Category: Walk

This may seem like a silly thing to post about but I think many people come visit our town and never stroll around. I blame this on the fact that nobody has written a post about how it is important to just wander the town :). So here we go.

For the moment, we will assume you will visit the center of Lake City at some point. We will call this the Town Park or Bushwhack Lodge area. This is a great chance to take a break from eating or buying or playing and just go for a stroll. From the middle of town you can loop to the north or south. North is a bit longer than south but both are easy strolls for all ages. Both loops will take you by the river and by some historic buildings. You can start with historic buildings or with the river in either case.

In our case, in the video, we took a northern loop starting with the river. To repeat this path you will walk eastward on the sidewalk from the the middle of town past the Silver Spur down 3rd St. The sidewalk will turn you north or south at Henson St. Go North. The sidewalk travels couple blocks and then turns you to the gorgeous bridge that crosses the river at 5th st. You are now on the nature trail and you can follow it until it pops you out into Ball Flats (named thus because there was a baseball field there… I think there is even a plaque there somewhere explaining).

This trail travels one block through a neighborhood that most people never know is in Lake City. You could wander this neighborhood for a second or just follow the sidewalk back across 8 1/2 st. This is a good moment to grab some groceries or bakery goods if you need them. You unfortunately have to walk on the highway for a block. So you may as well get an errand in.

Head west to the visitor center. Pick up all the pamphlets and ask all the questions. Usually, we head west from here and get on Silver street or an alley to walk home. However, if this is your only walk around town, go north to Petes Lake. It is a great marshy preserve. The reason we do not usually go that way is because it can be a multi-hour detour. My kids like to enjoy all the creatures.

Now you head back down south on Silver or Bluff and enjoy all the lovely historic homes. This quick loop gives you a feel for the town and takes very little time. Again, it seems silly but unless someone tells you to do it you might not see any of this. If you just drive through town, you will miss this walkable aspect.

This may feel obvious to some people but one of the greatest things to do when you are outside in the evening is to huddle around a warm fire and share conversation and hopefully s’mores. It is easy to forget how much of human history did not have artificial light. If you were up at night it was either moonlight (which is also incredible) or fire. Fire is probably what created civilization (along with beer).

There are many safe places to have a fire around Lake City when the fire restrictions allow. Please make sure you are careful to follow essential campfire safety and put it all the way out when you are done. Forest fires are an important part of nature but please do not start one.

Before I close on this topic, I would like to discuss the perfect mallow. When you are roasting a marshmallow, you are welcome to cook it however you would like. But I hope you will understand that there is a right way. First, you need a reasonable length stick that is preferably thin, straight, and fresh. Do not go destroying trees but borrow from a weedy bush or an inconvenient branch. Then, with the mallow on the end of the stick you slowly rotate. Preferably to the side of the flame. You want all heat and little flame. As you rotate the mallow will expand. It should expand significantly before it starts to brown. It should brown significantly before you are done but never burn. The perfect mallow is not an object but a point in time. The mallow is perfect at the first moment that you rotate the stick and the mallow stays perfectly still. The stick is now spinning free inside the wonderfully gooey interior. You may now eat it straight or in the sandwich style of your liking. You may want to try it between cookies or with peanut butter cups or in a tortilla or maybe ritz crackers or perhaps dark chocolate or with honey or cinnamon or peppermint bark… Go nuts but respect the mallow and the wonderful community it is created in.