Up, up, and away at the TWA Flight Center

Plus! I'm doing a Substack Live on March 26

I’ve been to the TWA Flight Center three times.

• The first was on March 5, 1998, when I flew to Paris on one of the weirdest days of my life¹.

• The second was on October 16, 2011 — ten years and ten days after the terminal was closed — as part of an Open House New York tour.

• And the third was on March 4-5, 2025, to celebrate its revival as a hotel and its continued existence as a marvelously dreamy space to hang out in.

Yes, I finally made it back out to JFK to experience the TWA Hotel in the restored midcentury flight terminal and it was a modernist dream come true.

(For those not obsessed with midcentury architecture, the TWA Flight Center was designed by the architect Eero Saarinen — the same person who was responsible for the Gateway Arch, Bell Labs in Holmdel, NJ, and some of my favorite chair designs.)

While we could have gone the whole way out to JFK for the day and seen all the sights as members of the public without a reservation, I felt it wouldn’t be enough unless I truly marinated in the ambience of the building as a hotel guest, getting as many hours as possible to live my dream.

And because I have so many photos to share of this stunning building and of all the elements that were so thoughtfully included in the restoration, I wrote an entire ode to the TWA Flight Center on caseybarber.com.

Truly, the photos need to be seen as intended. There’s a restored 1962 jet on which you can enjoy a cocktail. There’s architectural details galore. There are vintage flight attendant uniforms. And this GIF.

Click here to read the entire story and see the visual diary of my immersive, travel-back-in-time visit to the TWA Flight Center.

JOIN ME LIVE ON MARCH 26!

Also! Mark your calendars for next Wednesday, March 26, at 3:00 pm EST. I’ll be doing a Substack Live event with my friend Joy from

The Tarot Memo

.

Don’t call it a podcast (yet), but we’ll be talking about our lives as working creatives and what it means to pursue activities for PURE FUN instead of THE HUSTLE in a world that wants you to monetize every last little scrap of your soul.

Wait, does that not sound intriguing? Maybe it’s more like how being a total weirdo feels like the most natural thing I could do at this point in my life instead of attempting to keep up with anyone else’s idea of success, plus a little bit of Human Design and magic.

You know, the stuff I love to talk about here in this newsletter.

So why not join us?

You’ll need the Substack app to watch — and ask questions, if you’re so inclined. Download it here:

1. You bet I have the whole story about that day. It is a doozy. (And it’s in the post.)