Provo Flavor: Art, Stroll, Eat

Last weekend Chup and I joined up with friends to do the Art Stroll--the downtown experience on the first Friday of every month. We started at seven o'clock and made our way to each location stopping in for a little warmth and visual intrigue. Everywhere we went it seems we ran into neighbors, hipsters and even a cousin or two. Because it was so cold outside, we packed into each gallery, moving in and out, making ourselves new friends quickly. It was the best of all community events. Art-fueled, interesting, enjoyably sociable.
Velour was hot with a line of concert goers patiently waiting down the street. We could see patrons inside our window-covered restaurants, Black Sheep Cafe, Spicy Corea, Station 22, eating eclectic food and enjoying the night.
At eight o'clock we headed to Communal where more friends were seen and where we spent the better part of the night (until almost eleven o'clock) ordering food family style, with plates full of warm food crowding our table.
The couple next to us, the only ones drinking wine in the place, talked to us about visiting from Vancouver every five weeks.
"We love it here, of all the states, it's our favorite. Provo especially, is great."
They told me.
But I know, I feel the same way.


HELP KEEP THE PROVO RIVER PARKWAY SAFE!
The other day I got a call from my friend Lee Houghton. He was telling me about growing up in LA, about rivers in the valley cemented over to keep crime low. Now, he said, crime is starting to happen with more and more frequency along our river trail. So, being the proactive, idea-mulling man that he is, Lee went to the mayor and police chief with a solution: call up volunteers on bikes to help patrol the parkway.
It's a great idea, and it needs support.
Please see here for details!

Three Cougartown cheers for Lee Houghton!