Wish Upon A Star

This past spring, I spent a few days in Roanoke, VA.  Roanoke is a major city of the New River Valley region in southwestern Virginia.  It serves as a regional center for commerce, transportation and medicine.  Roanoke is also home to a good friend of mines and his wife and while visiting, I was able to spend some time with them and explore parts of the city.  One of my favorite visits was to Mill Mountain - a 1,700 ft. tall mountain that features a beautiful tree shaded park, a zoo and trails overlooking downtown Roanoke.  The best feature on the mountain was the "star".  The star is a 88-foot tall steel structure that has been illuminating (at night) from the top of the mountain since 1949 and it remains as the world's largest man-made freestanding star.

Downtown Roanoke (taken from atop Mill Mountain)

Port City

On July 17, 2016, I spent the day in charming downtown Wilmington NC.  I had seen a feature about the city on one of the cable networks a year prior and I wanted to visit and experience it for myself.  And I am glad that I did!  Wilmington is a "port" city, located on the coast of of southeastern North Carolina (about an hour or so southeast of Raleigh).  Without knowing much about the town, I was eager to walk through its historic downtown and meet and mingle with the locals and to take in the scenes.  While there, I was delighted to find out that there is a riverwalk attraction - a wooden boardwalk that stretches about 1-mile along the Cape Fear River.  From the downtown river front, there are magnificent, stunning views of the open water and the docked USS North Carolina Battleship.  Also, I included a photo of the historic New Hanover County Courthouse, which is located at the corner of Market and 3rd Street.  The building has a majestic presence as you walk along Market Street and I wanted to include it in this blog/journal.  And, finally, I had lunch at Elijah's - an upscale restaurant located in a historic house next to the Riverwalk.  I had the Mixed Grill seafood dish and it was absolutely amazing - salmon, mahi, shrimp all char-grilled to perfection!

Riverwalk along Cape Fear River

Historic New Hanover County Courthouse

mixed grille from Elijah's Restuarant

Finding Ferguson

On July 5, 2016, I made a detour into the city of Ferguson, MO.  It was a hot day (brutally hot) as I embarked on my journey back to the east coast from the small town of LaMont, MO (about 3 hours west of St. Louis).  Once I had reached the St. Louis metropolitan area (around mid day), I took the quick detour off of I-70 and into the city of Ferguson.   Ferguson is a small city, located in St. Louis County, MO, and abuts the northern edge of the city of St. Louis.

I wanted to see, experience where the tragic events occurred during the summer of 2014 when an 18-year old black man name Michael Brown was shot dead by a Ferguson police officer.  This event lead to protests and acts of vandalism in Ferguson, mainly, along W. Florissant Avenue - a major roadway that runs east and west between downtown St Louis and the suburbs in the County.

I noticed that there are two sides of Ferguson - a charming, historic 'downtown' area with green lawns, coffee shops, boutiques and eateries and then there is the side where Michael Brown resided - an economically depressed side of town aligned with numerous liquor stores, pockets of debris along the streets and many closed, boarded up businesses.  That was the common scene along W. Florissant Ave. where the rioting occurred in August of 2014.  It was there I saw the store (Ferguson Market and Liquor) where Brown had stolen some cigarillos (according to reports/video surveillance) and the location, Canfield Drive, where Brown was shot dead.  Along Canfield Drive, there is a bronze plaque embedded into the sidewalk in memory of Michael Brown.  I wouldn't had noticed this plaque (from sitting in my car) if two people hadn't stopped and looked down at the pavement.

May Brown rest in peace.

W. Florissant Ave. 

Brown's Memorial on Canfield Dr.

Hello, Metro Centre!

Okay, this place is gradually becoming the face of Owings Mills, Maryland.  This is the Metro Centre - a mixed use project that has apartments, stores, a library, college, offices and restaurants.  It is situated adjacent to the Baltimore metro rail station next to I-795.

I think the Metro Centre will eventually become the 'downtown' for Owings Mills over the next 10 years or so.  This was once a massive paved parking lot for commuters who lived in this area who rode the subway trains into Baltimore.  However, over the last several years, an 8-story parking garage structure was built, followed by the 6-story library/community college building and a second 8-story parking garage was constructed thereafter, in conjunction with the 4 story apartment/retail building along the newly 'boulevard' that cuts through the property name Grand Central Avenue.

In these photos are views taken from Grand Central Avenue of the library/community college building, the parking garage and an office building that is currently under construction.

On weekends, I walk/jog along the Avenue and each week, it appears more and more people around the area are discovering the Metro Centre.  I think it's going to help redefine Owings Mills and give the area a much needed identity.

 

Downtown Mall (Charlottesville, Va.)

I just love this town.  I was in Charlottesville, Va.on New Year's Day (weekend) and took a late afternoon stroll through its downtown mall.  The downtown mall is a historic 'urban park' pedestrian-only mall and serves as the centerpiece of tourist and local attractions in Charlottesville.  The mall was once a downtown street (Main Street) and today it serves as a pedestrian plaza featuring a vibrant mix of shops, offices and restaurants.  At one end of the mall is the NTelos Wireless Pavilion - an outdoor amphitheater where live entertainment takes place.

Downtown Mall

Silver Spring

On today, I made the 50-mile drive down to Silver Spring, Maryland to catch the subway into Washington D.C.  The subway station is located in the heart of Silver Spring and is about a 30 min. train ride into D.C.  The weather was quite deceiving on this mid-December afternoon - mild temperatures, near sunny skies and no jacket/sweater required.  I'd guess the temps. got up to the high 60s - which is absolutely okay with a warm-minded person as myself.

Silver Spring is, perhaps, one of the three urban centers of Montgomery County, Maryland (Bethesda and Rockville being the other two). Silver Spring is what we urban planners would label as an 'edge city'.  Edge cities are urban communities located at or near the 'edge' of city boundaries and have a high concentration of businesses, residence and entertainment.  Silver Spring is a perfect example of such.

Below are several photos of 'downtown' Silver Spring, that includes scenes from the weekend farmer's market and a cool artsty Christmas tree situated in the downtown plaza area near Ellsworth Street.

End Of Summer

My summer ended with a weekend trip to Ocean City, Maryland.  Ocean City is a beach resort that rests at the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.  It was a warm, sunny September weekend and my trip so happened to coincide with the annual Bike Fest weekend.  I didn't go to Ocean City for that event; I went for the scenery, sand and the sun.