A little weekend walking tour and some photos.

On the Hidden Places, Secret Spaces tour
we follow the masking-tape arrows
and discover a 3rd-floor ballroom
in a 1902 building
with so many steps
you wonder how women
climbed up there in ball gowns.

There’s a mural in progress,
plenty of cracked plaster
and a postcard-worthy view.

Down the block
we descend steps so rickety
only 2 people are allowed
at one time.
In the basement we find
a costumed tour guide
who tells tales of the brick
as well as
the dress she made herself
from 8 yards of satin taffeta.

Way in the back of The Cook’s Shop,
beyond the kitchen classroom,
is a courtyard garden,
invisible from the alley
and buildings on either side.

And from the penthouse patio
of the historic hotel
there’s view of charming view of downtown
and the river.