Author: dasoadmin

Take Me to Church Our family moved into Lakewood in the summer of 2000. After searching the area for a church, we found a home in St. James Catholic Church. We attended mass there every Sunday for almost 10 years until Bishop Richard Lennon closed the church as part of a diocese-wide downsizing. Two years…

W. 162nd Street I am thankful for our varied and unique street names in Lakewood. As I was walking down the three sections of Northland this morning (Detroit to Madison – Hilliard to Delaware – Tiny Section South of I-90), I realized that it is really just W. 162nd Street. In fact, the name of…

Safety Dance It was a bit difficult to confirm where North Marginal Drive started. Lakewood Heights Boulevard approached from the east, and according to Google Maps it ended suddenly at Olive and North Marginal Drive began. Hayes Elementary School starts at this intersection, so I guess that’s as good a place as any to make…

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush Sometimes short streets lead to the biggest discoveries. When I checked my list of streets this morning, I was directed to North Lane Drive, a tiny dead-end street just south of the railroad tracks near W. 117th. The “street” is basically the parking lot for the Lakewood Club…

Short and Sweet One of the reasons I am completing this challenge is for the exercise, but every once in a while it is nice to have a really short street that is close to home. I think my entire route of jogging to North Clifton Drive, walking past the half dozen homes, and jogging…

Finding Treasures I feel like I have been blessed with perfect timing on some of the streets I have walked. Today was another example. I left my house around 8:30 a.m. after seeing my son and his friends off to Cedar Point. After biking to the northern end of Nicholson (which proved to be a…

Between the Lions During my walks I have noticed several houses with lions guarding the front entry area. I would estimate that half of all the streets I have walked so far have had at least one house with lions. As I was walking down Niagara this morning, I found a pair that was particularly…

Country Road? I have a hard time imaging this city as farmland, but that is exactly what most of it was in the 1800s.  According to Margaret Manor Butler in Romance in Lakewood Streets, “When James Newman came from London in 1843 at the age of eleven with his parents, sister, and brother, he helped to…

On the Road Again Today I felt like I was in a spin class. I knew I was going to have a long bike ride, but it turned into quite the trip. I reviewed my list of streets and noticed there was a Nelson Court and a Nelson Street. Google Maps showed Nelson Court off…

Love of Nature I have my father to thank for my love of nature (and my habit of getting up at 6:00 a.m. – even on Sunday mornings). Growing up, our main family recreational activity was going for a hike in the woods. I can remember many a Sunday afternoon walking down a Metroparks trail…