"U" Is For Union Station St. Louis

St. Louis Union Station MM Sikes painting

As the Passenger to Paradise, I enjoy viewing the beautiful St. Louis Union Station among the photographs shown prior to the Cardinals' baseball games on satellite television. This picturesque structure that first opened in 1894 is also the subject of one of my paintings included in Hotels to Remember. Of course, it was my choice for "U" in the final week of A to Z blog challenge.

As I was completing my coffee table book, I was amazed to discover a complex with a similar appearance in the south of France. We were visiting the medieval walled city of Carcassonne and were fascinated by the relationship in design between it and the architecture of Union Station. On our return home I learned that Carcassonne, a fortified town that has stood in some form for 20 centuries, was indeed the basis for the Union Station design. At that point, I decided to use two of my Carcassonne photographs in my book.

Because Hotels to Remember is a "snapshot in time," it is not surprising that when my book was published the hotel that occupied Union Station was a Hyatt Regency. Today that hotel is a Marriott.

Change is certain. Nothing else is. We only have snapshots in time!

A Snapshot in Time

A snapshot in time. That's all a travel book or a book about hotels can be. Things change too quickly for anything to last very long in our fast-paced, fluid society. When I wrote my book, Hotels to Remember, I had no idea some of the hotels I included would change in a short period of time. My book is indeed a "snapshot in time."

Soon after publication, one of the 20 hotels included in my coffee table book underwent massive renovations. Another I learned recently is now closed and may be demolished. Sad, because it had become an historic landmark for the area where it stands.

Another hotel, the Adam's Mark St. Louis has undergone a $63 million transformation
to the 910-room Hyatt Regency St. Louis Riverfront. The building is still within the shadow of the Arch, but the internet photos show no evidence of the beautiful and amazing art work that made the hotel so special that I selected it for my book. Where is all the gorgeous art that filled the lobby? Where is the outdoor art that formed the unique view from windows on one side of the hotel? Where is Faust's Restaurant now?

I have not been to St. Louis to see the transformed hotel, but I'd like to visit it in the future. Perhaps I'll stay in that hotel, visit the new Busch Stadium, and watch my beloved Cardinals play.

The Hyatt Regency Union Station is also part of my book. It is usually among the views shown as I watch the Cardinals on Direct TV. Since it is an historical landmark for the city, I hope that hotel will not change too much nor disappear.

Things change. We have only a snapshot in time.

Mary Montague Sikes, Author Hotels to Remember http://www.oaktreebooks.com/bargainbookshop.htm