Thursday Walk

Yesterday evening I called up my friend Eric Doyle to see if he wanted to go for a walk and a beer. The plan was to meet at 8:00pm at the corner of Sweet Street and Plainfield Avenue.

I walked down the hill, and not seeing Eric at Plainfield, proceeded on down another block to Coit Avenue where I found Eric walking south. The sun had set just before we met and dusk was in the sky. It was a cool night, but not cold. Perfect for walking.

We headed south on Coit to Plainfield where the old Creston Library stands. This quaint, triangular building is being renovated into a cafe by a well-known local restaurateur. We snooped around the construction site a bit, checking up on the progress.

From there, we walked down the wide sidewalks of busy Plainfield Avenue. After crossing Leonard Street, we looked for the shortcut that Belknap neighbors take to get to Plainfield. This shortcut is for pedestrians and brave cyclists only, as it is a steep, dirt social path worn into the grassy hill of Belknap Park just south of Coldbrook Street. The path climbs the steep, grassy hill and ducks through a thicket of trees near the top before emerging along side of ten tennis courts.

From there, we wound around the side of a well-maintained ball diamond. A night game was being played under the lights on the other diamond to the east.

On the southeast corner of the ball diamond we found another social path that heads southwest through the woods towards North Division Avenue, a path to be explored another time.

Once along back of the diamond, we climbed the steep northern face of Belknap Hill along "The X." The X is more rightfully known as EarthworK, a large-scale earthen sculpture constructed by artist Robert Morris in 1974. EarthworK was Morris’ first in the United States and is an environmental piece consisting of two asphalt walkways that cross on the hill.

At the top of the hill, we took in the view to the north and west. We walked another block to the small pocket park on Fairview Avenue. We looped west through the park to take in one of the City's best views to the west from Belknap Hill, and to inspect the decrepit historic stairs that used to connect the neighborhood to the factories below.

We continued south to the better set of stairs at Fairbanks Street. We descended the 400' hill, crossed North Division Avenue, and walked into the North Monroe neighborhood. North Monroe is full of older industrial buildings, some still being used for industry, others being used for offices or condos. The area has seen a great deal of reinvestment in the past few years.

We walked past the latest major reinvestment in the area, the Icon on Bond, so that we could check up on the construction. Five floors of this soon to be nine storey building are already framed in.

A block away we walked into the Cambridge House for a quick break. We were surprised at the lack of people in the bar on a Thursday night, traditionally a rather busy time.

We took a look at the beer list, but it was rather short and lackluster, so we opted for Irish whiskey. They have quite a nice selection at Cambridge. We both settled on Tullamore Dew Crock. Eric had his on two rocks and I took mine neat.

Cambridge provides a generous pour, so we stayed there for quite a while enjoying the whiskey.

Afterwards, we walked over to the Sixth Street Dam where the fishermen were out in full force. The kings and the coho are running hard right now, so you'll find people out there fishing for salmon all night this time of year.

Canal Street Park extends nearly a full mile north from the dam along the river. Upon reaching the northern end of the park, we followed an abandoned rail line another block along the river to Leonard Street.

We hooked east and deliberated whether it was time to go home or if we had time for a quick beer at Graydon's Crossing. My stomach won out and we stepped inside of this nice, new English-style pub on the south end of Plainfield Avenue near Leonard. Again, the place was rather devoid of customers.

I had a craving for their hearty onion rings, so I enjoyed those with a pint of Guinness, while Eric sampled a Dragonmead Inquisition Pale Ale, made in Warren, Michigan.

We parted Graydon's at about 10:30pm and walked north up a quiet Plainfield Avenue, back past the old library, and parted ways at the corner of Coit Avenue and Dale Street, I walked east on Dale, back to Plainfield, and then on up Sweet Street hill to my home.

The total loop was about four miles, with a couple of good hills in the mix. Was it enough to wear off the calories of the Guinness and onion rings? Probably not. But it certainly was an enjoyable way to spend a September Thursday evening.