Belated

I've been going to parks and taking pictures, but just not posting.  It's inexcusable, but here's my excuse: the pictures are on my phone, and the cord to my phone is in the car.  

I know, right?  It's a very difficult situation.  At least if you are near-terminally lazy.  And now you know just how lazy I am.

I finally bit the bullet and got the blogger app, so I can at least I can do short posts of park things.

Like this pic of lovely tulips I saw today at pearl park:

I see random beautiful park-things all the time.  I will now picspam all and sundry with them.

Pearl Park

Pearl Park is just down the street for me, and it's a large local park, so this is an easy one to check off the list.  It's in South Minneapolis near 35W and Minnehaha Parkway:

As you see on the map, Pearl Park is also right across from Diamond Lake, which is a little lake with a somewhat hidden path around it. More on that later.


















Pearl Park is a very nice park.  On the end by Diamond Lake Road, there's a large rec center, with playgrounds and a wading pool. 

They renovated the rec center about fifteen years ago, so it's very nice.  This pic was from last summer (note the trees have leaves) - since then, they've added a Little Free Library by the rec center.
Little kids' playground:

 Big Kids' playground:

 Wading pool and playgrounds from afar:



On the west side of the rec center there are picnic tables, horseshoe pitches, and basketball/volleyball courts. 

Beyond that, as you go north (you can see on the other side of the courts), the park has several large fields - baseball and soccer.  A lot of team sports are played here.  The rec center also has an indoor gym.

In the winter, Pearl Park puts up a hockey rink, and people sled down the hills on the west side of the park. 

Across the street there is this little stair down to the Diamond Lake Path:

Some of the path is wood chips, some is asphalt.  It's slightly down a hill from the road, and wooded, so those walking on the path feel very removed.    It has a little dock that ends up entirely surrounded by reeds in the summer. 

This is the lake.  You wouldn't want to swim in it, but it's pretty.  There are a lot of turtles.  


 

Pearl Park is a well-rounded park with a lot of sports fields as well as the standard playgrounds and wading pool.  It's a good place to have a birthday party, and schools come here to have track and field days.  Personally, I especially like the lake with the lake path nearby.  And on the other end of the park, you're only a block from the Minnehaha creek, which has walking and bike paths. 

Rating for little kids: 4 out of 5
Rating for big kids: 5 out of 5
Rating for adults: 4 out of 5 

Fuller Park - classic neighborhood park

I felt it was fitting for the first review to be of my own childhood park, Fuller Park.  It's in South Minneapolis, over here:



I used to live a half block away from Fuller Park and I was there a lot when I was a kid.  It's still got that fairy-tale quality for me that places have when you thought they were very cool when you were little.




You can climb on those trees behind the sign. They are good little climbing trees.

TC parks have a standard format, especially in Minneapolis: playground for little kids, playground for bigger kids, wading pool, rec center, field(s).  The above pic is of the Fuller rec center, which is on the corner of Grand and 48th Street in South Minneapolis.


Here's the park itself, right on the other side of the rec center.



You can see part of the field off to the right here.  The field is just an open grassy area - not set up for any games in particular - and isn't big enough to play real soccer or football games.  But kids can run around in it and play whatever the newest version of tag is or kick a ball around.  There's some picnic tables.  And one good thing about this park is that it's open, and on relatively high ground compared to that around it, so it is sunny.  That said, there is a modest hill on the end of the park by the houses that kids often sled down in the winter.   

This is the big kid playground:

 And this is the small-kid playground.  The two playgrounds are divided by a small asphalt path.

As you see, there is a little courtyard with benches where parents can hang out and watch kids play.  Kids have been drawing all over it with chalk.  This "parent area" layout was a neat idea, and it really works for Fuller, because Fuller is a very "community" playground.  You can talk to other parents if you want and people are friendly.  

On the other side of the courtyard is the wading pool:

It's not a super-elaborate wading pool like at Lake Hiawatha Park (we'll get there!) but kids like it anyway :)

Hey, let's go inside the adorable rec center.  I probably won't always take inside-the-rec-center pics for these reviews, but this is one of my favorite rec centers because it has this nifty two-level design.

I'm standing right by the upstairs entrance to take this pic.  There are some small community activity rooms up here.  Some kids were in one playing Magic The Gathering together; they volunteered to teach Isaac how to play.

 

Looking down to the lower level:

The door to the right of the garbage/recycling leads to a very yellow kitchen.  I think you can get balls for the foosball table at the help desk.  

At the bottom.  Don't you just want to hug this room.  I totally do.

 One more neat thing about Fuller is that, while the area is very residential, there are a few antique shops and a new little cafe right next to it.  On the other side of this sign.  (re: the meeting advertised on the sign: the park rec centers often serve as neighborhood group meeting spaces.   I actually wouldn't have thought the Fuller area was in Tangletown, but I guess it is.)

Summary: Fuller is a small-but-serviceable, pleasant neighborhood park and gathering place.  The small size and the way it blends into the neighborhood make it feel safe and a little hidden.  The facilities are more oriented towards little kids - the field isn't large enough to accommodate organized team sports, the playground equipment is not too challenging, there's no trails or wood area, and the sledding hill is more safe than thrilling.  But it's a great place for kids (people!) of all ages to come hang out and play informal games. 

Isaac's review of Fuller: "It's nice.  But I want to go there earlier next time to play capture the flag."

Little kid rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Big kid rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Grownup rating: 2 out of 5 stars, 3 if you give points for cute surrounding stores/cafes

Park Review Crew

Before I begin parking, here's an intro to my park review crew.

Mostly the parks will be tested by the twins, Saul:

And Naomi:

These pics are from last summer, but you get the idea.  Adorable toddlers, etc.

Appearances also may be made by Isaac:

 (the big one - he's 10) - and Raphael:



 ...who is five, almost six.

You may occasionally spot the shy black-crested spouse, Patrick:

And then there's me.

I'm the one in the olive jacket.

that's the crew.  Now on to the parks.

Commence Parking

I live in the Twin Cities - Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, for the uninitiated.

Apart from winter, MN is known for its high quality of life, having the highest voter turnout in the nation every year, and its obsession with parks.  (And gardening.  But I'm terrible at gardening.) 

Here in the TC we feel very strongly about parks.  We're rated #1 in parks for the nation.  We have a goal (it used to be in the city charter for Minneapolis) of at least one park or green space area within every six blocks, and we meet it.  Our in-city lakes all have public paths around them, as does the Minnehaha Creek.  We all have very strong feelings about trees in general and our green canopy in particular and the emerald ash borer in very particular.  Some person is even blogging the history of Minneapolis parks over here.

I'm Minnesotan born, and I love parks.  This summer, I decided I would try to visit all the parks in the TC with various of my children.  And review the parks here for your convenience. 

ALL the parks in the TC.  Can you handle it.

Minneapolis Park Board page here; St. Paul Park page here.