PLEASE

Entrance to the closed cinema at the grand old Chase Park Plaza Hotel, Lindell Boulevard and Kingshighway.

The hotel is adjacent to Forest Park, which I drove through a moment later. The flowering trees have exploded in the last two days. Saturday, when I took this, was drizzly. Sunday should be sunny and I will go back to see their glory.

           

Layers

From the top of Art Hill, down the hill towards the woods surrounding Shakespeare Glen. The Chase Park Plaza Hotel and condos, a local institution, are in the backgroud.

Excuses made in advance: I've been pretty bad about leaving comments lately except on weekends. Work has been . . . well, I'll bite my tongue. But, as I mentioned on Facebook recently, the St. Louis Fringe Festival starts tomorrow night. I am the house photographer this year and I'll be shooting 17 performances over five days, this weekend and next. Gonna be a little busy but I hope to have first pix up Saturday.     

Christmas Brunch At The Chase

As mentioned, the Crowe and Horrocks families had a sumptuous Christmas brunch at the Chase Park Plaza, Chef Brian presiding. 

Above, an ice sculpture Christmas tree in front of a real one.

Below, Madeleine with a "Santa got me what?" look (wearing grandma's glasses, which she thinks is funny) followed by Ms. M and her parents. The bottom pic needs explanation. Our flight is so early tomorrow morning we're spending tonight at an airport hotel, leaving Emily and Brian's home before they serve dinner. So my wife and I could get something to eat, I bought what is probably the loneliest product in the supermarket. However, we're still so stuffed from brunch we'll likely put it in the freezer. 
               

Not A Monsoon Wedding

I mentioned that son-in-law Brian had to work Sunday. He was supervising the food service for an Indian wedding at the swanky hotel where he is banquet chef. I got this shot of the bride and groom as I was walking through the lobby. They were just outside for photos. The colored surface behind them is the pool cover but, hey, it goes well with her dress.

My knowledge of Indian wedding customs is nearly zero, although I hear the parties are a blast. What little I have comes from seeing Monsoon Wedding on a long airplane ride. That's good enough, isn't it?

Madeleine Monday

We went to see the Christmas decorations at the Chase-Park Plaza, STL's grand old hotel, where Madeleine's daddy is executive banquet chef. He had to work yesterday, supervising the food service for an Indian wedding. The lighting made for bokeh heaven. My model was pretty good, too.                      

Restoration: Behind the Scenes

Over the last few weeks, I've had a couple of posts about the Chase Park Plaza, St. Louis' grandest old hotel, and the restoration work that is restoring its glory and bringing it into the 21st Century. The lower of the two conjoined buildings, the Chase, has undergone complete renovation of all the hotel rooms. The upper two-thirds of the tower, the Park Plaza, is being converted to luxury condominiums, The Residences at the Chase Park Plaza. One of the parters in the project saw my first post on the topic and invited me over to photograph the work.

We start in one of the construction elevators. I think the blue paper covering the floor buttons is crazy design. The fluorescent light inside the rough elevator and the tungsten light in the hallway make a color riot. It reminded me of a Robert Rauschenberg construction. More over the next few days.

Once again, The Chase

Earlier this month, I posted a picture of the Chase Park Plaza, the grand old hotel of St. Louis. I also mentioned that the tower is being redeveloped into luxury apartments with great attention given to design and architecture.

As luck would have it, one of the executives from The Residences at the Chase Park Plaza saw the post. After an exchange of email, they have graciously invited me to come over next Thursday to photograph the restoration work and architectural detail. What a wonderful opportunity. Pix to follow shortly after my visit.

This is another photo of the Chase in winter, taken from Forest Park.

The Chase Park Plaza

The Chase Park Plaza is a St. Louis institution, a grand old hotel at the northeast corner of Forest Park. There are actually two connected buildings. The Chase is the tower in the center of the picture. The Park Plaza is half as tall and you can just see its top to the Chase's right. The mid and upper floors of the Chase itself have been converted into luxury condominiums, breathtakingly expensive by local standards. (New Yorkers would probably scoff that they are bargains.)

PS: I love my Lensbaby.

TOMORROW: I crashed the barge.