Off to Porter Park, a Little Park in the Neighborhood

Steve was off to work today so the kids and I started the day with some laundry.  Actually, I started the day with some laundry while the kids cleaned up their rooms, got dressed, and took in an episode of "Phineas and Ferb" on TV.  Then we packed up some drinks, some snacks, and the weenie dogs and headed off to the neighborhood park.  Porter Park is about two blocks from Steve's house and is on one of the many bays around here.  It is a great park with a playground, a swimming beach, picnic area, and boat launch area.

This is a view from the top of the beach area looking back toward the playground area.  The playground equipment is under the trees behind the picnic pavillions and the bathroom you can see in the front.  I'll have to get a better picture from the front another day.

 There are some very nice covered picnic areas under the palms near the bay.

 This is the beach area with palms on the bank above.  The strip of sand varies depending on whether the tide is in or out.  The water here is "brackish" which doesn't sound very appetizing but actually just means that it is a combination of salt water and fresh water because a river flows into the bay.  The oil spill last year really didn't affect this area that much fortunately and we never saw any here in the bay at any time.  The water is nice and clear and the sand is white and clean.

The kids had big decisions to make like where to start their sand castle.  As you can see, the beach was not crowded at all.  Tucked away in the neighborhood, it mostly just gets locals.  The boat launch area on the other side of the picnic area gets a lot more use.  The picnic area is actually out on a piece of land which juts out in front of the boat area so it is very sheltered.  There are lots of fishermen who launch here as well as pleasure craft.

The beach is next to Bailey Bridge.  In the front, you can see the old bridge which is now a pedestrian bridge.  There are a lot of walkers, runners, bicycle riders, and fishermen who really appreciate use of this bridge.  It is lit up at night so you can walk when it gets cooler.

The water isn't really deep in the swimming area so the kids can wade out quite a ways before it is swimming depth.  They have a lot of fun here anyway.  The dogs were sitting with me while the kids swam.  Harley wanted to go in with them but I couldn't manage all of them and I knew Willy and Gretchen wouldn't be as enthusiastic.  Willy was "talking" and worrying while they were swimming.  Gretchen was just grateful the "little girl" didn't take her in.  Thank goodness I took a water bottle and bowl for the dogs.   The kids enjoyed their snacks and they each have their own water bottle for when we go out.  We have a small backpack to carry things along.  These kids don't go anywhere without a drink and a snack.

Hope you enjoyed the dip too.