We both arrived home reasonably early from work, and since it was a warm evening we thought we'd take a walk to Bader Park and back before dinner. We had intended to visit Bader for our very first blog post but due to a traffice detour -- and our good luck in finding then unknown (to us) Pittsview and Marybeth Doyle -- we never made it there. And we didn't make it there on this night, either.
Instead, we realized we could visit a number of smaller parks, all of which are closer to our house than Bader is. And all of them, we realized afterward, can be characterized as Corner Parks -- smallish (to tiny) patches of green crammed -- and sometimes hidden -- on one of our fair city's many residential corners. These are the five parks we visited, and the order in which we came upon them:
1. George Washington Park -- otherwise extremely well-known as the infamous Rock -- sits on the very busy corner of Hill and Washtenaw. Who has not painted The Rock? Legend has it that it was originally a pebble, and its many coats of paint have made it grow to be the boulder we see today.
2. Douglas Park -- an expansive stretch of green across Hill on the same (west) side of Washtenaw, this relatively large corner park is edged with trees, and its open spaces have hosted countless sorority/fraternity football and frisbee games
3. Crary Park is directly across from Douglas Park, on the east side of Wasthenaw Avenue. Though it widens considerably as it heads up a hill and away from traffic, we'd never noticed this park before, possibly because its many curbside trees partially obscure it but also because it seems to be a rather recent addition to the Ann Arbor Parks system -- perhaps within the last year. A steep climb to its eastern edge led us to a large and beautiful tree, and we rested in its shade for a moment, listening to the murmuring traffic well below, before we were on our way.
4. Postman's Rest -- the most interesting name of the parks we've yet to visit, and it lived up to its name in nearly every respect. As well-hidden as a park can be, it looks from the street like just another heavily wooded lot along stately Vinewood Avenue, easily mistaken for a well-shrouded private home unless you already knew this place existed. A short, narrow trail opens to a private and soothing space, surprisingly large enough to accomodate a small sandbox, picnic table, wooden swing, and bench. A couple of neighborhood kids knew it was there, and though we told them we didn't mean to invade their privacy, and would only linger for a moment, they nonetheless fled soon after we arrived. We're curious to know the history of this park, and how it got its name.
5
5. The longest portion of our walk was still ahead, and we trudged up Devonshire a good mile or more to finally arrive at Devonshire Park, which is really not much more than a small access area introducing a short, narrow trail to Geddes -- and across Geddes to Gallup Park.
Total elapsed time of our vigorous walk: just under two hours. We were hungry when we got home, but we had earned our dinner. And we were pleased with our tally; five more parks visited now brings us to a grand total of 48. Just 109 left to go!
No comments:
Post a Comment