A Sunday Walk

Early this Sunday morning I set out to take a walk around our new neighborhood for a light exercise and to see what's there. (click on any picture to enlarge it.)

Started my walk on the river walk below our window, and crossed the bridge.

Not much traffic on a Sunday morning.  Our Apt building on the left; Veterans' Auditorium (link) on the right. 

The river walk was uipgraded in the 90's, and survived the 2008 flood reasonably intact.

The footings for the current bridge were originally laid about 100 years ago.
The city was founded here because the riverbed was rocky, and could be crossed
on foot or wagon during times of low-normal flow.

The Vets Memorial reopened only recently (link), after extensive renovation after the flood (link)
Note the bridges that I walked this morning and the entire island
were totally underwater during the flood!

The old bank (the original part in the foreground) (link) was designed by Louis Sullivan
and is now an Italian Restaurant.  New Condos east of the bank and across from the
 new river amphitheater are almost finished.

The trees have just about finished their blossoming, but new flowers are appearing elsewhere.

This trail through Cedar Rapids connects with the Cedar Valley Trail (link)
Improvements in the landscaping are underway.

An old warehouse under conversion to urban lofts.

Doors for exiting to the side street after the performance at the Paramount Theater

In addition to some mid-century ugly, there are some really nice preserved old buildings in the downtown.

Not that old, but attractive.

The Blue Strawberry - my favorite downtown coffee shop
- and only 1  1/2 blocks from our apartment building!

The Blue Strawberry