Mill Town Trail , Evergreen Arboretum and Gardens — Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020

We started this urban walk by parking near the Civic Auditorium instead of our normal Legion Park, as the restrooms there are closed. We hiked north and over to Grand Ave park to enjoy the view of the marina and Navy base with the goal of walking down the new Grand Ave bridge, after years of watching it being built. It is beautifully constructed bridge and was well worth the wait. There are stairs, a ramp and an elevator. We wanted to get down to the marina, and frankly, find some open restrooms, which we did on the south end. There are also open restrooms on the north end. With Covid, finding an open restroom is a bit more of a challenge in an urban setting. We then had a pleasant walk along the waterfront, part of the now named Mill Town trail. There is lots of building going on down there in the effort to fix up the waterfront after years of industrial use. It was fun to walk along the waterfront, but much is fenced off due to the construction. Following the Mill Town, we walked up past Legion Park, enjoyed the view from the overlook, then walked thru the arboretum. The arboretum is a wonderful little treasure tucked in the city. There were some Christmas lights strung up on the plants and the south area now has a striking sculpture anchoring it. After the arboretum, we headed down Rucker towards Zippy's, a little coffee shop on the corner of Rucker and 15th. They have a covered outdoor eating area (open for airflow) and a restroom for customers. I highly recommend the chocolate mocha scone, worth every calorie. Continuing south we checked out the Schack Art Center for some fun artwork and Christmas gift ideas. Their display right now is some very beautiful fabric art in the form of quilts, taking quilting to a whole new artsy level. Once we were done here, we returned to the car, having walked about 5 miles. Don't overlook urban hiking during the dark and wet season, after all, you can get hot coffee, treats, and culture!