Month: October 2013

Lake Wheeler Park

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I had never been out to Lake Wheeler Park until this summer and I can’t wait to return.  For the most part, Lake Wheeler is similar to Lake Johnson except that it doesn’t have a paved trail surrounding it, but does have much more extensive boating, picnicking and playground areas.

Lake Wheeler Park is located at 6404 Lake Wheeler Rd in southwest Raleigh.  Upon entering the park, you’ll notice the 650 acre lake to the south.  As you meander through the park on the main road, there are several spots along the way to stop and fish or shelters for picnicking.  Continuing on you’ll pass large open fields with larger shelter areas and finally arrive at the large parking lot near the boat house.

We parked in the main parking lot and headed down to explore the boats and docks at the lake.  This particular day was extremely windy so the water was pretty void of any boaters.  We still managed to walk on the docks and talk about the different boats we saw (presumably for rent) – paddle boats, sunfish sailboats, kayaks, jon boats, etc.  For a complete list of boats for rent or launch visit the Lake Wheeler rental website.  You can also learn more about the depths of the lake (which get to 25ft in some spots) by visiting the information boards near the boat house.  Follow these guidelines for fishing in and on the bank of the lake.  Across from the boat ramps is the park’s very impressive boat storage area.  In addition to renting various boats and fishing, you can also take several boating classes offered at Lake Wheeler, which start back up in the spring.

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Next we explored the boat house area, which consists of a large veranda (covered and uncovered) overlooking the water complete with picnic tables and rocking chairs, indoor rooms for classes and rental, a concession area, restrooms, and beautiful landscaping leading up to the playground area.  The veranda, indoor room and deck are all available for rent for special events.  Ashley especially loved sitting in the rocking chairs while we talked about the different things we saw near the water (ducks, boats, people, etc).

After visiting the boat house, we explored the nearby t-shaped dock, which offered some great photo ops.  It has several fish cleaning spots and is completely fenced in, making it a fun place to explore for toddlers (provided no one else is around trying to fish).

Next we headed back to the playground, where we spent most of our morning.  This is a great place for playing and then having a picnic, as there are several picnic tables and even a small shelter and charcoal grill in the vicinity.  The playground offers a few areas for early walkers to play on, but is mostly geared towards the more steady walkers.  There aren’t too many openings in the playground, making it easier for nervous moms to let toddlers run free in the playground.  The playground has big-kid swings and low swings for toddlers who can hold onto the chains, but no bucket tot swings.  It has a wood chip base and has several slides, tunnels, and ladders at different levels making it a fun and interesting place to play.

Finally, we made our way over to the large open field to “throw” our frisbee.  Being that we visited the park on the hottest day of the summer we didn’t last too much longer, but enjoyed a fun morning with lots to look at, talk about and explore!  I can’t wait to visit again and do some boating.

For more info about this park including boating, fishing and rental opportunities visit the City of Raleigh website.

Thumbs up: variety of boating activities, playground area, vicinity of picnic tables near playground, views from the boat house

Thumbs down: signage throughout the park

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Millbrook Pool

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This summer we spent several evenings cooling off at our neighborhood pool and eating dinner poolside (what a great excuse for not cooking at home).  On one particular weeknight we walked over and then realized we forgot the pool had closed early because of a swim meet (ay dios mio)!  Needing a quick solution to a 2yr old desperately longing for some pool time, we decided to walk back home and head to Millbrook Pool, the city pool about 5 minutes away.  Even though the weather was looking rather threatening, we decided to chance it anyway.

Millbrook Pool is located at 1905 Spring Forest Rd in North Raleigh and is part of the Millbrook Exchange Park complex that includes a tennis facility, off-leash dog park, playground, community center, and senior center.  Millbrook has a main pool with lap swimming and open swim areas that is covered year-round.  During the summer season they open several garage-style doors to allow folks to easily get to the outdoor swimming areas.  Millbrook also has an outdoor baby pool and splash garden area that are only open during the summer.  The baby pool area is a large rectangle (no zero-depth entry) that is 18 inches deep in the middle.  It is fenced it with both concrete and grassy areas, but they do not allow picnicking in this area.  You can bring inflatable rings, noodles and other pool toys into the baby pool.  There are several picnic tables outside the baby pool that are both covered and uncovered, but it was still a pain with a little one that we couldn’t just eat in the grassy area.  The splash garden area is always a big hit with toddlers, but unfortunately the only entrance to that area is from outside the baby pool area.  It would be much more convenient to have another entrance directly from the baby pool area.

The indoor pool at Millbrook typically has 6 lanes dedicated to lap swimming with a depth from 4ft to 5 1/2ft.  The open swim area is a depth from 3 1/2ft to 4ft.  Again, there are several rules for swimming in the open swim area.  We were whistled at several times for various things – trying to borrow a noodle and using the kick board in the open swim area.  Needless to say we spent most of our time in the baby pool, but Ashley had recently discovered kick boards at our neighborhood pool and just had to get her exercise in.  Being about 39 weeks preggo, I enjoyed watching them swim together from the side of the pool!

Check out the City of Raleigh website for the pool’s hours of operation and fees.

Thumbs up: large baby pool area, indoor swimming option for non-summer months

Thumbs down: not being able to eat in the baby pool area, no direct entrance to splash ground area from baby pool, picnic areas had LOTS of flies

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Update: Greystone Recreation Center

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The weather this summer was extremely kind to my previously pregnant self.  There were few, if any, days where the weather was so ungodly hot you couldn’t go outside.  On those ungodly hot days we ate an early lunch followed by some type of run-your-ass-til-you’re-tired activity…all indoors.  This is when I discovered the super cute local coffee shop, Sola, in the Greystone Shopping Center in North Raleigh.  Actually, I didn’t discover Sola, but TriangleExplorer writes about it frequently so we finally checked it out.

True to the reviews, the folks there are super nice and accommodating of small children and they make some delicious sandwiches and mini donuts!  Let me repeat – they make mini donuts and they are freaking amazing!  They are also super fancy with their coffee making techniques, so if you’re looking for a french press coffee these are your people.

After a lunch at Sola we had some extra time to kill before nap, so we ventured over to Greystone Recreation Center, which is located in the same shopping center as Sola.  The last time we visited Greystone, Ashley was still crawling and it wasn’t a practical place to take her.  Now that she’s a rough and tumble 2 1/2 yr old she can pretty much do everything in the play area.  We arrived at just the right time too – summer camp was finishing up for the day so the play area was pretty quiet.  The playground is a perfect spot for kids who love to climb, jump and swing from ropes.  Ashley is still learning how to climb the rope ladders so this was a good place to try because the surface is spongy and I can be right there to assist.  She wasn’t a fan of the spinning play equipment yet, but also liked the 2ft tall rock you can jump off from.

It’s been interesting to see how my perspective of playgrounds has changed over time while Ashley has become more capable of doing difficult activities.  I wouldn’t dream of bringing a crawling child here again because of the smallness of the play area and all the big kids like Ashley running around, but I’m excited to see how much fun she’ll have here over the years to come.  If visiting Greystone, be sure to check the playground hours before going as they seem to change quite a bit over the year.

Visit my original post on Greystone Rec Center for additional photos.

Thumbs up: great indoor activity for hot or rainy days, various organized programs held through City of Raleigh

Thumbs down: smallness of area, tendency for playground to be crowded

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