Lumiere Hotel, St. Louis

After we checked out of Natchez Trace, we impulsively decided to go to St. Louis as our overnight stop on our way home. Turns out there is a gorgeous new casino downtown with two stunning hotels attached. We stayed at the Lumiere. It is one of those hotels where the rooms encircle the lobby from the inside, so each floor opens up so you can look down and see everything. This is the view from our hotel room floor.

Day:


Night:


We will definitely be staying there again!

Graceland

April 2009

Empire State Building, in Lego and in real life. Both were taken in New York on the same trip.

Cultural Center: Dome and Gilt Staircase

The refurbished Tiffany dome. I've posted photos of this one before.







Even the stairs in this building are gorgeous.

Cultural Center: White Ceiling Room

This room is immediately off the dome room from yesterday. The detail work on the ceiling are astonishing; while we were in there shooting pictures another visitor lay down on the floor to soak in all the scroll work above.










Maybe someday I can actually get some shots in there when it's not overcast outside. The light from all the corner windows is probably incredible. Too bad I've never seen it!

Cultural Center Dome, unrenovated

I love the Chicago Cultural Center; it consistently is my favorite downtown subject. There are two Tiffany domes on the top floors, one renovated last year and one still needing a makeover. This is the un-renovated one.



The space is just glorious. I actually bought a framed photograph of it from an art show this year, because I don't think I've really done justice to the beauty of this room.







I am really looking forward to seeing this cleaned up.



More photos of other parts of my favorite building to come this week...

Every month, a new doorway to a different world.

French Quarter alley, New Orleans, April 2008



Anderson Japanese Garden South Gate, Rockford IL, May 2008



Mission San Xavier courtyard, Tucson, June 2008

Mission San Xavier: Icons and details

For all the vivid ornateness of the Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, there were features that bespoke its 200+ year history.

Handless Icon



Fading Mural Paint



Broken Cherub


Pew Bench, worn from devotion




Also, if it wasn't clear from yesterday's comment, the coyote window bars were from the Mission as well.

Mission San Xavier: Coyote Window Bars

You don't see a lot of this style around Chicago! ;-)

Mission San Xavier del Bac

Mission San Xavier del Bac was founded by the Jesuit missionary, Father Eusebio Kino, in 1692. The present church was built under the direction of the Franciscans. Construction began in 1783 and was completed in 1797. The church continues to serve as the parish for the Tohono O'odham and a shrine chruch for many visitors.

The French Quarter, as seen from the convent grounds

Almost looks more like Europe than it does an American city, doesn't it?

Going, going, gone

Taken in the pedestrian walkway at the RenCen in Detroit.

Guarding the Mausoleum

Spent Sunday morning wandering through Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, where many of the wealthiest and famous families are buried. It was quite beautiful, although I made a rookie photographer mistake and had my camera on the wrong setting for the entire shoot. Most of the photos didn't come out at all, but I managed to salvage a few. Lesson learned!

These were three imposing figures that guarded a large pyramid-style mausoleum. The face they used as the model on the last one is especially creepy to me.

Sad Woman, more depressing than imposing



Snake Handle, which is the kind of thing which gives me the heebie-jeebies



Man/Dog. Yikes!

Tabletop at the Palmer House

The Palmer House is a gorgeous old-school hotel in the heart of downtown Chicago. Just walking through the lobby can be a luxurious treat.

By Request: Comstock Bridge

This is the Comstock Bridge over the Salmon River in Connecticut. It was drizzling and gray when I went to go shoot these, and I'm not entirely pleased with how they came out. But the river is about fifteen minutes from my parents' home, so I'll try to go back on a better day my next trip. There are usually a lot of fly fisherman hip-deep in the water under the bridge, but not that day.

My Dad requested seeing these shots, so here you go! I got an interior one, too, so you can get a good idea of the color.

My childhood home

(A larger view is available here.)

When I was thirteen, my parents moved us from tiny middle-of-nowhere Northford to what we considered the more "urban" Wallingford, into this gorgeous big old house. It sat on a side street right in the middle of downtown, a half-block from the library, police station, drugstore, and the firehouse where my grandfather worked for many years. The house was over 150 years old, drafty and creaky with twelve-foot ceilings and weird built-in cabinets and extra windows you could only see from the outside. There was a huge curving staircase in the foyer, and my L-shaped bedroom above the add-on kitchen used to be the servant's quarters. It was beautiful, and my parents did a lot to restore it to its full glory while still encouraging our family to enjoy just living in it. I sure did enjoy it.

We drove past during my trip there a couple weeks ago, and it was a little sad to see how it's become so shabby since my parents sold it several years ago. The new owners repainted some of the Victorian gingerbread trim with the wrong shades of pink and green, and let the trees and shrubs overtake the side yard. At least the cherry tree we planted was still there and in full bloom. (I'm not posting the shot of the left side of the house, where the ancient stone porch is visibly crumbling apart.)

It will always be beautiful and majestic to me.

Up the Aon Building

Metal and Sky

Chicago takes pride in its plentiful parks and green spaces, but even without them around, it's still a strikingly beautiful city.

Stained Glass Rotunda, Part II

Last month, I posted photos of one of the stained-glass rotundas at the Chicago Cultural Center. This month, I went up the other staircase and found the other one.