Driving Ms. Shim

Last night, we had another architecture lecture, this time by Bridget Shim of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects. Apparently, she had also reviewed Saori's work in studio earlier that day. Anyway, before the lectures there is a small reception just outside. Cubes of four different types of cheeses are served, as is goat cheese spread, and sliced cantaloupe, red grapes, and pineapple. A very small selection of crackers and sliced bread is served.  There is also your choice of terrible red or horrible white wine, all of three tablespoons worth in a luxury plastic cup. This is so faculty can mingle with the lecturer and also serves a caloric safety net for students to come down, get some protein and carbohydrates in highly portable format, and quietly slip back up to studio.

I digress...

Anyway, I was sipping my wine (the terrible variety) and Saori came up to me and told me that McCarter, one of the professors who typically handles the visiting lecturers, was looking for a student who could drive the lecturer to the arch grounds in the morning and take her to the airport afterwards. I quickly agreed and talked to McCarter about driving. I was invited along to the student faculty dinner to hash out the details after the lecture.

The dinner was delicious, India Palace delivery, acres of basmati rice, mountains of naan, parsecs of curry. We chatted with Shim, hashed out the logistics with McCarter, and talked with other students. The timing was tight. We were to pick her up at 8:30 am the hotel, and she had a 11:30am international flight, which meant we really had to book it there and back.

In the morning, Saori and I picked up Shim from the hotel and drove her to the arch, the only misstep was that we ended up missing the last turn off the freeway, so Shim got to see the Arch from the Illinois side of the river as well. We did eventually find the parking garage and get in to see the arch. There was nobody there at all. It was great. The misty gray cold morning kept the tourists away I guess. No wait to go up at all, and Shim bought us the tickets, which was very kind of her. It was also Saori's first time up in the arch.

We got the view from the top for perhaps twenty minutes or so, then took the tram back down. We walked around a bit more and then we were back in the car to leave by 10. Jetted right over to the airport via 70, and saw Shim off at the curb.

Mission Accomplished.

Afterwards, Saori and I drove back to downtown to Betton Park Cafe in Betton Park, near Soulard and just adjacent to the Budweiser Brewery. The cafe was great. Delicious breakfast. I got the "BP Slinger" which was basically a sunny side up egg on biscuits, covered in sausage and bacon gravy. Delicious.