Honeycutt Park

img_3549The final park we explored as a family of three was Honeycutt Park in North Raleigh.  Knowing that baby #2 was cozy and not giving any hints to arrive anytime soon (still late though), we ventured out to Honeycutt Park on the Sunday morning before baby Claire was born.  This park is located at 1032 Clear Creek Farm Dr just outside 540 near Falls of Neuse Rd.  For a Sunday morning in Raleigh it was par-for-the-course quiet; we had the park to ourselves for at least 30 minutes.

The playground area is completely unshaded, so plan accordingly if you’re trying to avoid the sun.  There are playgrounds for both age groups of 2-5 and 5-12.  The 2-5 age playground has several slides and few challenging climbing structures for the little ones.  It also has a fun “theater” play area under the playground, which can be fun for the young ones.  Ashley quickly ran through all the play areas at this playground and headed to the older kid playground.  The 5-12 age playground also has several slides, one of which includes a trifecta slide where 3 friends can race each other at the same time.  Since I was feeling too large to race, Bill and Ashley enjoyed several runs down the racing slides.  This playground also has several climbing structures too, which include a rock wall, swivel monkey bars, and a rope ladder.

After a lot of playground time we explored the rest of the park.  Adjacent to the playground is a large shelter complete with charcoal grills and restrooms, lit baseball field, basketball court, and sand volleyball court.  Adjacent to the basketball court and parking lot is a large open grassy memorial area surrounded by large rocks and dedicated to Rosalina M Rodriguez.  Then, we walked down the nearby greenway to learn that it is under construction.  The scope of this greenway project is to design and build a 5.6 mile segment of greenway trail, connecting the existing Mine Creek Greenway Corridor to the South Shore Trail on Falls Lake.  For more information about this project visit the City of Raleigh website.

While this was our last park trip as a family of 3, we couldn’t be more excited to share so many future park visits with baby Claire.

Thumbs up: fun playground slides, large shelter, future greenway project

Thumbs down: unsightly utility area, lack of shade around playground

Williams Park

IMG_2957

Williams Park is a bustling playground in the center of North Raleigh adjacent to Lynn Road Elementary School.  It is located at 1525 Lynn Road and some of the photos are from when Ashley was much younger and some are from this Spring.  As you can see, having a friend to climb through tunnels with, chase through the soccer field, and swing with is the best way to spend an early Spring afternoon!
In addition to the large playground area (complete with shady canopies), Williams Park has a large open field with soccer goals surrounded by a short walking path, tot swings, sand volleyball courts, youth swings, tennis courts, a large shelter area, and some shaded sitting areas.  The playground surface is made of wood chips and sand.  The playground areas are a series of small climbing structures with slides that are connected by monkey bars.  For younger ones, that means lots of repetitive trips down the same slides or that they’ll need your help getting to the other play areas.  Since Ashley was just beginning to climb ladders at this time, she needed my help getting up to the higher slides too.

If you take a walk along the trail at the park, you’ll find a small plaque memorializing the park to Peter P. Williams Jr.  According to a News & Observer article, his father donated the land for the park in honor of his son.  I always enjoy when I can find some tidbits on the history of a park!

Thumbs up: great shade, close parent-sitting areas throughout the playground

Thumbs down: I’ve been here in the past and seen where drainage can be an issue