Some Really Big Walks

My son gave me a book as a birthday gift, and, when I read it in March, I felt jealous of the author, William Helmreich. The book, The New York Nobody Knows, was fantastic!

I was a New Yorker (late 1980s and early 1990s), and I am now a big-time walker. I last wrote about walking here on June 16th, which was Father's Day, when I took a great walk of 8 miles along a path I used to ride my bicycle. My walks are exploding! I started writing this today to share the three half-marathon walks that I have taken over the past two weeks. I was hoping to take a fourth today, but the weather is rainy. I will share those details, but I want to first talk about this book.

I still remember very fondly some long walks with my girlfriend at first and then wife when I was a young man in NYC. I was a cyclist for exercise and fun, and these walks were just for fun. In his book, Helmreich discusses his walking 6000 miles in NYC over three years. That works out to about 40 miles per week.

A Professor of Sociology at City College of New York, he explained his goals and why walking was better than driving a car or riding a bike. His goal was to meet people face-to-face and to learn. He published it in 2015, when he turned 70. He ended up walking through all five boroughs of New York City, and he also published urban walking guides for four of them (not Staten Island!).

Perhaps because I lived in NYC for 8 years, this book was special to me. The author was pretty repetitive - my wife noted this as well. I liked the book so much that I looked into him and learned that he died in 2020. As one who is walking a lot, I was concerned that perhaps his death was due to too much walking! Nope, he died from COVID.

I am going to NYC and will write about that trip afterwards. I look forward to walking there again! In April of 2023, my son and his wife were married there, and I got some great walking in. There was so much to like about that trip, but one thing that stands out to me was the time spent with my wife on Monday, April 24th. We had made a reservation in advance for dinner at the restaurant where we had dined in 1989, but we didn't have other plans. We ended up taking a ferry from Brooklyn to 34th Street and walking to the Upper West Side. It was so much fun, but this is not what I want to discuss now.

Today, I want to discuss my three half-marathon walks. First, as a reminder, I came home from the hospital in a wheelchair on June 15, 2022. I no longer ride my bicycle. I still am grateful to my wife for walking me many months after I got out of the hospital, and I still remember the first time I got to walk alone. I walk a lot now, especially on Sunday mornings.

On Sunday, June 23rd, I actually gave thought to my walk in advance. Almost every Sunday morning for almost a year, I walk 1.7 miles to a cemetery near my house. My grandparents are buried there, but visiting them is not why I go. Rather, I go to spend time with the guard, John, who I have gotten to know well. I ended up doing the walk I envisioned, which was to go from the cemetery to a gardening store in the Heights that Fran and I enjoy, Buchanan's, and then to check out a restaurant, Ema, on North Main. I visited the store and then got to the restaurant, where I stood in a long line. While the restaurant looks interesting, I decided to come back with my wife in the future and headed home. It was way past my normal lunchtime, and I was walking by a bunch of restaurants. I ended up eating at and enjoying the meal at Lola, at 1102 Yale. I had not ever even heard of it. I ate a Cobb Salad and drank a lot of water too. I headed home from there, and finished what I think was my longest walk ever at 13 miles.

The next Sunday, I planned a walk again. Usually, I just walk kind of like I rode my bike: Just start walking! Well, after that awesome walk the week before, I envisioned a walk to a place I used to ride my bicycle. After the cemetery, I kept walking on Dallas Street and moved over a block or so to Polk Street. I didn't give it much thought ahead, but Polk Street is where my tragedy happened in 2022. I had visited the spot twice, feeling such accomplishment of being able to walk the 5 miles from my house, and this time was not too different. The other two times, I took a picture, writing about it here too the first time in February. This third time was the longest walk of my life, about 15 miles.

After eating so late the prior week, I was hunting for a spot on Polk and saw a place that looked interesting. I didn't like the name, Maga's (not MAGA, but I wondered!), but I checked it out and decided to eat there at Dumble Street, which I remember seeing on my bike rides. After eating, I walked to Polk and Wayside, which is on the edge of the Gus Wortham Park Golf Course. This is near the Brays Bayou, which I know well. I would have liked to have seen it, but the golf course was fenced and blocked my view. I stuck to my plan and walked to Lawndale. I stayed on that street until it ended at Telephone Road. I cut on Broadmoor Street to the Gulf Freeway and walked towards Cullen Blvd. Then I hit McGowen and headed home.

On July 4th, I had no plans to go on a walk at all. I ended up doing something really cool: I walked to the first house Fran and I bought in the Houston area. We lived for six years on Beech Street and have such great memories of that time, which included getting Cocobella, our beagle. I ate lunch at home and began my walk. I walked down Bissonnet to Edloe. I turned on Bellaire Blvd, which is Holcombe until that spot. From there, I visited the Whole Foods, where I used to shop for 18 years and refilled my water bottle. I headed to Newcastle and turned. Then, I walked down our old street and noticed that our house has been refinished on the exterior. At Avenue B, I turned and saw Feld Park, where our kids took tennis lessons and played baseball. Then, I saw the school that they attended (and loved!), The Post Oak School. From there, I headed down Bissonnet towards my house. I crossed over 59 on Edloe and visited my old office, where I worked the entire time we lived at the house that I had just seen. I never did that walk! From 3700 Buffalo Speedway, I walked home. This walk was about 12 1/2 miles, just shy of a third half-marathon!

So, I wrote about three great walks that were within 11 days of each other. I did have another walk on July 3rd to visit my wife at work at River Oaks Plant House, where she started recently. I surprised her! That was "only" 6.6 miles.

While I don't write about every walk, or every book that I read or every restaurant, I do plan to write about a walk I am envisioning in NYC that I thought about after my July 4th walk: A walk to the three apartments I had in NYC. I won't walk in the order, as that would add to the amount of walking, but I intend to start at 8th Avenue and 52nd Street( the third apartment, and with my wife), hit next 7th Avenue and 23rd Street (the first apartment) and then finish at my second apartment at Greenwich Street and Warren.