Walnut Street Park in Cary - ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!

This park is FANTASTIC! It makes me wish I lived in Cary. Walnut Street Park, as the view from Walnut Street would falsely indicate, doesn't look like much other than a little walking park and some open spaces and picnic tables.

After a busy morning checking out another park, heading to the Farmer's Market for blueberry day and then stopping at Cook-Out for a lunch tray, we wanted to have a little picnic in the shade before heading home. So we stopped here - and I couldn't be more happy I did.

There was plenty of shade for picnicing, sandboxes, several climbing/slide jungle gyms, a rock climbing wall and so much more. I took tons of pictures, knowing I'd never be able to describe all the great options this park has for kids.

It was a bit hot outside, although nowhere near as hot as it can get in North Carolina, so I am not sure how often we will get to this park - but there were shade casters over some of the jungle gym areas, baby swings and regular swings right next to each other - which was always a big issue for me when Dani (2) was younger and Jordan (3) wanted to be on the big-girl swings. A lot of parks have the baby and big-kid swings separated.

I also loved the open spaces where you could throw down a blanket for a picnic or kick a soccer ball around, and I am a big fan of walking trails for much-enjoyed exploring. Of course, my kids had so much fun on the playground equipment there was no exploring this area for us today.

AND I love the padded playground flooring versus the playground mulch. We screwed up and left the house with flip flops on, and it was a relief that there was no playground mulch here because nobody likes mulch in their shoes.

The biggest negative here was the bathrooms. They weren't terribly clean, smelled kind of nasty and had no soap or hand sanitizer. If you can, have your kids go to the bathroom before you head out to this park. It's worth the battle to avoid this bathroom (although it's not as bad as some).

All in all, this is a fantastic park, and I will certainly go back - especially to meet up with some of a wonderful women I met this morning - always a huge perk to meet nice people!

1420 Walnut Street
Cary, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: Shaded and sunny areas, love the soft playground flooring, lots of options for bigger and little kids to climb around, spin around and play in the sandbox, swing and work on their balance/coordination, open spaces for playing ball or relaxing, walking trails and great pepole - one of the nicest groups of women at a park I've met yet.

LOW LIGHTS: The bathrooms are a little ishy, need work, and on really hot days the equipment that's not in the shade will be brutally hot - but there are lots of options to chose from, some of which are shaded.

COST:  FREE!
HELPFUL HINT: I heard there are wild blueberries growing in this park that are OK to eat! We didn't find them, but we also didn't look. (Don't quote me on this! I heard it from a mom who visits the park a lot)

CC Jones Memorial Park - A Great Little Find

A mommy friend told me she accidentally found this park at the end of Jones Street in Apex, not far from downtown. After one of my not-so-successful outings, I drove through Jones Street and sure enough there was this great little park down the hill.

Before I forget, the one thing about this area that I always found a bit strange was there aren't public pools, that everybody knows about, anyway. So this place, CC Jones Park, also has a swimming pool adjacent to it. It requires a membership, but it's a pool that doesn't require you to live in a specific neighborhood to use it (paying or not). I am going to research more about it in the future, but I was so excited to find one!

Anyway, this park was really nice in the classic park sense. It is surrounded by mature trees and it just feels like a park I would have played at as a kid. The equipment is surprisingly updated and well maintained, although not in perfect condition. My kids loved it and flipped out when I said it was time to leave. So I promised we would go again soon. I noticed they had a grill and think we might try a cookout.

309 Holleman Street (Corner of Jones & Holleman)
Apex, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: This is a classic version of a park, tall trees and lots of shade, lots of swings and a grill and shelter for a picnic - and it's right next to a swimming pool (public, I believe - may require membership).

LOW LIGHTS: It needs a bit of TLC and it's at the bottom of a big hill, so if you have to leave mid temper tantrum, it could be physically taxing.

COST: Free.

Jordan Lake - A Beach Visit That's Not 3 Hours Away!

My husband teases me, as I am from Minnesota originally, that I call any area with sand by a body of water a beach. Dictionary.com, by the way, defines a beach as "the part of the shore of an ocean, sea, large river, lake, etc., washed by the tide or waves." So I was right! (Na na-nah boo-boo!)

 "Let's go to the beach, mom!" my little one woke and immediately demanded a trip to the ocean on the nicest day so far this spring. While it was supposed to be gorgeous here in the Triangle, it was pouring rain on the coast.



So we skipped the 3-hour drive and drove the 20 minutes to Jordan Lake's Ebenezer Church swimming area. The beach was nearly empty. It was clean, close to the bathrooms, very near a playground (which my kids totally ignored because they were having so much fun) and not far from a volleyball court.

Of course, the water was frigid. But that didn't stop my kids or any other kids that were there that day. We played in the sand and were up to knee deep in the water for the better part of 3 hours. It was a fantastic day, and the one cost I thought we would incur was the parking permit (which I believe is $6) but nobody was there to take our money. So it was free on Monday. Maybe it's just a weekend charge?

Anyway, we will certainly be back. My only regret is that I didn't check to see if there was a grill at the shelter, because I totally want to go back and grill out next week when it's supposed to be in the 70s!

Also, there are 3 other swimming areas open to the public (non-campers) - Seaforth, Parker's Creek and White Oak Recreation areas. I plan to visit all of those and report back. Hopefully this spring will be perfect for it!

Ebenezer Road
Apex, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: Clean water, nice sand, close to restrooms and shelter, "beach" is close to playground, lots of parking very shallow swimming area, inside the "ropes" was 5 feet deep or less.

LOW LIGHTS: No changing table in the bathroom, which was a little stinky but not terrible. their website is not particularly user friendly, the link for entrance fees is not working, and in my experience the NC Division of Parks and Recreation staff that answers the phones is somewhat unfriendly.

COST: Free plus parking charge on weekends is $6 for cars (I believe. The site was not working when I checked).

Davis Drive Park in Cary

I love this park! Davis Drive Park in Cary was really just a playground with a shelter and walking trail. But for a couple of reasons this one was particularly fun.

 First of all, the sandbox was wonderful. Even though everything else was pretty wet, the sand stayed dry, and dead center was a metal sculptured "Chooooo Train!" - which is what my youngest, Dani, screamed as she ran up to the playground. The jungle gym itself was in pretty nice shape, and seemed to keep my kids climbing, sliding, balancing and peaking.

But what really makes a park is the people that go there. My friend, Amanda, and I met so many great moms there. Apparently we lucked out and found ourselves with women who are part of the Cary Mom's Group (meetup.com). I will be writing about that soon, too. These moms were so friendly, attentive to their kids and really just "my kinda people." I am not one to join groups or do things according to someone else's schedule, so I'm probably not going to join. But it's really tempting.
One of the moms was playing in the sand with my oldest (3). Another mom struck up a conversation with my friend and quickly shared she was the mother of 3, 2-year-old twins and a 6 month old! *And I thought I was crazy.
The kids shared snacks, played well together and left absolutely worn out. Um, yeah, we will be going back. The sandbox alone kept my 3-year-old busy for nearly an hour.

We actually had such a nice time, we left later than we thought we would and didn't walk the trail (which is part of the park and is 1/2 mile around). The shelter looked pretty clean, and the parks and recreation department had someone there with a leaf blower. I was stunned, as I didn't see a single leaf out of place or piece of trash, for that matter.

This is a winner! I don't know if it's a hidden gem, but it's certainly a gem.

1610 Davis Drive
Cary, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: Clean park, great sandbox with very cool Train sculpture where the kids can climb and play, well-maintained jungle gym, clean facilities, bathroom nearby, shelter and walking trail.

LOW LIGHTS: There were a few "drop off" places in this jungle gym where really little ones can fall off and the backdrop for the trail wasn't spectacular. I actually am having a hard time finding fault in this place - really reaching here.  

COST: Free!

Fuquay-Varina Library Park

Library Park in Fuquay is not much; it's a small jungle gym that would hardly keep my 3-year-old's attention and is not terribly clean or maintained but there's open space to run and burn off some energy. It's passable from my limited experience.

I'd love to give you a thorough review, but my little one (about 22 months) watched another boy throw mulch and decided to copy him. I warned her twice and then said if she threw mulch one more time, we would have to leave.

Guess why I cannot tell you a whole lot about this park?

She liked the climbing apparatus, and she liked the mulch. I am sure it wouldn't take long for her to get bored, too, and start running around the trees in the park. But that's just a guess.

Here are a few pictures of the jungle gym and our little stinker (pre-mulch throwing of course). Also, the website (click here for more info) said it's a 1-acre park adjacent to the Fuquay-Varina History Museum Complex. Hmmm, I feel another blog coming on.

116 South Aiken Street
Fuquay-Varina, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: It's small, convenient to the library for post quiet-time running around and my kids love wide-open spaces.

LOW LIGHTS: It's not particularly well kept, it's really small so won't hold attention for long and the parking situation is less than desirable when the library lot is full.

COST: Free!

Honeycutt Road Park in Fuquay-Varina - Fun, but not for all ages

The scary slide!

 My play date buddy, Amanda, who is always up for an adventure, joined me at Honeycutt Road Park in Fuquay-Varina. It's right behind Club Worx Gym on Old Honeycutt Road.

We got out of our cars and said, "Wow, this place looks great!"
My mind changed quickly when I walked up to the scariest playground slide I've ever seen.

The playground looked great, but it was not ideal for really little ones. Amanda and I both have 20-month-olds, and let me tell you, we were terrified of this jungle gym! It is sort of sectioned off in two parts, one for the little ones and one for the big ones. But they're not separated. There's a tunnel/slide, which was a challenge but not impossible to maneuver for both our little ones, that connects the two parts. The section obviously designed for older kids is so high, and the slide was so steep I wouldn't even go down it. Not only that, but there were several openings in the equipment where a little one could just walk off the side. This is not such a big deal, if your 3-4 feet off the ground. I didn't have a tape measure with me, but I swear that slide was 15 feet off the ground. My 3-year-old walked up to the top of it, looked down and turned around. "It's too scary!" she said. There were kid there at least 5 or 6-years-old and they wouldn't even go down.

We left after about 40 minutes, which I thought was about 30 minutes longer than I felt comfortable staying there - thanks to the swings, which were nice. It's beautiful equipment. The place is well maintained, nice swings, great soccer field right next to it. The parking is close by, and there's a shelter. But I will not go back until my oldest (3) is at least 5 and the little ones are 3ish.

Maybe I'm being overprotective, but my youngest is fearless and at that stage where she doesn't understand consequences or listen to safety warnings. I have to physically remove her from most dangerous situations versus giving verbal warnings. (pretty standard stuff at that age, I think) Also, we met a wonderful mom who was playing their with her kids for the first time, too. She, too, was concerned about the openings in the jungle gym and the ridiculous slide. So I don't think our concerns were out of nowhere.

Interestingly enough, we went to a second park as we were not ready to go home yet. My oldest told me in the car on the way home, "I liked the first park mommy. You know, the one with the scary slide."

101 Fitness Drive
Fuquay-Varina, NC 
 

HIGHLIGHTS: Nice, well-maintained equipment, clean benches, shelter, climbing walls on playground, also some imagination play areas with "steering wheels," nice soccer field next to it, parking was close by, section for little kids and big kids.

LOW LIGHTS: The equipment was just too high for the really little ones, and it's connected to the section designed specifically for little ones. The swings are separated (little kids on one side and big kids on the other) so I couldn't push my 3-year-old and 1-year-old at the same time. Lots of openings in the playground, very challenging equipment, and it looks like the rubber flooring could be replaced. Also, I didn't see bathrooms.

COST: Free!

It's a Park; It's a School - STOP You're Both Right!

I packed up the girls and a small lunch and headed out for a picnic at Middle Creek School/Park, which is in that part of Cary, NC that really could be Holly Springs or Apex, too. I was a little worried that I was driving to a school that wouldn't let you play during school hours. But this was a true park, and it wasn't an issue.

I really liked this park! I cannot believe how many times I've driven past it and never knew it was there. I don't think it's far from Crowder Park, which is Apex but could be Cary or Raleigh, too. As the crow flies, it looks like they're about 1-2 miles apart.

Of course, if it has a sandbox my kids love it, especially the 3-year-old. Also, there were two separate jungle gyms. Both were wonderful. The larger of the two had a bridge, several slides, monkey bars and slides. But I loved the other one because it was shaded by a large, permanent umbrella. The slides on the bigger one got a little hot so we cruised on over to the other one. There are lots of places for parents to sit that are really close to the equipment. There is a nice-size grassy area where you can kick around a ball or just play tag, and some people brought a little airplane and were flying it around behind us on what looked like a field. I wish I'd payed more attention to my surroundings. I think I was a little groggy. It really was a nice park. Also, something I hadn't seen until today, there was an actual rock for climbing. It was a huge draw for the older kids. J (3-year-old) had a little trouble with it but tried anyway, which I love.

I loved the shelter. It was very clean. I will definitely go back when I have more energy!

123 Middle Creek Park Drive
Cary, North Carolina 27539

HIGHLIGHTS: Beautiful play area, grassy spot to run around or kick a ball, shaded jungle gym, very clean sandbox, swings for big and very little kids, clean shelter, rock to climb (VERY COOL).

LOW LIGHTS: It got a little hot when we were there, and most of the area isn't very shady. Also, for my 1-year-old old, it's too easy to get to the parking lot quickly and since the school is nearby, there was a bit of "lunch break" traffic.

COST: Free!

Veterans Park In Holly Springs

The Jungle Gym

Half Mast on 9/11

Veterans Park in Holly Springs is convenient, new and cute. It was built in 2009, and is a very classy little playground, fitness trail and paved trail that loops around a little pond. 

The flags were at half mast when we checked it out Tuesday, as it was 9/11. I thought visiting the park was an appropriate way to honor the victims and the veterans who served our country during and after the Sept. 11 attacks. I just wished I'd planned it that way. It was an impromptu visit on my part.

The park has a 4.3-acre pond, picnic shelter, and a paved trail between Veterans Park & Jones Park. Jones Park, which I found today also, is just a park that sits behind one of the schools and has a couple ball fields from what I can tell. If I'm wrong, don't hesitate to let me know!

Veterans Park didn't entertain us long, but it was fun for about an hour. I plan to take a walk with the girls around the pond (about a half-mile trail). I think it would make for a pretty walk this fall!

600 Bikram Dr. 

Holly Springs, NC  27540

HIGHLIGHTS: Clean, newish park, nice jungle gym for little ones, clean & paved trails, nice view.

LOW LIGHTS: There's really not much to it. It's a short adventure at best.

COST: Free!

The Pond

Checking out the fitness trail equipment.

Farmer's market fun

It was my oldest's birthday, and she was sick. We wanted to do something fun but didn't want to expose kids to her illness. So we went to the state farmer's market. She loves the muscadine icee and the fresh squeezed juice drinks.
We didn't last long. She spiked a high fever. Poor baby.
We got her a few samples and drinks and we never fail to enjoy ourselves. Although i think we pushed it a bit today. We just love it there.!

By the way, I LOVE HALLOWEEN. And they already had pumpkins!

1201 Agriculture Street  

Raleigh, NC 27603 HIGHLIGHTS: Great, inexpensive produce, free samples, NC products.

LOW LIGHTS: It can be really crowded and hot in the summer. In the winter it's a little smaller with less to choose from.

COST: Free!