East Coast Whirlwind, Pt. 2: Inside the Walker

My room at the Walker Hotel was perfection. The styling was right up my alley, clean, and well appointed.



The desk had the usual assortment of pay-per-snacks:



However, I lovely little bottle of wine and a bag of cookies (along with bottles of plain and sparkling water) were thrown in for good measure. The bag of cookies is missing from the photo; they were devoured before I got the camera out. And they were GOOOOOOOOOOOD…



The view from the room had the Empire State Building in the foreground.



With a 600mm lens, the view becomes more impressive:



The faux rotary dial phone would have gone home with me if I still had a landline.



The lobby had beautiful floral displays, appropriately themed to the fall season:





A new (to me) discovery this trip was the nearby Union Square:



The park area included monuments to George Washington:



Abraham Lincoln:



The Marquis de Lafayette:



…and a drinking fountain, known as The James Fountain, after philanthropist Daniel Willis James and Theodore Roosevelt Sr. who donated this piece sculpted by Karl Adolph Donndorf and designed by J. Leonard Corning. The fountain is now a decorative planter, surrounded by potheads. Don’t get too close if you don’t want to get high.



Live music abounded:







This gigantic art installation represents a metronome, which was a standard part of my childhood piano lessons. Created by Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel in 1999, apparently it periodically releases a plume of steam. In case you miss that, you could always view the exhalings of the Union Square inhabitants. The large rock-like formation at lower left is a bronze hand cast from the George Washington monument in the square.



Stay tuned for part 3!

See more Walker Hotel photos at my main website.

East Coast Whirlwind, Pt. 1: The Walker Hotel

Ever since the pandemic, my flying days pretty much grounded to a halt. It’s generally been a pain in the arse, more expensive, and quite frankly at this stage in my life I am happiest being at home. However…it was time to visit Mom again. Southwest Airlines pulled through this time and rated a glowing report card. Despite connecting flights coming and going (which can often lead to disaster), I am happy to say that they were on time for each one. AND baggage claim was quick and easy, too.  Ignore the American Airlines building at LaGuardia; I was on a Southwest flight!



Once off the plane, I was greeted by the “I Love NY” logo at LaGuardia.



The colored panels with quotes from and about NYC’s 100th mayor, Fiorella LaGuardia, were beautiful to see as I briskly walked to the transportation pickup area. They aren’t actually stained glass, but rather 3M scotch all clear vinyl window graphics installed by Color-X and designed by Sabine Horning.



Traffic was a bit dicey as you would expect on a weekday around lunchtime in NYC, but I finally made it to my destination, The Walker Hotel in Greenwich Village.



It was just the right kind of refurbed historic boutique hotel that I dig.



I was hoping to run into Karen Walker when I checked in, but no such luck.



Stepping down the stairs, the lobby area did not disappoint. Plenty of couches and nooks and crannies for relaxing.



Since my room wasn’t ready yet (I had taken the red eye and arrived early), I had a delish lunch at the hotel restaurant.



Once done, I took my camera and ventured out in the hood, despite the mix of cloudy skies, sprinkles, and short downpours of rain. The Jefferson Market Library stood out like something out of a gothic novel.





Edited from the New York Public Library website:

Originally a courthouse, the Jefferson Market Library has served the Greenwich Village community for over thirty years. The building, a New York City landmark, was designed by architects Frederick Clark Withers and Calvert Vaux (who also assisted in the design of Central Park) in a Victorian Gothic style. It was erected (along with an adjacent prison and market) during the years 1875-1877 and cost the city almost $360,000. What the city got for its money, in addition to an architectural gem (it was voted one of the ten most beautiful buildings in America by a poll of architects in the 1880s) was a civil court (on the second floor, where the Adult Reading Room is now) and a police court (now the first-floor Children's Room). The beautiful brick-arched basement (now the Reference Room) was used as a holding area for prisoners on their way to jail or trial. By 1945, through redistricting, court was no longer held at Jefferson Market, and the building was taken over by various agencies.



By 1959, the building had become home only to pigeons and rats and was considered such an architectural eyesore the city planned to knock it down and erect an apartment building. But Village community members, led by Margot Gayle and Philip Wittenberg, and including Lewis Mumford, E.E. Cummings (who lived across the street in Patchin Place) and actor Maurice Evans, rallied to save the building from the wrecking ball. In 1961, Mayor Robert F. Wagner announced that it would be preserved and converted into a public library. Construction began in 1965 and the library opened for business in 1967. Among the first of its visitors was the poet Marianne Moore, who had at one time worked for the Hudson Park Branch Library. She found the renovation very pleasing indeed.

Next time I visit, I need to venture inside. Instead, I wandered through the adjacent Jefferson Market Garden.





The plants looked beautiful and the rain that cascaded down made everything look extra green and lush.







This fella had obviously been there for quite some time.



I saw Empire Cake along the way and my sweet tooth was activated.



The inside was bright and welcoming.



So were some of the interesting cakes and other goodies.



There were so many choices, but I finally settled on a Red Velvet Snack Cake. It was a VERY good choice. From the description: Red velvet cake filled with cream cheese frosting and dipped in Belgian white chocolate. OMG it was so good.



I might have also gotten a carrot cake cupcake and I might have also thoroughly enjoyed that, too. Not long after devouring my treats, I got notification that my room was ready, and that’s where I will leave this installment of my East Coast trip.



See more New York City Walker Hotel photos at my main website.

Weekend at the Waldorf

The historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York opened on October 1, 1931. NINETY-FIVE YEARS AGO and still ticking! This image of the entrance to the hotel was taken for research at Columbia Pictures in 1944. I’m not sure what movie it was used for, but MGM released, “Weekend at the Waldorf” one year later in 1945. Interiors for that film were recreated on a soundstage, but most of the exteriors were shot on location. Back from my digression, I present an image I shot in 2016 when I stayed at the Waldorf, showing very little change to the exterior, other than the newer canopy that engulfs all three sections of doors.



These cool little frames on the exterior tell us that Michael Zarin and his orchestra were performing at the Lounge Restaurant:



The frame on the right gives the lineup for the Starlight Roof, along with a scowl from the doorman:



Zooming in we see it includes the Nat Brandwynne Orchestra, Nicolas Alexander and something Williams Trio, and the rest I have no idea other than the mention of Sunday dinner. Just look at the pretty pictures, please.



As of 2016, it would appear that the very same frames were still being used:



Another exterior view from 2016:



In 2017, the hotel closed for renovations after a Chinese Company, Anabang Insurance Group, bought the property for $1.95 billion. That’s a lot of smackers! After much back and forth and shifting of schedules, the hotel portion reopened again in July 2025. Apparently by February 2026, Anabang was planning to sell the hotel. I’ll take tax write-offs for $500, Alex!

See more Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC photos at my main website.

Monday at The Pearl

Today’s post takes us to a little midcentury gem in the Point Loma area of San Diego, The Pearl Hotel. This retro beauty made the list of St. Louis Style for being one of nine “Unforgettable Retro Hotels in the USA.” From The Pearl's website:

Originally designed by local architect Robert Platt in 1959 and operated as a Sportsman’s Lodge throughout the 1960s by resident husband and wife duo, Charles and Dinorah.



Fast forward to The Pearl Hotel as you know it today. The mid-century modern motel and gem of San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood was thoughtfully renovated with hospitality brand Casetta Group at the helm. The interiors are outfitted in a contemporary aesthetic and unique vintage decor, while maintaining the integrity of its original architectural features. The 23 unique guest rooms surround the art moderne oyster-shaped pool, which flows into the onsite cocktail bar and restaurant Ponyboy. ‍



As a nod to the hotel’s name, the in-room artwork pays homage to the remarkable female Japanese pearl divers, called Ama, known to hold their breath underwater for extended periods of time while harvesting oysters.



I would classify it as a retro gem that is competitively priced in a decent location…if you are wanting to explore the Point Loma area. It’s far enough down Rosecrans Drive that you would find it difficult to navigate the stop-start-bottleneck traffic if you wanted to head downtown or explore the other beaches of San Diego. On the flip-side, Point Loma does have enough fare on its own to keep a tourist semi-busy and well-fed. If the lobby area looks unattended, it kind of was on the day I visited. The lone person on staff seemed very disinterested…when he could be found. It felt like a one-person show and I am sure he was stretched thin doing his duties (and his face showed it).



The lobby seating area with a gorgeous (!) view of Rosecrans:



The bar/restaurant area:



The pool, which is cute in a retro way but if this place approached anything near full-occupancy would be a very tight situation:



The room itself was clean and spacious, and very well appointed:



Large bathroom that was pretty, but definitely avoided any of the retro homage touches:



The “vintage touches” were reserved for the reading materials and other decor touches:



The view from the shared balcony won’t take your breath away, but I’ve definitely seen worse:



Would I recommend this place? Sure, but I can’t say it’s one that draws me in like the Lafayette in North Park. Both places are a bit out of the way for the typical San Diego tourist, but the Lafayette at least has a “wow” factor that is much higher than The Pearl.
 
See more photos of The Pearl in Point Loma at my main website.