Art Underfoot

You find the most amazing things when you decide to walk just one more block than you planned!

The other day after a doctor's appointment I decided to take a quick walk around the little park that's next to the medical building before heading back to my car. I hadn't really noticed before that the park actually extends another block. And in the middle of this bonus block is this gazebo...

(I also didn't know that the park has a name—Crockett Park—handily provided by a quick google search. It actually has a pretty interesting history, as you can see if you follow the link above, which is to a waymarking site, I assume for the use of geocachers).

But what really blew me away, and made this little detour worth blogging about, is—wait for it!—floor art! Or, actually ground art, but still so cool!

Readers who managed to wade through all my European posts will remember that I got a little batty over there about floor tile art in churches and museums (the floor of the Duomo in Siena was the highlight). Who knew that there was some waiting for me right out in this little park a few miles from my house!

The bluebonnet at the top of the post is one of three lovely flower mosaics that surround the gazebo. Here are the others...

Aren't they pretty?! And especially since they were completely unexpected.

What drew me over to the second block of the park was this extremely handsome structure...

Formerly a hotel and today an apartment house, it's called the Aurora and I'd love to go inside it someday and see what I hope is still the original art deco interior. But wouldn't it be great to have one of those stone balconies outside your window!

It's a great little park, but severely underused, I suppose because of the lack of free parking around it. I'm just glad I found it.