Taking a few minutes to walk around a place you have never been, especially if you find yourself in the area, can be a great everyday adventure. Last week, I attended a luncheon in downtown Dallas all about social media and customer delight. It was a wonderful event hosted by You+Media (You+Dallas) with two speakers and a delicious lunch catered by Smoke, and it was free. You can’t get better than that – good food, educational and enlightening presentations all for free. After the luncheon, since I was already in downtown, I took a little time to walk around a few blocks from the You+Media office. It was a great little adventure.
During my walk I found some beautiful buildings and architecture. I first walked over to the Scottish Rite Cathedral. This building is beautiful from the outside and I’m sure beautiful inside too. It was built in the early 1900s and is a wonderful example of American Neo-Classical Revival architecture.
Across the street is the Masonic Lodge, a monolithic yet simplistic art deco building very reminiscent of King Solomon’s temple, and I think it is for sale, you know, if you ever wanted to buy an old Masonic Lodge.
Down the street is another beautiful building, the First Presbyterian Church, built in the early 1900s. This one also Neo-Classical Revival in style. There are two wonderful porticos to this church with single-piece, solid columns flanking the entrances that have wonderful arched pediments over the doors.
Down the street a bit further is the Old City Hall or Municipal Building. Not only is this a beautiful building in a similar Neo-Classical style to the others, but also holds a special place in the events of JFK’s assassination since in the parking garage of this building Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed on live TV by Jack Ruby.
Across the street from this building is a nice city park with a dog run and café. From this point you can see a really cool mid-century clock/weather tower in the heart of downtown. This tower was added to the existing Mercantile National Bank Building that was built during WWII. Supposedly there are beautiful art deco wood murals inside. I’ll have to go back and check it out.
I only walked around a few blocks for about 20 minutes after the event I attended was over, and I found some beautiful buildings and learned some wonderful tidbits of history about my downtown area. If you have a few minutes, get out for a stroll and explore what’s around you. You may be surprised by some beautiful sites with rich history. May I also suggest, before you go for a stroll, checking online for any websites that highlight historic buildings in your area like the one I used for Dallas. This will only make your experience more meaningful and memorable.
Hope you have a fun adventure.
