The Gentle Art Of Wandering

October 31, 2016
by David Ryan
2 Comments

A Stairway Walk in Minneapolis

After walking up and down stairways in Milwaukee (please see the previous post), my dog Petey and I headed toward Minneapolis to get some photos of Minneapolis’ famous downtown skyways. This would be our first visit to the Twin Cities since we went there to climb stairs three and half years ago. (Please click here to read about that visit.)

If you look closely, you can three of Minneapolis' dozens of Slyways. Almost every build in downtown Minneapolis is connected at the second floor with a Skyway bridge. There are over eight miles of walkways at the second floor level in downtown.

If you look closely, you can three of Minneapolis’ dozens of Slyways. Almost every building in downtown Minneapolis is connected at the second floor level by a Skyway bridge. There are over eight miles of walkways connected at the second floor level in downtown Minneapolis.

Ironically, one week after that previous visit, I ran across an Internet article by Andy Sturdevant describing two stairways in Minneapolis that we missed. (Please click here to read that article.) Needless to say, we planned on finding those stairways while we were in Minneapolis. Continue Reading →

October 19, 2016
by David Ryan
8 Comments

A Stairway Walk in Milwaukee

Last week while on a whirlwind trip to the Midwest, my dog Petey and I ran into a string of stairways in Milwaukee that we were not expecting to find. We had stopped in Milwaukee to take pictures of buildings made out of Milwaukee “cream style” brick. In the late 19^th century Milwaukee was known as the “Cream City” because of the prevalence of the brick.

After taking some photos, We wandered into a one-time industrial area a little northwest of downtown Milwaukee that is rapidly being converted into housing. Ironically, We parked our car across the street from an old cream style brick tavern undergoing renovation and started walking.

Right across the street from the tavern was a relatively new stairway at the intersection of Vine and Hubbard.

This is a nice example of a cream style brick tavern. At one time, there was always a tavern within walking distance in the Midwest.

This stairway is right across the street from the tavern and an extension of Vine Street.

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July 23, 2016
by David Ryan
7 Comments

Wandering to the World Famous “Hollywood” Sign

Earlier this week my daughter Amy, grandson Jake, and I had the opportunity to link up in Los Angeles and walk to the world famous Hollywood sign. When we started planning our get-together, I contacted Bob Inman, the author of “Finding Los Angeles by Foot”, for a good walking route to the sign. The route he mapped out for us and the walk itself were both fantastic. And if you plan on doing some exploring in Los Angeles, Bob’s book is an amazing resource for finding hidden stairways and paths throughout the area.

Our route started at the granite gate on Beachwood at the entrance of Hollywoodland. As most of you probably know, the Hollywood sign used to say Hollywoodland. The sign was built in the 1920s to promote a housing development of the same name in the Hollywood Hills. Sometime in the late 1940s the sign lost its last four letters and was shortened to Hollywood. The sign was completely refurbished in the late 1970s.

As you can see by the plaque on the gate, the neighborhood was developed around 1923. You will see the gray granite many times along the way!

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