Town Common—Gorgas Park

I think of like the center of town; our town common of Roxborough. Its playground is visible from the street, it's the location for summer movies and band concerts, there is lots of green space with walking paths all around it and there is even a gazebo. It made sense to list this as our first (local) playground of our goal.  (I say local because we visited two playgrounds in Massachusetts when we visited family for Easter.)

We've been to Gorgas a couple of times already this spring, mostly because it's just so easy to get to (right on Ridge Avenue), and we pass it all the time.  It's a great place to go as a spur of the moment kind of thing, which is kinda how we popped in tonight. On a nice day, the playground can get pretty busy, but tonight at dinnertime it was great—there were only a few other families besides ours.

The playground is really nice.  The equipment is on a cushy rubbery surface and there is a low brick wall around it, so it's very easy to tell the kids to stay within the boundary.  There is a little playplace with a low slide that even a crawling baby can have fun on, and although a sticker on the bigger structure says it's made for kids aged 5 to 12, I always see younger kids running over the bridge and gliding down the sliding board.  In fact, there isn't much on it that a 3-year-old couldn't do by him or herself. My 2-year-old, albeit he's part monkey, can easily climb the ladder rungs.  

The big hit today was the ladder and the big slide. They also enjoyed the swings, and while Thing 1 was running around the tree that is in the middle of the play area, Thing 2 was getting a kick out of looking at himself in the little mirrors. The other week, the boys enjoyed chasing squirrels that were looking for food dropped around the one picnic table.

I always meet friendly moms/step-moms here, and tonight was no exception. I had a really nice time talking about playgrounds with another mom, and it was nice to know I'm not the only one who has just heard of Houston Playground! I thanked her and her boys for letting me snap their picture on the swings.

Other amenities—there is plenty of street parking, however tonight we came from the opposite direction so we had to cross a busy Ridge Avenue. There are also several benches close to the equipment and you can sit on that low brick wall. There are several benches just outside of the play area as well, which I wish smokers would sit on, instead of sitting so close to where my kids are playing (sorry, I'm not a smoker and although we were obviously outside, I can still smell your smoke at the slide). The park is also very dog friendly, but not allowed on the playplace area. There is a bathroom, but it's only ever open when there is an event going on, which is why our time ended tonight when it did.