencils, to bring his subSee SHAW, page 13