A Room with a View - Part Dos

Columbus, Ohio - from the Renaissance Hotel's 16th floor overlooking downtown. Not too bad as views go, not too great either.

A Room With A View

So...when I am out of town, and I have been out of town a LOT of late, I tend to look out the window first thing to help me remember where I am. Early or late, day or night really doesn't matter - its the visual confirmation of, "yes, indeed. I am certainly not home." Usually the view is interesting in some way, and I kind of nod at my day and move on. I've started to appreciate the banal multiplicity of these vistas and decided to share them with you. The one above was from my stay in St. Paul, MN on 7/9-10. I'll likely add one from tomorrow's night in our favorite cow-town, Columbus, OH.

There are times, such as this one during a stay at trade show for IMPAC in 2006, where you have a calming, beachy view. This is a nice touch during the day, because you are usually stuck in a tradeshow booth in a ballroom and can't enjoy the beachy goodness. There is solace in being able to enjoy the ocean at night, which is mighty fine with me. These locales make up for visits to place like Cedar Rapids, IA where the olfactory dimension kicks in and in addition to the view of the General Mills factory you get to alternately smell cooking dog food and captain crunch. Seriously though, I love my friends in the old C.R. its just their city commonly smells like ass.

At any rate, there have been some really incredible views. On an IMPAC trip to London in 2006 I snapped this out the window of my room at the Marriott across from Parliment & Big Ben and next to The Eye. It was a great trip and worth getting yelled at in every accent available on the British Isles. Because of the dogsh*t value of the dollar, at the time the room was like $600 U.S. and was the size of most folk's coat closet. I can't even begin to imagine how much that room goes for now. I actually regret not taking a picture of the raggedy-ass hotel in Crawley that we always used. However it was of limited aesthetic value and not really worth the photo. Or so it seemed at the time - in retrospect the gritty, plainness of it all was a statement unto itself. I have to go back as a tourist. There we so many things to see and most of them I was witness to went by in the blur of the train window. Maybe go back and do a photographic series of neighborhood pubs. A pint or four along the way might do the soul good if not the body.

One more beachy shot. This was from an IMPAC trip to another practice in the Carolinas. There was a Marriott that had a special down from the site and, luckily we had to start early Wednesday morning. The evening I was able to spend before the engagement was very nice and mellow, if a bit chilly. I don't think I can ever get enough of the Carolinas, and they sure have a leg up on the Kansas Cities of the world. Its not that K.C. is really all that bad, it just lacks panache. I mean, St. Paul actually was a pretty cool town. So what's your excuse, Kalamazoo? Even Nashville has the Parthenon, Robert's Western Wear and other cool backdrops. Dig yourself out of the hole, Omaha!So look out for the series. I will try and post from my next few trips to see if there is anything interesting. Peace.