A Stroll around Aurora!
This is a journey of my walk through (a bit of) Aurora…
Honestly, we’re so lucky that we live in the time that we do. I mean, the amount of applications that we have at our disposal is crazy! Just for a simple walk, I was able to browse through pages of hundreds of different apps, and eventually, I found and downloaded three (RunKeeper, Boomerang, & Field Trip) that helped me throughout this task.
After returning from university on Thursday evening, I made sure to go home, have a little snack, and grab a power bank for my phone, which turned out to be really important. But soon after, I walked to a location near the train station, which I decided would be a good place to start my journey. Once I started, I realized that I didn’t really have any specific place that I wanted to walk by, or end up at, so I just hoped that I would find some new places that I hadn’t seen/been to before.
I began my walk at 5:57 PM, with the weather being a little chilly (around 70°,) but nothing too bad. I walked on the sidewalks of Gregory Street for a while, as the apartments that I saw gave off some peaceful vibes. I saw a lot of different kinds of flora and fauna, with the highlight being a few squirrels running around some bushes (with yellow daisies) and (oak) trees, and a lot of mosquitos. But, the most noticeable aspect had to be the constant sound of the cars swerving by on the street next to me, as they left behind the smell of gasoline, and kept making an annoying Maltese dog (that was across the street with it’s oblivious owner) bark really loudly. Eventually, the sun began to set, which made the sky look really nice, but the fact that it was starting to get dark, and that the rate of visibility is going to start decreasing, made me speed up a bit.
Around 6:05 PM, the weather began to get a bit colder, as I walked by a strip mall, with the most notable stores being an old pizza place, a big laundry store, a closed barber shop, and the notorious “Smoke Shop.” There wasn’t much of an atmosphere at any store, as the whole place reeked of cigarettes, with the most exciting view being two detached individuals laying down in the parking lot, laughing, and, well, smoking cigarettes.
I continued to walk around in the cold for a while, barely seeing anything, until I reached a “Bulldog Ale House,” which was full of life! In fact, there were actually too many people, so it would have been a bit weird if I had taken a picture. It was around 6:20 PM at this point, as I continued to walk past the restaurant. But as I was walking, I slowly realized how their was nothing to see beyond that point, forcing me to walk back, and completely change the direction that I was going in.
By 6:35 PM, it had gotten very cold (it felt like it was at least 60°,) as I continued to walk by different places at Fox Valley Center Drive. Stores that I walked by included an old and abandoned Toys “R” Us (Rest in Peace,) a huge Macy’s, an empty Chase Bank, and eventually, the exciting Fox Valley Mall. According to Field Trip, a fun fact about this mall (which was initially just “Fox Valley Center”) is that Sears is one of the first stores that it had in 1975, and it’s still open today! As I was originally reading that, I began to hear a sudden outburst of loud barking, which startled me, as there hadn’t been any actual sound/noise around me for a while (not even any cars!) I tracked down the sound and found a huge Husky being walked into the mall by two people, whom I began to follow (I also wanted to get out of the cold.) Luckily enough, I wasn’t the only one, as the couple was bombarded by people wanting to take pictures of the dog, as if it were someone famous. Other than that, I was also able to see the Sears from the entrance, marking two things off of my to-do list!
By 6:44 PM, I was out of the mall, and on my way back to where I began the walk. At this point, the weather had gotten a bit better, but there was no longer any natural light out, or in other words, it was nighttime. As I walked along, I realized that there were not any sidewalks between/by Fox Valley Center Drive or Executive Drive, as I was either walking on the grass, or on the road. Even though their were barely any cars driving by, I felt a bit uneasy walking on the street, and the fact that there were no people in sight made the atmosphere all the more eerie. But looking around, I saw a lot of office spaces, which made me realize that even if I were to have come in the morning, I would have been in the same situation.
But then, around 6:57 PM, I came across “The Piazza,” which was formerly known as “The Foundry” (still is on RunKeeper.) It might have just been a sports bar, but it was a place that I hadn’t seen around the area, which made me feel like I had accomplished my goal of finding new places. In fact, I even went inside to ask for information regarding the upcoming UFC fight that they are going to be showing, as I was greeted by two people leaning in their chairs and talking to one another, while two customers were lingering by the desk, patiently waiting for something.
It was 7:00 PM by the time that I left the place, as I began walking faster than I had before. As I was on my way back though, I was surprised to find that it had gone back to being cold, and that there was noise everywhere (again.) Luckily for me, the sound was quite close to where I was heading, as it turned out to be an Aurora (fire department) paramedic unit vehicle. The atmosphere was quite chaotic, as a few people (not visible in the picture) were standing outside of the building, wearing their pajamas, leaning on each other, lingering by their cars, and looking frustrated, presumably waiting to be allowed to go back in…
As I passed through that whole scene, I finally reached my destination (which was also my starting point) by 7:03 PM, where I got some hot chocolate to battle the cold weather, probably gaining back all the calories that I’d lost. Due to the availability of coffee at this place though, a lot of people (that just got off a train) were rushing in to get a drink and a bite to eat. A lot of them were middle-aged couples that were sitting at tables together, but were eating more then talking.
All in all, I had a pretty good walk, as I was able to explore a bit more of Aurora, get some exercise, and find a place to watch the UFC fight next Saturday. It was quite fun to actually pay attention to my surroundings too, as I was able to understand and observe the timings when certain things were happening. For example, 5:50 PM — 6:30 PM is a peak time for traffic, as the cars are filled with working class people returning home, but after that, the commotion should start to die down (especially on a week night.) Despite that though, one should always be prepared for the mall to be full, especially of people that love dogs. But jokes aside, I believe that the best thing about my walk was that I never felt unwanted wherever I went, as people, if there were any, either smiled at me or were too busy in their own thoughts (which is a good thing), etc. Not only does this show how much we are missing out on if we don’t walk around, but it also shows that exploration is always on the horizon!
