When was the last time that you walked across town.

Have you ever?

Why not?

It is a very different perspective on your town. I mean when we travel abroad, especially to places like Europe and Central America we walk everywhere. My trips have always included days where we spent 10-15miles of walking a day - and if you count the miles inside of museums its even more.

When we walk we see more of the city. We see people. We can stop in that funky store that we are always zooming by. We can walk down this road versus that road. We don’t even have to take the roads we would normally drive because we are not worried about speed.

Its funny. I wanted to walk to the Minneapolis Institute of Art yesterday to attend their Accoustic Sunrise (its not at sunrise, its actually at noon, but the name is catchy!) I had nothing planned for the day and I wanted to get some exercise in so I chose to walk. I discovered rapidly that without the car I didn’t quite know how to get there. So I downloaded a map from mapquest and plotted my course.

The first third was same old - its my stomping ground for my neighborhood walks, however when I got 38th and Bryant I detoured. I didn’t take the same old streets that I would normally drive. I took side streets. Said hello to fellow walkers and people working in their yard. As I approached Whittier I discovered a whole new part of town that I really had never noticed before. Mansions! If you stick to the main thoroughfare you will never see them. Apparently these are all the rage these days as people are discovering these huge houses in decent shape in a perceived not so "safe" neighborhood. I toured one on my walk. Oh another thing you can do when you are out walking the town on Sunday you can walk right into open houses, just because its there.

New houses, new neighborhoods, new restaurants, new perspectives. Take a walk on the wildside and be a tourist at home. Walk across town.