Walking Seattle Again

  It was 60 degrees when I started today's walk in the Ravenna and Roosevelt neighborhoods. I was thankful to be living in Seattle where it's cool enough to take a long walk most days. As I walked around Cowen and Ravenna Parks, I noted a few signs designating the area as a National Historic District. I hope that offers some protections to aid preserving the feel of the neighborhood because ... ... just a few blocks away, this ... ... has been replaced by this ... ... and this. Walking south on 20th Avenue NE, I came to ...  Ravenna Park Bridge (open to walkers and cyclists) where I could look down on the park below ... ... or look out and feel as if I were in the tree canopy. Continuing to the lovely, tree-lined Ravenna Boulevard, I noted the Seven Market & Cafe tucked behind some palm trees. Then I walked around Park Place NE, better known as Candy Cane Lane. Looping around to NE 58th Street, I discovered that it was a street in some places, an alley in others, and a foo...

  A chore brought me to the Northgate area today so I decided to walk some streets I had missed in the Maple Leaf neighborhood. I tend to think of this area more as Northgate than Maple Leaf but my neighborhood map reference tells me that Maple Leaf, Pinehurst, Haller Lake, and North College Park are all part of the larger Northgate area. Starting on Roosevelt near 100th Street, I noted "Do Not Enter" signs on some of the narrow streets. Walking west, I observed that some of the streets had sidewalks on one side and that 8th Avenue had no sidewalks at all. It is a narrow street and, when cars are parked along it, walking can be dangerous. Near 4th Avenue and 100th Street, I saw this staircase down into the Thornton Place Apartments. I had already walked through this nicely landscaped area so I continued west ... ... and noted a double decker Sound Transit bus at ... ... the Northgate Light Rail and Transit Center. I don't know why Metro buses are articulated and Sound Tra...

A tile marker in  the sidewalk let me know I was in an older part of the city. This marker reads 28th Ave N but it's not in the Northend. It's in the Central area, close to 27th Avenue E and E Madison Street in the Madison Valley area of the Stevens region of Capitol Hill. I started walking north on 29th Ave E and spotted this entry into the Arboretum. Walking west on Helen Street, I spotted this lovely garden before turning north onto the dead-end on 26th ... ... where I spotted another entry into the Arboretum. Some of the gardens had a rustic look ... ... and some of the sidewalks were quite shady. This was great because the streets were so hilly that I got a real workout climbing up and down between 23rd Avenue E and E Madison Street. This staircase provides a shortcut from Madison to 25th Avenue ... ... and this staircase helps compensate for the difference in elevation between the two sides of 25th. E Harrison Street doesn't really exist between 24th and 26th. Newer h...