My requests to students about their memories of bridges has struck a chord.

Here is another entry.  In this blog, Patrick shares with us some thoughts about the Champlain Bridge. He took the pictures last autumn, driving to his folks' house not far from the bridge in upstate NY.

Patrick writes:

I've mostly experienced the bridge from a distance as my family and I drove along the western shore of Lake Champlain going to and from visiting relatives in New York's "North Country". NYS Route 22 winds along the edge of the Adirondack Mountains and provides many beautiful vistas of the bridge. Some of my earliest memories of making the drive along the lake are of looking out the window trying to take in the best views of the bridge. It never seemed to overpower its surroundings, but did contrast and compliment them very well. I would consider it to be one of the most beautiful bridges in the Champlain Valley and the Adirondacks - it was the region's own piece of structural art. It was also briefly featured toward the end of the movie "What Lies Beneath" with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer (not their best work). That brief 15 minutes (OK, maybe it was 15 seconds) of fame was a point of local pride for many people. Seeing the bridge brings back fond memories of those family trips and it brings about a sense of local pride. I doubt that the new bridge will be able to do this as well as the old.

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