When I’m working on a book, I often feel echos of previous books, whether ones I’ve read or ones I’ve written.
Yesterday the callback was to one of my older books. I was working on one of the introductory chapters of the Riviera Project, discussing the General Motors Technical Center. The Technical Center was designed by prolific and influential Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen. In a 13-year period between 1947 and 1960, Saarinen designed the Technical Center, the MIT Chapel, the TWA Terminal at JFK International Airport, the Bell Telephone Corporate Laboratories, the Dulles International Airport, the CBS Building in New York (otherwise known as Black Rock), and the Gateway Arch—among many other things.
The Gateway Arch was yesterday evening’s particular echo. On our third Route 66 trip, we made specific plans to get a picture with our 2012 Corvette and the Arch in the same frame. I’ll let the relevant passage from Slightly Slower 66 cover the details …
Ivelis and I got up, showered, dressed, had a good breakfast at our modern hotel, packed quickly, and checked out. We had decided the evening before that prior to leaving St. Louis we would at least attempt to take a picture of Louis and the always-spectacular Gateway Arch. A couple of blocks away from the hotel, I jumped out of the car with my Nikon and positioned myself across the street from the Arch grounds on the steps of the Old Courthouse (it deserves its name—circa 1839) as Ivelis drove around the block a few times. Despite the ongoing multi-year construction that is described as the “Gateway Arch Grounds Project,” I did manage to get a few at least somewhat reclaimable pictures.
from Slightly Slower 66
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