I combined urban hiking with urban sketching this morning and walked through the park to Overton Square. This is a great walk, and I miss the square housing more businesses that I want to patronize. Hopefully Loeb can get it back on track after years of absentee landlords driving it into the ground. I love restaurants, theaters, and stores that I can walk to without having to get the car out.

Fortunately there are still some thriving businesses. Playhouse on the Square (actually the above is now the Circuit Theater in the same theater family, and I can't quite get used to its new name) is a wonderful organization. They not only put on great shows but support other local arts groups and individual artists. My show of these Memphis sketches will be in their lobby this November and December.

While this row is largely empty, I'm thrilled that Golden India is still hanging on. They are the site of Elmore's and my first date, and they're a wonderful family run restaurant. I'm looking forward to the cooler weather that will let Elmore and me happily walk through the park for dinner. A rejuvenation of the square should be great for them as well as for all of us.