Start and I’Onsborough
1
Start
on I'On Square, the best place for weekend long term parking is
behind the building at 10 Resolute Lane. Bottled water for your
walk can be purchased at the Square Onion. Early morning coffee
can be found at the Belles Fleurs Coffee and Flower shop, which has a
wonderful outdoor courtyard. Belles Fleurs is located in the
building with the green roof and cupola. The Square Onion is on
the right in this picture and has a green awning with its name.
O'Brion's Pub is out of frame on the left. Should you need
copies of the printed trail guide, Belles Fleurs, The Square Onion
and Grace Salonspa all sell them.
The Square is designed as an intimate, shared outdoor space. The wide wall around the central planter provides seating. A sign in the planter announces upcoming community events.
Parking is hidden and distributed around the square, allowing access by automobile without resulting in the landscape being dominated by a large, monolithic parking lot. There are several small lots hidden behind the buildings. These lots are surrounded by walls, hedges and buildings to reduce their visual impact on the community. Resolute lane, the narrow street in front of the buildings is designed for very low speed traffic and on street parking. There is additional shoulder parking on the alleys surrounding the Square, including Jakes lane (North of the Square); the alleys around the Scramble Playground (West of the Square) and the alleys behind the houses on Civitas Street, SE and SW of the Square. An additional 100 spaces can be found in a landscaped lot next to the I'On Club and Pool at the East eand of Civitas Street. There are roughly 350 parking spaces available within 1000 feet of I'On Square, an amount comprable to that of the BiLo across Mathis Ferry Road.
This square is
a civic gathering space.
The annual July 4th. Children's parade ends here with those present
saying the Pledge of Allegiance after which everyone shares cold
watermelon. Farmers markets are held here as well. See video
of the Market on the Square. Click on logo at left. The Flag Pole and Gingko tree
to the left (west) of 10 Resolute Lane were installed as a memorial
to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The Flagpole symbolizes love of
country and the Gingko, one of the oldest surviving species of tree
on earth, reminds us that permanence and radical change coexist in
the survival of community. Each fall the Gingko's leaves turn
bright gold and fall in the matter of only a few days. The
first Flag flown from the pole belonged to Joe Barnes (who directed
the development of I'On for two years.) and was flown over the US
Capital in honor of his father, a fighter pilot who died in Vietnam.
2.
Begin you walk on the triangular grass island in the center of the square. A large "Welcome to I'On Sign at the starting point of the trail announces community events. The flagpole should be at your back and the traffic circle will be further behind you. Face the building North at 10 Resolute Lane. The parapet is the part of the exterior wall at the top of the building which surrounds the roof. What year is inscribed on the triangular area of the upper left parapet _______________? (see page 32 answer sheet)
3.
Turn
right (East 90°) and walk down Civitas Street to where it
meets a 3 way intersection with Jake's Lane. Civitas is Latin
for “Community.” The dark green community bulletin
board on the left hand (North) side of the sidewalk contains notices
on events in the neighborhood. Continue walking East to the
corner of Civitas and Jakes Lane.
The image at right is the houses which should be on your right side, the South side of the Civitas as you walk towards Jakes Lane.
Many of the houses on this section of street are patterned after the Charleston Single house, a long, narrow house with a size piazza which provides outdoor space and privacy on a narrow lot.
People bringing a dog with their group will need to make a detour here, see step five below.
4.
Turn
left (North 0º) and walk down Jakes Lane. Note the small
outbuilding near the corner. I’On’s designers
encouraged the construction of detached outbuildings to add more
variety to the landscape. This is one of the smallest
ones. Note how Jakes Lane differs from Civitas Street.
There are four main types of streets in I'On
-
Boulevards are a full two lanes wide, have buffered sidewalks (with a grass and planting strip and can accommodate parking as well. These are major streets and often have important civic and commercial buildings situated along them in prominent locations. Shelmore Blvd. is I'On's main street.
- Roads and Streets have sidewalks and curbs and are scaled
to accommodate two way traffic. They are narrower than
standard suburban streets and parking is allowed on the streets to
slow traffic. Parallel parking also buffers the sidewalk from
traffic. Streets are generally fairly straight while roads bend
more. Streets generally have a more formal appearance and
houses are generally set square to the streets.
- Lanes are narrower, about a lane and a half wide and
accommodate traffic and on street parking. This is traffic
under Yield conditions where two cars, meeting each other, cannot
pass. One must pull over and wait. Most lanes don't have
curbs or sidewalks.
- Alleys are narrow service lanes behind or between buildings. Garages are generally situated along them. They don't have curbs or sidewalks, which allows automobile parking on the grass along their sides. Alley's also accommodate parking for boats. Electric transformer boxes and utility equipment is placed on alleys where possible. By moving driveways to a rear alley, houses can be moved closer together and the sidewalk is not broken up by driveways and the danger of cars driving across them.
-
Ways aren't streets at all, but are walkways which don't run along a street. There are places in I'On where the name of a travelway doesn't correspond with its type precisely for its entire length.
After the bend to the left in Jakes Lane you will find the entrance to the Rookery Wildlife refuge. Read the rules before entering the refuge on the Charleston green sign. What year was the refuge dedicated? _______________
5.
Enter
the Rookery refuge between the four Palmetto Trees. The trail
bends to the left after you are into the trees. Continue
walking (N. West, 305º) to the first observation tower.
Image, right, the entrance to the Rookery.
Note- Pets, particularly dogs, cannot go into the Rookery. It disturbs the birds. More importantly, small four legged animals such as dogs are not safe near the edge of the water there because of the alligators, which recognize them as prey. (American Alligators generally don't think of people that way, but you should still stay away from the edge of the water and keep a look out.) Alligators have evolved successfully feeding on four legged mammals for about 250 million years, whereas people have been part of their environment for only about 20 thousand years and are too dangerous for alligators to rely on them as a food source.
If a dog is with your group they and their owner should continue walking East on Civitas to Ponsbury, turn left, South on Ponsbury and walk to Sowell. At Sowell they should turn left, West and walk about 500 feet to the intersection of Sowell and LeeAnn Lane, where you will meet them when you emerge from the Rookery.
The link below will take you into the rookery