September 26, 2013 - Hartford, CT

Kate and I did a volkswalk in Hartford today. Hartford is everything that Providence isn't.

The capitol

The state capitol building (1876) is one of the better ones. (I have now seen 36 state capitol buildings.) It is the only Victorian Gothic statehouse in the country. It is stunning and has been carefully restored and well-maintained. Try to find the pamphlet published by the League of Women Voters that offers a self-guided tour of the capitol.

Inside the capitol

The inside is worth exploring. In addition to the ornate Victorian stenciling, variety of marble, and gorgeous dome, the building contains many statues and historical artifacts. My favorite was "The Genius of Connecticut," a wonderful statue of a winged woman, the symbolic protector of Connecticut.

"The Genius of Connecticut"

There is a lot more to see on this walk. First you will walk through Bushnell Park with the Corning Fountain.

Continuing on, you will see the Old State House (Bullfinch, 1796), the State Library and Supreme Court buildings, the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Butler McCook Homestead, the Hartford Public Library, City Hall, the Wadsworth Atheneum and the Travelers Tower (for many years, the tallest building between New York and Boston). "We . . . are . . . Travelers. Dum , de dum dum, dum, dum, dum."

Then you come to the urban renewal district and some recent construction. After walking over a bridge across the Connecticut River, you will have a view of the Hartford skyline and the blue onion dome of the former Colt firearms factory. Coming back via a different bridge, you will pass by a number of Nineteenth Century structures before entering Bushnell Park. You will see a nicely preserved 100-year-old carousel and you will joust with traffic as you walk under the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch (1885).

Hartford has a good vibe. If you want to see all the museums and other venues on the walk route, you would probably need three days.

Walk Route: B+
Walk Instructions: B+

September 25, 2013 - Providence, RI

RISD and some historic buildings

Our destination today was the Roger Williams Visitor Center in Providence, where we began our volkswalk. We walked through a park, past the oldest Baptist chuch in America (1648), and past the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).

A beautiful roof line

We went back and fourth across the Providence River four times over different bridges.  

After walking through the Providence Place Mall we arrived at the State Capitol. It was a typical state capitol building with a rotunda and lots of marble and statues inside.

Rhode Island State Capitol

Inside the Capitol

The Library inside the Capitol

All in all, Providence was pleasant, but not particularly remarkable. It had a lot more buildings from the colonial period and a lot fewer modern buildings than I expected.  I did not come away with a feel for what this city is about. The walk directions and map were very confusing, and crossing the streets was sometimes tricky.

Leaving the city was difficult and we got lost in a maze of freeways. After looping around three or four times, we found our way out of the maze and got on the road to Hartford, CT, where we are spending the night.



Walk Route: B-
Walk Directions: C-

September 24, 2013 - Freeport, ME

Upon reaching Freeport, Maine, Kate and I embarked upon a volkswalk that took us down Main Street to the L.L.Bean "Campus." It is a lovely, well-planned campus (and is a destination for tour buses). It was fun to shop there in person. I especially liked the Home Store. I didn't buy anything because I really don't have any room in my luggage for anything else. But I was tempted.

Freeport is a very picturesque town. Even the CVS and the Hampton Inn blended in to the classic New England setting. Obviously, they take their zoning very seriously here. We bypassed a crowded lobster place at lunch time and ended up at a Chinese buffet. It was ok, but my clothing absorbed the smell of the restaurant and I did not enjoy that.  

Walking around Freeport, you would think that they invented moose here, even though we didn't see any live moose. This is of course, ridiculous. Everybody knows, or should know, that moose were invented in Alaska. However, I think they may have invented Sorels in Freeport and there were some gret Sorel photo ops there. I wanted to buy a super-cute Sorel keychain, but I din't want to spend $8 for it. My daughter, who went to college in Maine, says they are not Sorels, they are "Bean Boots."

There are a number of other outlet stores on this route and a few mildly historic buildings. It's just what you would expect to see in New England, and fall is a terrific time to visit.

Walk Route: B
Walk Instructions: C

January 1, 2013 - Historic Downtown Anchorage (YRE)

Ten diehard members of the Anchorage Volkswalk Club showed up for the club's traditional New Year's Day walk. We gathered in the lobby of the Westmark Hotel then headed out toward the starting point of the Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk, the Sun. The Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk is a scale model of our solar system. Taking the walk, you experience the relative size of the planets and their distance from the Sun. The scale was chosen so that a leisurely walking pace mimics the speed of light. On this scale, each step equals the distance light travels in one second (300,000 kilometers or 186,000 miles).

About this time, our group was  joined by a homeless man.  He followed us for the entire walk. We continued past the downtown bus depot, City Hall, and a mural depicting Anchorage's history along a timeline.  Next we passed the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center and the Linny Pacillo Parking Garage. Here you can see a series of plaques entitled "Alaska History Walk - A Journey of Statehood 1867-2009" and another mural entitled "Focus on Statehood."

We walked  past the Convention Center again, and then past the Conoco-Phillips Building and the Marriott Hotel, before arriving at the Delaney Park Strip. It is 14 blocks long and one block wide and was originally a firebreak between the original town site and the wooded area to the south.  It served as an airstrip from 1923-30.

At Resolution Park, you can see a statue of Captain James Cook looking out over the Cook Inlet.  Continuing on, we passed the Hotel Captain Cook, the Holy Family Cathedral, and the new state courthouse.

Engine Number One

Alaska Railroad Depot, built in 1942

Heading downhill on Christensen Drive, we reached the Alaska Railroad Depot.  Engine Number 1 sits on a pedestal in front of the depot. It was built in 1907 and was used to haul dirt during the construction of the Panama Canal before it was shipped to Alaska to haul freight.  It was retired in 1953.

Ship Creek

We walked along Ship Creek for a bit before heading back uphill to the Eisenhower Statehood Memorial. 

All aboard the Ice Train

Back in the downtown area we passed by a bronze statue of Balto, the Fifth Avenue Mall, and the Egan Civic and Convention Center.  Across from the Egan Center we entered Town Square Park and stopped to look at the ice sculptures.  They were a little worse for the wear due to temperatures in the mid to upper 30's last week.  From this point it was a very short walk to to the Westmark and the conclusion of our 5k walk.

 

My trusty Yak Trax

While it wasn't cold (about 30°F), it was somewhat icy.  Most of us had Yak Trax, or similar ice grippers and they worked quite well.

Walk Route:  B

Walk Instructions: A-