7:00am | This is going to be a self-serving exercise. I have a three year-old boy who loves our local playgrounds. While there are parks that we visit on a regular basis, we are always on the lookout for something different, particularly if it happens to be conveniently close to wherever we happen to be in the city. So here’s how I want to take advantage of this column: my son Carter and I want you, the reader to provide us with your favorite playgrounds. Over the holidays, we will visit as many of your suggestions as we can, and we will come back with our review.
Carter enjoys slides, jungle gyms, and above all swings, but he also takes pleasure in running around and watching others enjoying a park. In our effort to find the perfect playground, we often take him to new parks near wherever we happen to be around Long Beach—be that while running errands or because someone (i.e., Carter) sees the tell-tale colorful, molded plastic and metal of play equipment off in the distance.
We also enjoy many parks time and time again. For instance, we often walk from home to our local playground in Bixby Park, where Carter encounters a swing set upon initial entry. When we eventually pull him away from the swing, we usually end up alternating between the toddler slides and the larger kids’ play area. On occasion he watches skateboarders nearby as they do their tricks, gliding over trash cans and grinding along benches. Indeed, the park can get a little chaotic on some weekends when numerous families come to take advantage of the city’s wonderful coastal weather.
Weekend errands typically take us by the Traffic Circle and another familiar destination, the playground tucked nearby into the corner of Stearns Champions Park. Carter loves the swing set located there; with a child’s bucket seat on a full-height bar, it allows me to run under his swing while I push him. Two playground sets at the park each have multiple slides and climbing rigs, providing children with an endless variety of ways to scamper up and down. The lack of a fence surrounding the playground allows for greater free play between the playground and the open field next to it.
Marina Vista Park, located next to Spinnaker Bay, has a pretty limited playground: no swings and just a couple slides. There are some rocking horses; I guess Carter will appreciate them some day, but at present they are little more than obstacles. We often visit this park on our way to Enrique’s Mexican Restaurant, and in spite of its limitations we do appreciate the park’s topography; a dry trough next to playground is great for running along and rolling down. Carter loves chasing his mother and I up and down, playfully falling down on the soft grassy mounds.
There are a few other playgrounds we enjoy visiting, but we are interested in hearing about your favorites, or about playgrounds that offer something a little different. Carter and I will try out as many of your suggested playgrounds as we can and return with a report on them. I am sure he is up to the challenge and we’ll do our best to visit each of them. For our benefit, include any good coffee shops or restaurants nearby. So please use the comments section to share you favorite children’s playground in Long Beach, and Carter and I will take it from there!