Lyon Park Walkabout

Image: Screenshot of Walkabout Neighborhood Maps from www.walkarlington.com (source)

Walking is a good way to get to know a place, don't you think? It's free, easy on your joints, and you can easily adjust your route. (There are exceptions to this latter point. A recent example is a walking tour of Tyson's Corner led by a UVA urban planning professor where sidewalks abruptly ended.) Walking is how I get accustomed to new neighborhoods I live in or to explore new (and old) places I visit. I am learning about Arlington, especially my neighborhood and the ones surrounding it by walking. (I also bike in Arlington, and drive too.)

Image: Screenshot of Lyon Park Walkabout from wwwwalkarlington.com (source)

Now I cannot remember how I learned about the Walkabouts brochures but I emailed the organization and was sent a hard copy. There's something about paper maps! There are 25 self-guided walkabout routes in the brochure. (Arlington County has 58 neighborhoods; no towns.) The first route I walked, and share here, is Lyon Park which is 2.3 miles. I only walked the western half of the route. My pace was akin to a stroll with many stops and starts along to way to take photographs.

The first stop on my version of the Lyon Park tour is the Cape Cod style house on Highland at 2nd Rd. N.

From there I walked to the Christ Church of Arlington on Pershing Drive. The church founded the annual Arlington Turkey Trot.

My next stop was another church. This one is Claredon United Methodist Church on Irving St at 6th Street. Across from the church is Irving Apartment Building of garden apartments constructed in 1926. Across from the apartment building on 6th St. N. is an American Foursquare style house. I failed to photograph it.

If you can believe it, the house pictured above is Sears-Roebuck catalog house built in the Dutch-Colonial style in 1926. If you are in Arlington, it's on Garfield Street near Lyon Park.

I walked early in October but Halloween decorations were up. A spooky yard at this Tudor style house. on 1st Rd. N.

I have walked, biked, driven in other parts of Arlington but not using the the Walkabouts guide. It's doubtful I will complete all 25 routes but I'll share my next purposeful stroll here. In the meantime, here's a short list of books about walking.

P.S. Please recommend my next walkabout (Arlingtonians) and your favorite books about walking (everybody)!