Staff Blogger: Erin White, Visual Communications Intern
I took a stroll down Sycamore Ave during my lunch break on a sunny Lakeside afternoon. Although I walk this road every day to work, I always seem to notice something new each time. Leaving the intern house, I hear birds calling to one another and spot a squirrel running across the street. To my right, sits the grooviest van I’ve ever seen. The van’s vibrant cherry red and white paint glistens in the sun. Complete with Woodstock, peace signs and other retro decals, it looks like it was driven straight out of the 60s. I continue forward and pass a friendly woman walking her dog, she waves and smiles as we pass each other. Farther down the road, I can always count on the house at 453 Sycamore Ave. to have new chalk art in their driveway, today was colorful hearts, stars and other doodles.
Sycamore Avenue is lined with lush greenery, flowers and nautical lawn decorations. But if you take a closer look you’ll find something truly magical. Throughout the avenue, several cottages are home to Fairy Gardens. A Fairy Garden is a miniature garden complete with tiny structures and actual living plants. It is designed to lure fairies and with them, good luck, to your home. Each garden shows off its creator’s imagination. In the fairy garden at 409 Sycamore Ave., you will find a tiny cottage surrounded by miniature multicolored mushrooms and small hand painted rocks.
As I continue down the road I notice the cottages themselves have different personalities. They even have different names like “Moonbeams & Memories or “Butterscotch Castle”. The Butterscotch Castle lives up to its name. The home is painted a color that resembles the butterscotch I would find in my grandma’s candy jar, accented with teal window shutters and whimsical porch details.
I have also noticed that screened in porches both on the first floor and second floor are very prominent on Sycamore. I envy the family I pass lounging and laughing on their balcony porch as I continue onward.
Nearing the end of the avenue, the view of Lake Erie becomes much clearer. I can see the waves rolling towards the shore as boats and jet skis pass by. As I cross Second Street and pass Sypherd Cycles on my left, the roads seems to dead end into the lake. I continue down what is now a grassy trail that leads me past the side of Hotel Lakeside and on to Ohio’s Most Beautiful Mile. With kayak and sail boat rentals nearby I realize that this path doesn’t have to be a dead end. I could continue my journey north and sail off until the sunset.
But sadly, I must now return to the office and save that adventure for another day.
