One of the cool things about living in the suburbs is the plethora of awesome parks to choose from. We have hiking parks, biking parks, and playground parks out the wazoo. Jenkintown has a brand new, fantastic playground complete with different zones for different ages (all the rage in playground construction) and a castle the kids can storm. The only bummer about the playground is that it's off limits during school hours. Thou shall not laugh, sing, or have fun in ears reach of children trying to learn.
Just up the road from us is the hands down best park in the area. Alvethorpe Park has it all: basketball courts, tennis courts, miniature golf, chip and putt, a wading pool, a pond (complete with fishing and rowboats), two playgrounds and a 2 mile long, wooded jogging path. I grew up going to this park and loved it. We went almost every day in the summer. Remember my song for my dad and I at our wedding? "Saturday in the Park" by Chicago---an indirect reference to our park days. We tore around the trails on our bikes and even played chip and putt. On one memorable day I actually made contact with the ball ( a surprise to all of us) and pretty much killed a goose. I don't know for sure that he died but I drilled him in the head and he was flailing around and honking a terrible honk. Anyone who's seen me play golf knows the odds of this happening were astronomically low. I still feel bad for that goose. Sorry goose.
Why don't we spend all of our days here? It's restricted to Abington Township residents. Yup--it's a gated park complete with security guard checking I.D. on the way in. This policy makes me burn with righteous indignation. I don't card all of those Abington folks when they come to use our park in Jenkintown. I've never heard of such a park! My husband told me once, "If you wanted to go to that park so bad, why didn't you buy a house in Abington?" Well duh. . . . most of the houses in Abington look like they had been hit with the ugly stick.
This past Sunday I decided I wanted in. Dad was off working and not to pleased with what the message of "sneaking in" would mean to Grace. We'll cross this bridge when she actually understands "sneaking in." I parked across the street from the park, threw Grace in the jog stroller, and walked right in. Nobody asked us for I.D. and off we went into the park. I have to confess I was a little nervous but I blended in with the rest of the moms hitting the park. We hit the jogging trail which was mighty hard. Grace weighs about 24 pounds now, plus the weight of the jog stroller, and you can't really use your arms because you're pushing chugalug. Thank goodness I brought music and Ricky Martin helped me through. That's right. I like pop music. In fact, I love it. Kelly Clarkson too. Sorry I'm not one of those cool mamas who only sings Van Morrison songs to their kids. In fact, Grace loves Ricky and Kelly and that's OK by me. After a run that felt like a marathon, we hit the playground. Now the playground has changed a bit since I was a kid. No more merry-go-around that you could fly off of and crush your head (how are kids supposed to learn how to hang on for dear life?) No more 20 foot tower to climb up (how are kids supposed to learn to just jump and hope it turns out for the best?). Now there's all sorts of safe play structures that Grace seemed to really enjoy. I'll tell her how good it used to be when she's older.
Did I feel guilty for sneaking in? Maybe a little. But I was comforted by all of the other cars that parked near me. Apparently I'm not the only one who snuck in that day. Will I go back? Definitely. This will probably become a problem when Grace is old enough to question why we don't park in the lot. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy showing her the place where I spent so many happy days as a kid.
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