I love walking tours, or at least the idea of them. I am an all-weather walker, and I enjoy knowing that Gub is already developing a map sense of her city. Of course, she is still too young to appreciate the educational aspects of a walking tour, but when I am with her, I often find myself looking at things I'd passed a million times before without notice. Earlier this week, she was cawing at a crow and pointed as it flew away. I looked up and saw a view of downtown that I had never really seen before.
I realized that I know very little about the architecture of downtown, so I picked up a great new book, published in February: "Seattle Architecture: A Walking Guide to Downtown [1]" by Maureen Elenga. It is a simple, well-organized, nicely bound volume that gives a brief description of at least half the buildings in downtown Seattle, including pertinent information such as architects and dates of construction and renovation.
At the beginning of each section, which covers a walkable district such as Pioneer Square [1], Belltown [1] or the Financial District, Elenga gives a page-or-two overview of the history of that part of town. No need to sit down and digest this all in one sitting, though. I will simply keep it on the coffee table to refer to when I come home after a walk and am wondering about something I have seen.
Gub may not care yet, but I am excited to have a little library of books about Seattle that will help us answer her questions once she hits the "who-what-where-why-when?" stage in the coming year or so. Elenga's book will doubtless remain a frequent source of answers.
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