For the past few years I have been going to downtown Lawrence each morning before 9 a.m. in order to take my morning exercise walk. At that time of day, Massachusetts Street is relatively quiet. Few places other than the coffee shops and the barbershops are open (with the exception of Saturday when the Farmer’s Market is in full swing).

Walking down Massachusetts Street and the surrounding streets at that time of the morning without the crowds that fill the sidewalks later in the day is, if one looks at all that can be seen, an exercise in history.

I have been in Lawrence almost 20 years and, yet, I find something new to see or read every time I walk downtown. Most recently, I was walking through South Park and paused to read the sign that gives its history. I had not remembered that the park was the first park in Lawrence or that it was the staging area for Quantrill’s horrific raid on Lawrence when so many lives were lost. I closed my eyes,  and, just for a second, in the quiet morning I could almost hear the horses and the men preparing for their murderous ride.

These days when I walk downtown I also see the buildings and businesses that I once passed but that are now gone. I miss the old Round Corner Drug Store and the little cheese shop just behind. And, of course, how can anyone of a certain age, walk down Massachusetts Street and not remember the old Paradise Cafe and its wonderful pancakes and breakfast delights.

But I cannot complain about these changes, for Lawrence is an ever-evolving city, and where once stood familiar restaurants and businesses, new ones have taken their places. And still, many old stalwarts remain. For 20 years, I have enjoyed window-shopping at Weaver’s and at Sunflower early in the day.

For me, however, the most splendid sight in Lawrence, the one where I usually begin and end my walk, is the Eldridge Hotel. It has held down the same corner since the town began. I have eaten in its restaurant since the time I first visited Lawrence in March 1994 and stayed in a room there. I still love to have brunch there and I still enjoy slipping downstairs to the crypt to see its old collegiate plaques.

I am afraid too many people go downtown to shop, to eat, to go to some specific destination and never pause to look around them, at the old building facades, the historical plaques, and the old buildings that contain so much of our local history. Lawrence is a lovely place and we should all appreciate its history, its ambience and all of its many delights..