Sparkle Lake and England Brothers Parks

We have been remarkably busy, but we have been able to squeeze a couple more parks. It is a tough time of year for going to parks because the heat is on! If Glen Frey would have only known how much he would resonate with Floridians he may have written another song. It is hot. By the end of the day, when I open my car door steam seems to spill out and as I slip in, it strangles me. Moments before my suffocation the car air kicks on and soothes. If you wait too long in the evening to go because it is cooler, the little vampires of the night come out, mosquitos mark their territory all over your body. Regardless, we like these precarious outdoors.

Can you see the Sparkle?

This time we looked at the Pinellas County map and saw two parks in Pinellas Park. Our first visit was to Sparkle Lake Park position at the end of  one of my best friends childhood home, though I had never been there. The park is small but has a lot going on. There is a small lake and short boardwalk, basketball courts, an adult exercise area, really nice pavilion with bbqs and a playground. The playground itself was fairly ordinary but there several swings which for the first time in a long time, Lydia was really into. The entire playground area has the soft ground which is popular now for ease of play.

Adult Work Out Area

As we were leaving because it was going to get late, a group of kids that were too old to be there but too young to be out alone unsupervised stormed the park. We were happy we were leaving as the tweens were invading. We decided to go see England Brothers Park which is really not a park. England Brothers is more like a field. It is meant for festivals or markets not really for play. Within the field there seemed to be small posts for mobile homes or other vendor types to plug in so it would not work as a play field either. There is a stage I assume for musical guests which Lydia loved. Lydia insisted on being announced to her audience several times and doing a little dance once she had finished waving off the fans. So, if your kid likes to put on a show I suppose  you could pack a picnic and let them perform on days that events are not hosted there, otherwise not very family friendly. For city sponsored events at England Brothers check here. Some of the options do seem fun such as Movie in the Park keep in mind that it will be in mid July please refer to my commentary on the heat above.

There are definitely more interesting parks in Pinellas Park and we will find them as we continue on our park quest.