My photo walk of 12 April 2011

12 April 2011

70 minute walk (well, actually more like 20 minutes)

Ah, my first photo walk of the season. My BG level was a little high and I've been thinking about locating a building labeled "ROOT" I've been asked about, so I headed out for a little excursion and some needed exercise to run my BG level down. Near the end of my walk, after taking a few, final photos of my old house on East Oak Street (current home of my daughter and her family), I settled into a lengthy discussion with my daughter and rather lengthened my walk time (without lengthening my actual exercise time). I did locate the "ROOT" building on the Mason square and got some photos of the downtown Mason area, and I got some important exercise. We're having some rather nice walking weather at the moment so it was an ideal time to take my first photo walk of the season!

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I immediately found the building I was seeking labeled "ROOT". The window says, "George A. Sullivan, Attorney at Law". It is on East Ash Street, next to the Mason Chamber of Commerce just across the street from the courthouse building. The third photo was taken from the front lawn of the courthouse building, which dominates the Mason city square.

Here's the front lawn of the courthouse with the "ROOT" building in the background. Later in my walk I was on West Maple Street looking towards the courthouse building, towering above the Mason State Bank building. The red brick building at the right (middle picture) houses the Imperial Gardens Chinese restaurant, where I occasionally take my grandson for an excellent buffet luncheon. To my left was the Courthouse Pub. The light was perfect for an interesting shot with the courthouse reflected in the window in the late afternoon light.

On the south side of Ash are the offices of Noud & Noud Attorneys, the local Quality Dairy Co., and the Imperial Gardens.

Further up Maple Street I got shots of Ware's Pharmacy and a couple photos of the Maple Street Mall windows.

Here are a couple more shots of the Maple Street Mall (one with a bit of a "self portrait") and Ware's Pharmacy across the street.

Heading south on Jefferson Street I looked back at the windows of Ware's Pharmacy (note the extended awning), took a photo of the plaque on Mason State Bank, and took a photo of the Courthouse building across the street, looking rather magnificent in the late afternoon light. As I was standing in front of Ware's Pharmacy I was rather startled by a grinding sound. Ware's was just closing for the evening and the awning started closing (rather noisily).

Further down Jefferson Street I passed the recently opened "Daily Scoop" ice cream store, featuring ice cream from the Michigan State University Dairy store. One young lady was enjoying her ice cream cone, watching me take photos with some interest. A bit further south is the Bestsellers Bookstore and coffee shop, with free Wi-Fi. I often see people there with their laptop computers open.

On the corner is the excellent "The Vault Deli". You can buy meats, cheeses, wines and very good deli sandwiches there. Crossing Ash Street you come to the Baja Grill restaurant and the famous Kean's dime store. Across the street is the Mason Chiropractic Center, Mason Barber Shop and Wheaton's Frame Shoppe.

Here's another shot of Kean's and the alley next to it. Across the street is an outstanding Mexican restaurant "Los Tres Amigos". Within a couple blocks you can choose among several excellent restaurants: Imperial Gardens, The Courthouse Pub, Booksellers or The Vault Deli for lighter fare, Baja Grill and Los Tres Amigos. Pretty impressive for the city square of a small Michigan town!

Here's another shot of Los Tres Amigos with just a glimpse of my first Mason home on East Oak Street. The second photo shows a better shot of my old home, currently owned by my daughter and her family. Heading down the alley behind the Oak Street house I took this photo of a new raised garden bed being built by my son-in-law Jeff.

Above is a photo of the raised garden bed Jeff build last year. My daughter had researched this kind of garden and discovered it was a very productive method of growing quality produce. This year they are expanding to two gardens. I look forward to receiving some very nice tomatoes and other produce this summer! My daughter Margaret and granddaughter Hazel posed for me at the new raised garden. A final shot from their yard shows another view of the clock tower of the courthouse building, showing how it rather dominates downtown Mason.