If you live around the Richmond, VA area you have to check out Rockwood Park in Chesterfield County. While visiting Tech buddies in Richmond at the end of June we set out for Rockwood Park Nature Center’s annual Honeybee Festival and everyone (kids and adults) fell in love with this park!
Rockwood Park is located at 3401 Courthouse Road in Chesterfield County near the intersection of Hull Street Rd. While the festival vendors were setting up outside, we stepped inside the park’s nature center and got to see a whole lot of slithering, crawling, squirming and buzzing animals. The kids got to see several types of snakes (including a copperhead and corn snake), turtles (including a gigantic snapping turtle), bull frogs, a large iguana, and a live bee exhibit. All of the permanent exhibits were at levels great for little ones to see all the action. With the Honeybee Festival going on outside there was a very knowledgeable and friendly bee expert who described bee keeping to us and pointed out the queen bee in the hive exhibit. This center also has a great reading nook with nature books and kid-size table with coloring activities.
After spending at least 30 minutes in the center, we headed outside to enjoy the bee festival activities. The friendly staff helped the kids make pipe cleaner bee crafts and plant flowers. Then they enjoyed listening to bee themed stories and having bees painted on their hands. After exhausting the storyteller’s books we headed out across the field to explore the playground area.
The playground area is made for kids mostly 5 years and up, but that didn’t stop these almost 2-year olds and 4-year old from playing. The playground has a small slide for younger kids that is connected to higher play areas by monkey bars. There are several more climbing areas connected by ladders with access to twisty and straight slides. With the recent rains the kids happily discovered the large mud puddle at the bottom of the twisty slide. Tot swings and regular swings are nearby and several benches and picnic tables are also located in the playground area. The entire area is mostly shaded by tall, mature trees and there are several more amenities (such as a dog park, pickleball courts, baseball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, pavilions) adjacent to the playground. As someone who has spent a lot of time visiting family and friends in Chesterfield, I am excited to explore more parks in this area.
For a complete list of the amenities at Rockwood Park, see the County of Chesterfield website.
Thumbs up: live animals at nature center, friendly staff, variety of activities for young kids, shady playground area
Thumbs down: poor drainage near playground
Today would’ve been my Aunt Pam’s 59th birthday. For as far back as I can remember, she lived in a large ranch house off a very long gravel road in Carbondale, KS, but she grew up 30 minutes from there in 
Despite Harveyville’s decrease in population over the years (my dad recalls a total population around 300 when he graduated high school in 1971), it was very comforting to explore a small town, especially one where my dad and aunt grew up in. Harveyville is all of 0.13 square miles, so it was hard to get lost. We drove to my dad and aunt’s childhood home, which is now home to the pastor who delivered my aunt’s funeral service. It’s a lovely two-story home with an enclosed front porch. My dad recalled the strangeness of having to visit the pastor at his home to discuss my aunt’s services, but I’m sure being in his childhood home again helped with the healing of losing his sister. While driving around Harveyville, I started to imagine a simpler life with simpler expectations, regular community/family gatherings, finishing high school with your same preschool friends, and working as a teenager in one of the local shops or farms.
After seeing their childhood home, we passed the new church that was rebuilt after being flattened during the 
Just across from the park is Harveyville Grade School and Harveyville High School, where my dad was part of the last graduating class in 1971. It’s a beautiful brick building full of windows on the front with a large bell out front and a water tower in the grasslands behind the building. At a closer glimpse, I noticed dogs barking behind a fenced-in area attached to the high school. Being the curious type, I walked up the steps of the school and noticed the lobby was full of sewing materials and I heard voices coming from inside. I knocked on the front doors of the school and a sweet woman about my age greeted me at the door to tell me they were preparing for a weekend-long felting retreat. She gave me free reign to explore the school as she was super busy. Old classrooms were turned into shared guest rooms, bathrooms were updated to include showers, and the gorgeous gym contained all the tables, chairs and supplies needed for a felting retreat. The Harveyville Schools are now home to the 
After my mom’s sudden 
Curtis Park features an olympic-size outdoor swimming pool with a large baby pool with splash umbrella and zero-depth entry, 18-hole 
Past the open field is a large parking lot with access to the pools, nature trails and large pavilion on top of the hill overlooking the pool. Further down the main road is the large lake for fishing and boating and more nature trails. The main fishing pier and boat ramp is accessible from the other side of the lake on Stony Hill Rd (you must exit the park). After our playground time we picnicked on top of the hill, which offers the best views of the park. The girls enjoyed chasing each other while taking in the site of the drained pool below. The Olympic-size pool has depths of 3ft and 4ft in the shallower end to 12ft in the deep end. The baby pool features a zero-depth entry and splash umbrella. The deep end has two diving board blocks, but with it being out of season when we visited I’m not sure if they actually allow diving. I have very vivid memories of jumping off the since removed 3-meter springboard and 5-meter platform boards during off hours. Being the daughter of the Aquatics Director had its perks!
With our red wagon and balance bike in hand, we headed out on a clear, sunny winter day to explore 
Along our walk/ride we passed several beautiful settings including the refurbished farm buildings. This park was originally a working farm as recently as the 1940s, owned by the Walker family who grew produce to sell to local merchants. It was sold to E. Carroll Joyner who raised cattle until the 1990s and then bought by the Town of Wake Forest in 2003 and opened as a public park in 2009. The original farm buildings include a tobacco barn, log cabin, chicken coop and mule barn. The girls had a fantastic time exploring the different buildings, especially the chicken coop. Several of these buildings and the nearby settings also offer great photo opportunities.
There’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.
The 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.
In 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!
MacDonald Woods Park has playground areas for the 2-5 and 5-12 age groups with two swings for both groups. The 5-12 age playground is rather large with several ladders and slides, monkey bars, and climbing wall with rope. The loop-shaped ladder was by far a challenging favorite for this duo. The younger playground is very small with only 2 slides, steps and a platform ladder. There are a few bouncy rides and a small low-to-the-ground structure for early walkers. A small elevated sandbox is located between the two playground areas. But, by far, the best feature of this park is the merry-go-round. Yes, that’s right…they have a merry-go-round! Go Cary! Of all the parks we’ve been to this was a first so you can imagine the confusion when the girls first saw it. Having never been on a merry-go-round they watched several groups of people get on and off before getting on with a group of toddler girls. These sweet maniacs quickly caught on as to why you hold on to the bars but also moved into more challenging feats such as dangling their feet over the edge. That proved to be rather anxiety-ridden for us but they had fun and no one went flying off the thing, so it was a success!
The 2-5 age group playground is a short walk from the bigger playground. It has a fun climbing wall, a few slides, twisty toys, the dreaded butterfly shaped ladder which is too young for a 2-year old in my opinion, a seesaw, tot swings, and bongos.
