Hi everyone!

I have a friend moving to LA in a couple of weeks. I told her I would come visit her sometime this winter. With the class schedule I have, I could easily leave on Wednesday night or Thursday morning for LA. The thing is, she works on Friday - so I had thought about scheduling several legs for my trip out there.

See, I'm one of those crazies that really loves hanging around airports. I was also thinking that I might pick a city to spend a little longer "layover" at so that I can look around a little (no clue which one this would be yet! recommendations appreciated). Money is only a little bit of an issue for the flights - I just don't want to go over $400 for my r/t if I can help it (planning about $100 for the trip back). Can anyone recommend some cooler airports that I might have fun being at for a couple of hours?

I'm having a hard time planning this, since I can fly out of Columbus, Indianapolis or Louisville for the same drive time (I'm in Cincinnati), and I want to schedule three legs for the way out there. I'd prefer to do this at Ding prices. I'm also not going to check luggage, because I definitely cannot afford to lose my baggage on a trip like this, where I make my own "layovers."

I know it's kind of a weird situation, but I love traveling alone and making my own adventures - even if they just involve me finding a cool bar in a random city.