Precious metals, precious streets?

The small dog and I went on our first big walk in a while today, conquering a lot of terrain. We headed down Carew to Armory, and then turned right off of Armory on to Governor. We then turned left on to Penacook and then left again on to Wait, took that down to Armory and then turned right on to Miller. My co-worker Liz's mom grew up on Miller Street and wrote a lovely piece about her experiences there for the Write On, Springfield! collection. I'm going to (hopefully) meet with Jane soon to talk with her about her youth, growing up next to Van Horn Park.

We strolled through the park before continuing on our journey, heading up Armory toward Beauchamp. We took that up to Hamburg, then turned onto Bevier. We took that down to Armory and then turned right onto Sterling. We checked out Nevada before heading down Gold, back onto Armory, and then up Silver.

We turned left onto Hamburg and found a couple small businesses in that weird little rotary area.

On Hamburg:






A learning center, a salon (surprise!) and a place to get some lovely eyewear.

On the rotary is Russ's Breakfast and Lunch, Foggy Dew Ink Tattoo and the City Line Cafe.





It was hard to find any information on any of these places, but a reviewer for Insider Pages said this of the City Line Cafe: "The City Line is a tradition Irish pub that has been around for 30+ years. The place is dark inside and like the show Cheers "every knows your name" -- or don't bother coming in. They don't serve food but the Guinness is cold!" Yahoo review Liz said, "Fun: Great Irish Pub to hang out in. Favorite spot for local Hungry Hill residents. Great prices!! Check it out."

We took Rimmon up to Newbury and then followed Carew back home (in the rain...it was lovely).

193 down, 30 to go

The official Van Horn Park post

I set out with the small goal of finishing all the streets off of Newbury today, and the small dog and I did a bit more than that. It was very warm and started out sunny, and then it got darkly overcast and I felt maybe a dozen sprinkles hit me, but the rain held off until we got home.

We traveled down Carew to Newbury once more, turning left onto Huron. We took that all the way down to St. Lawrence, finishing that up, and then turned right off of Huron onto Connecticut. We had been checking out Connecticut all the way from Farnsworth. We turned right onto David, took that to its end, turned around and then turned right onto Wentworth. We took that to its end, turned around, got back onto David, and then turned right onto Tacoma. We followed Tacoma up to Liberty and took Liberty down to the back entrance of Van Horn Park.





This is the small back pond, which turns totally green with algae by the end of the summer.



Where the trail splits is one of my favorite features of the park, a natural staircase formed by the roots of trees.



As we wandered along the trail, I noticed an awful lot of these bastard caterpillars, which can kill whole trees. If I had my way, I'd squish them all but it's the natural order for them to do their thing.



This photo was taken up by Armory Street, by the park entrance closest to Springfield Street. This is my favorite spot in the entire park.



This is the view of the big pond from the bridge on Armory Street.

We followed the sidewalk up Armory to the main entrance to the park and walked in on Catafalque Drive, which is basically the driveway to the park's parking lot. Van Horn offers a splash pad, a playground, several baseball diamonds, tennis courts, a basketball court, a picnic area and even a doggie water fountain. When we were done at the park, we took Armory up to where it meets Carew.

Across Carew from Our Lady of Hope is the House of Huang, Kenny Travel and Tours Income Tax and Kwick Kleaners and Laundromat.





The House of Huang received a glowing five-star review from a person on Yahoo! Local.

Across Armory from those shops were the Racing Mart, the Image Makers II and Jasmin.





The Racing Mart is your typical convenience store; Image Makers -- I'm telling you, you need your hair cut, you come to Liberty Heights; and Jasmin's Creations offers women's clothing and serves as a bridal boutique.

Next to them was El Pilon Restaurant, which Yahoo! Local user rubia gave five stars, stating, "You have to go to this restaurant, I give them an A+. It's one of my favorites. Very good with customers. Fresh food everyday. If you're looking for some spanish food, this is the place to go. Oh, and don't forget to ask for a Natural juice. I tried the tamarindo one and it tasted so good I asked for another one."



Next to that on Carew is Gerardo's Transportation and New Millennium Barber Shop.





After passing the barber shop, we turned left onto Raymond Place to begin our series of short, dead-end streets. After Raymond it was Morrell Street, Van Horn Place, Mystic Court and Dineen Street. Once we'd finished those, we got up to the corner of Carew and Liberty, where Access Family Chiropractic and Facchini & Facchini PC sit across from a Cumberland Farms gas station.





Amanda S. wrote on InsiderPages.com "If you are looking for a chiropractor that really cares about your well being take a look here. Our family is feeling great because of this business. It is amazing how much better life is without aches and pains. The staff is cheerful and helpful. The office is clean and nicely decorated especially for the holidays." The office specializes in whiplash, sleeplessness, no noise or twisting treatment, migraines, fibromyalgia, fat loss and chronic fatigue. They also offer free consultations and free financing. (The "kinky" sign on the side of the building is the best feature of the office in my opinion.)



Facchini & Facchini PC specialize in work place injury, wills and estate planning, serious injuries, real estate - residential/commercial, personal injury, medical malpractice, defective products, criminal defense and car accidents, and they do hablan espanol.

We continued following Carew back up to where it meets Newbury. Just before the corner building is A&H Printing Company.



On the corner sits Angelo's Barbershop, Junction Skatepark and H&K Hair Design.



Junction Skatepark is "a skatepark for skateboarders by skateboarders" -- no bikes, scooters or roller blades allowed. This place is always busy and the kids that hang out there are pretty awesome. They always compliment the small dog and I.

181 down, 42 to go

It was a very busy day for the small dog and I -- full of busyness and business. We finished up the big chunk of streets between St. James and Liberty today and we came across a whole bunch of shops (and other things).

From our house, we went down Merrimac to Carew, and down Carew to its intersection with Nottingham. One of corner of this intersection, as previously noted, there is a real estate firm; on the other corner is Plus One Convenience and Fortune Cookie Chinese Restaurant.



I haven't been a patron at either of these establishments, but when I'm walking the doggie in this area around dinnertime, that Chinese smells really good.

Next to the Fortune Cookie is Three Sisters Beauty Salon.



It looks like a pretty average salon to me. What makes it really stand out is the wall that faces the Fortune Cookie, which is large and a bright aqua blue/green.

Next to Three Sisters is Trendsetters, an urban clothing shop.



And, next to that on the corner of Carew and Newbury, is Liranzo, a "Latin American cafe." This place also smells fantastic around dinnertime and that $5 lunch deal they've got advertised in the window is pretty tempting.



We turned left onto Newbury, and then right onto Phoenix Terrace, following that down onto Phoenix Street to its end back on Liberty. Phoenix Terrace is home of one of Springfield's many Adopt A Terrace sites.



Various organizations (or in this case, a group of neighbors) can adopt the small islands of land surrounded by roads in the city and beautify them in memory of someone. The Phoenix Terrace group is doing a great job.

Off Phoenix Street juts Cherrelyn and Clantoy, and off Clantoy are two tiny side streets, Arion and Dupont. Dupont has a lovely view of I-291.

At the end of Phoenix Street, there sits International Auto Sales & Repair.



And, next to that on Liberty, is A-1 Auto Repair, in case you couldn't get your car fixed at International.



Just down Liberty from A-1 is a store that sells all kinds of cell phone accessories but doesn't have a name, as far as I can tell.



Next to that, Cut Rite Flooring.



And, next to that, Jacqueline's Beauty Salon.



Up the street from those shops are Salerno Pizza and Finnegan's Tavern.





I have eaten food from Salerno before. My former housemates and my future husband all love their grinders (and mine was pretty good too), but I have not had their pizza. The chicken de rose grinder is what my hubby loves.

Finnegan's is always packed on game nights, and as you can tell by their decorating motif, they serve as both an Irish pub and a sports bar.

Down the street from these establishments is the Liberty Branch Library of the Springfield City Library. This branch is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. According to the library's Web site, "The Liberty Branch Library was built in 1930 to serve the new Liberty Heights suburb of Irish and French Canadian immigrants who were settling this part of the city as the Street Car lines were extended out Carew Street. Skilled workers and their families immediately made this library a popular and much appreciated part of the community. 1800 books were checked out the first day the Library was opened. Designed by architect Max Westoff in the Colonial Revival style with a Southern Flair in the use of the double chimneys on either end, this truly is an Architectural gem. W. W. Davis Construction built the Library for $35,000. They also constructed the Glenwood and Liberty schools." The Web site also states, "The Liberty Branch Advisory Committee meets the 3rd Tuesday of the month from 10:00-11:30. Bring your voice and your ideas on how to make Liberty work best for our neighborhood. All are welcome!"



From Liberty, I turned right onto Kendall and then left onto Phoenix Terrace and headed up its opposite side to get to Freeman Terrace. I turned left onto Hastings and then right onto Banbury, and followed that back to Liberty. On one corner of Banbury and Liberty is El Bohio Restaurant; on the other, Solid Rock Community Baptist Church.



A Yahoo! reviewer had this to say of El Bohio: "This is my favorite Latin restaurant in Springfield for sure! Their food is ALWAYS fresh and the taste of it's just right. If you're craving for Latin food take it from a Latin girl The Bohio is the place to go."

On the corner of Liberty and Carew streets is Solid Rock Community Baptist Church.



The church offers both Sunday and Tuesday services.

After checking those two out, the dog and I headed back up Banbury and turned onto Stockman and took that back to Newbury, which led us back to Carew and back home.

59 down, 164 to go

I made a shocking discovery today on a walk with the doggie and my future husband -- Wilbur Street does not exist. If you look at the complete list of street names in this entry, you'll notice there is a WilbER Street and a WilbUR Street. Since I strolled down Wilber the other day, I thought I'd do Wilbur today. Turns out, it's all Wilber.

We traveled down Wilber to Kendall, so I could finish that street. Where Kendall meets Liberty, there is a little plaza that is home to a pizzeria, an industrial supplier, a clothing shop and a hair salon.



Jackie's Pizza offers "wings, seafood, salads, pasta, subs, soups, side orders, outstanding pizzas, fried dough, desserts, deli specials, deli sandwiches, childrens' dinners, calzones and appetizers." It is one of several pizzerias in the Liberty Street area. I have yet to try Jackie's, and I'm very picky about my pizza. I grew up in New York, after all.



George Radner Industrial Supply Company offers new and used machinery and industrial equipment and supplies.



Springfield is home to a lot of hip-hop and urban clothing stores, and that's what Cabos Flava Fashions sells. (Fun fact: The phone number that's on the sign for the shop belongs to a home a couple blocks away.)



Valle Vale International Hair specializes in Joico hair products. Despite the fact that I've been living here for almost two years, I have yet to find a Springfield-based salon to get my hair cut at -- I just wait until I go to visit my father and get my hair cut in Ilion, where I've always gone. Am I stubborn or am I too lazy to find someone new?

From the plaza, we headed up to the Liberty Street entrance to Van Horn Park and spent a little more than an hour there, letting the little dog romp. He enjoyed some aquatics.



40 down, 183 to go