So what’s a day like in the city on a snowy day? There are probably as many answers to that as there are people who live downtown. Some had to get in a car and drive to work and some chose to stay indoors all day and keep the furnace turned up to keep things toasty. Same thing you could do in a suburb. Or you could choose from a wide range of alternatives. Without moving your car.
I slept in a bit, enjoying the fact that nothing was pressing for me yesterday and then I gathered my camera, coat and hat and headed out. Shooting photographs as I went, I stopped in at Market House Cafe for a good cup of coffee which I carried to the Blue Plate Special at WDVX featuring Peachy Pyron (who I’ll have more on in Saturday Sounds – she was great) and the Old City Buskers who put on their usual fun show.
I walked from there through the Old City continuing to take photographs as I went. This was a great snow in that it was enough to be pretty while the temperatures weren’t unbearable. I tried to concentrate on what I couldn’t have photographed in the snow before, like the sculptures which didn’t get placed until last spring. Still, some of my favorites are always irresistible: The Daylight Building, Krutch Park, Market Square, the western side of the 100 Block, Patrick Sullivan’s, Java and more.
Something that never would have happened to me had I taken a walk in my neighborhood in the suburbs was being invited to meet friends (and some new ones) at a pub as I walked about. But that’s what happens when you get to know people downtown. I shot some young folks throwing snow and watched them debate the purchase of a $10 sled at Mast General Store before joining those friends in the Downtown Grill and Brewery for a bit.
Urban Woman and I had agreed to enjoy our traditional meal-out-on-a-snow-day in the middle of the afternoon, so I swung by our place and she and I walked to Market House Cafe where we enjoyed an excellent chicken salad and kale soup along with more coffee. She couldn’t resist the fun of making a smiley face as we left on the top of one of the tables we can’t wait to use this spring.
After a brief rest back home, we joined a few dozen others for a movie premier at the Regal Riveria. Author Rick Yancey, a downtown resident, joined the group for “The Fifth Wave,” an adaptation of his novel of the same name. A dystopian novel following teen-aged Cassie Sullivan (Chloe Grace Moretz) fighting for her own survival and the rescue of her brother as a fifth wave of terror is unleashed on the earth with the intention of eradicating the human species.
Intense? Yes. And if that sounds like your kind of thing, you will find it this weekend in wide release starting today. From there Rick Yancey invited the crowd to join him in Club LeConte for food and drink and to celebrate the release. Many of those gathered were neighbors and friends from around downtown.
It’s a good sample of the contrast of city living versus living elsewhere. Some of the same fun and more could be had outside downtown, but it likely would require a car. Staying inside the city we were able to take a long walk, hear live music, eat out, have a drink elsewhere, make it home for a bit of rest, attend a world premiere move and cap it off in a high-rise overlooking the city. Not a bad day – and all just walking around the neighborhood.
