Jaunted

You can easily get yourself to the South End if you take the LYNX Light Rail down from Uptown. There’s three main stops that serve the area, so get off at one and look around to see if it fits your style. If you prefer your car, that’s fine, there are plenty of parking spots. Walking there is a kind of an option too, but you’ll need to try you best to get across I-277 that divides the region from the grid of the city’s center.

Like its neighborhood sibling to the north, the South End offers its own gallery crawl during a First Friday event. Retailers and artists throw open the doors to their updated factories in hopes that the sculpture you find “neat” will cause you to shell out a couple hundred dollars. The Canine Cafe already knows how to get your money; they sell homemade dog treats for your cute little pooch. They also have some traditional pet store items for you to bring back to Rover.

There’s plenty of places to fill up including the Pewter Rose. An American style restaurant, their Bananas Foster French Toast and Crab Cake Croissant, make it the place to go for weekend brunch. We weren’t that classy and settled for an Oreo milkshake at Pike’s Old Fashioned Soda Shop. An old pharmacy counter is the focal point of the exposed brick interior, and it helped make the milkshake that much better. We were the only ones there without kids, but it was also the middle of the afternoon. Unfortunately, the famous steamed bagel sandwich place was already closed for the day, but we’ll catch it next time.

The abundance of light rail stations in the area makes this neighborhood one of the most up and coming in the city. Construction workers were hard at work on a Saturday afternoon, apparently unaffected by the financial situation that may be sending potential homeowners out of the city. We counted no less than five projects within easy walking distance of the train station all being completed, and looking mighty cool if we do say so ourselves.

Related Stories:
·Historic South End [Official Site]
·Canine Cafe [Official Site]
·Pewter Rose Bistro [Official Site]
·Neighborhoods coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: kjb]