kite flying

Halifax Park & Community Center Update

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The gorgeous fall weather this season prompted several repeat visits to our favorite parks, Halifax Park & Community Center being one of them.  Thanks to a comment from one of my blog readers, this park underwent a few updates since my Aug 2014 review that elicit photo and amenity listing updates.

Halifax Park & Community Center is located at 1015 Halifax St near the Seaboard Station area.  I was pleasantly surprised to see some much needed picnic tables near the community center where the girls and I were able to enjoy our picnic lunch.  Another interesting addition to the park is an interactive art piece called “Hoops Playing Hoops” by artist Chris Fennell of Birmingham, AL.  It’s a tall group of basketball hoops connected by steel pipes that make them seem like they’re playing basketball together.  Once you make a basket in one of the hoops, the ball will travel down the ramp to another hoop.  The girls had so much fun watching me make attempt after attempt to score a basket – it’s much harder than it looks.

IMG_8367There’s also a separate smaller basketball art sculpture for the younger kids.  The girls had such fun shooting baskets and watching the ball spiral down the ramp.  If you forget your basketball or don’t have one, the friendly staff at the community center will let your borrow their ball.

If you haven’t visited this park yet, just do it!  There’s plenty for kids of all ages to do and the convenience of the community center is invaluable!

More Resources:

Thumbs up: partially fenced-in playground, play areas for all ages, interactive basketball art sculpture, new picnic tables

Thumbs down: nothing new to report

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Jockey’s Ridge State Park

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For the first time in our 10 years of vacationing in Nags Head, we finally paid a visit to Jockey’s Ridge State Park.  Jockey’s Ridge is the tallest natural sand dune system in the eastern US.  It is located at 300 W. Carolista Dr in Nags Head (MP 12) on the sound side of HWY 158.  Having never been to a desert or sand dune park before, I was blown away by the massiveness of the dunes; if a herd of camels had passed by, I would’ve forgotten we were in NC!

Jockey’s Ridge sand dunes vary in height of 80 to 100 ft and is believed to have been formed when hurricanes or strong northeasters transported sand inland from offshore islands.  The rich history of this area started with the Algonquian Indians and was further explored by European settlers.  Jockey’s Ridge became an official NC state park in 1975 only after the strong efforts of Carolista Baum (read more about the history of Jockey’s Ridge).  Today, the non-profit group Friends of Jockey’s Ridge also provides support and brings awareness to the dunes.

IMG_8054Unfortunately, our visit to Jockey’s Ridge did not go as swimmingly as I would have liked.  As with most things I plan with two small children, my expectations exceed reality and this was one of those examples.  Knowing the sand is at least 10 degrees hotter than the outside temperature we got an early start to our trip and were in the parking lot area by 9:30am.  After a short stop inside the visitor’s center, Bill and I set off with both girls to find the top of the dunes.  We made our way to the end of the wooden walkway near the large group of visitors that were catching their breath from just coming off the dunes.  We followed some of the other visitors along the loosely marked Tracks in the Sand trail.  We made it up a few small hills and discovered several animal tracks, but on our way up the large dune our sweet 3yr old retreated down the hill exclaiming, “My legs are too tired!”  Rather than continue climbing with Claire in the carrier while Bill was 100 yards away on a work conference call (great reception, fyi) I scooped Ashley up and proceeded downhill.  Looking back, maybe this trip was a bit premature for this young group, but a little character building never hurt anyone; and, Ashley loooved recounting the story about how tired her legs were throughout dinner later that night!

I hope to make it back to Jockey’s Ridge for some solo hang gliding during our annual trip in May; the kiddos will have to enjoy my stories and pics instead of another first-hand experience!  I look forward to some family kite flying when everyone is at least 5 years old!

Thumbs up: gorgeous views (I bet they’re even better from the top)

Thumbs down: learning the hard way that my young children do not tolerate sand dunes

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Halifax Park & Community Center

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Recently we met up with friends to explore the newly renovated Halifax Park and Community Center.  If anyone remembers the old park, the community center was well beyond its years and the playground was small, sandy and a little sad.  The updated park is full of fun for all kids and feels safer from the nearby road because of the expanded fencing.

Halifax Park & Community Center is located at 1015 Halifax St, just north of Seaboard Station.  It has a small parking lot with additional street parking.  The playground area is 3/4 fenced in with easy access to the adjacent community center; and the community center is top notch!  It has a fitness gym you can join for a small monthly fee, classrooms, a large gym, and very nice restrooms, which are crucial for any parent with small kids.  A trip to the bathroom was a huge highlight for this preschool-age group!

IMG_7098The playground area has two playgrounds – one for ages 2-5 and one for ages 5-12 with a large oak tree and mulched area in between that provided great morning shade for the smaller-age playground.  The smaller-age playground has a rubber surface with two tot swings, ladders, climbing structures, one slide, and some fine motor twisty toys and noise makers.  The age 5-12 playground also has a rubber surface with several climbing structures, rope ladders, monkey bars, a slide without side rails, and two regular swings.  A big hit for the kids was also the stationary board with pretend car gauges and noises.

IMG_7100In addition to the community center and playground, this park also has outdoor full court basketball with nearby benches, a large fenced-in open field for soccer and baseball (and a poor attempt at kite flying), and great views of the freight trains coming and going.  Combine this park visit with a trip to Tyler’s Taproom or Bad Daddy’s in Seaboard Station and you’ve got a pretty fantastic outing!

More Resources: original Halifax Park blog post

Thumbs up: access to nearby restrooms, large shady oak tree, unique climbing features, landscaping

Thumbs down: small parking lot, no picnic tables

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Leesville Community Park

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On a Sunday morning in May we headed out to Leesville Community Park in hopes of finding a fun playground with some open space for flying a kite.  The playground was unlike any others we had ever been to before and we were able to find a small space for kite flying so it was a successful morning!

Leesville Community Park is located at 5105 Country Dr in North Raleigh and has a Wake County Library on the premises.  It has two playgrounds near each other – one for ages 2-5 and one for ages 5-12.  The smaller age playground is covered by a large shade tarp and is a series of one foot tall platforms for playing and climbing on so this playground is best for a steady climber or even a non-walker who likes to just stand and hold onto things.  Ashley had a blast playing with the spinning toys on the younger playground.

The older age playground is a series of metal or rope climbing structures, a very narrow slide, and a stand-up spinning structure.  It had yellow caution tape in a section where the rope ties were broken.  I’m so thankful Bill was with me this morning to assist Ashley as she spider-monkeyed the rope climbs while I could tend to Claire.  I was pretty nervous with Ashley being so high up, but she did great and even made it down the very narrow slide by herself.  However, I wouldn’t take both girls back to this park by myself because Ashley would require so much assistance on the older playground.

IMG_6299After some playground time we busted out our princess kite in the nearby open space.  We had the park to ourselves this morning which proved to be crucial when giving a 3-year old a kite – she ran all over the place instructing her kite to “C’mon on, kite!”  It was super cute watching her fly the kite, until she ran into some small, unnecessary stumps located in the middle of the open space.

After flying kites we explored the shady median between the parking lots, which featured a short dirt pathway with benches that lead to the Carlton family cemetery.  Finally we got some use out of the public restrooms, which were very comfortable for temporary trailer bathrooms.

Thumbs up: bathroom facilities, monkey bars at smaller age playground, library/park combo trip, shade tarp over smaller age playground

Thumbs down: lack of picnic tables, playground features require kids to be very able at climbing, park entrance was hard to spot (we drove right by), small jagged stumps in open field

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