I didn’t realize that Tacoma had a park named Optimist Park (1330 N James St.). Today was lovely, so I went to find this darling neighborhood park. There is a baseball field and some really cool playground equipment, some of which plays music!
I was driving around with my dear husband looking around for a new place when we happened upon Stewart Heights Park. Well, I hadn’t realized that this was the park that he like to take our daughter to when she was young. So it brought back memories for him. It has changed a fair amount since our daughter’s playground days. The playground equipment has moved and there are more trails. I didn’t get a good photo of the pool or the skate park or Lisa’s Garden, so I’ll do those spots some other day.
The city of Lakewood has 10 parks and one game refuge and today I stopped at Wards Lake Park at 2716 84th St South. I found it by following small sign off of S. 84th Street. This 20-acre park is a little oasis in a relatively built up part of town. It includes Wards Lake, a fishing pier, playground, picnic shelter and trail system. The lake doesn’t look conducive to swimming, but it is great for fishing and is very pretty. There is a short trail that leads back to some picnic tables and benches. And for the younger set there is a nice play area. I saw children playing on the big toys, an older guy fishing and a young couple getting to know each other.
Today, 9/8/10, I made a quick stop at Gas Station Park at 4801 S. Park Ave. Pretty much you can see the entire park from the photo.
Here is an excellent blog entry from Tacoma Mama about the park.
http://www.tacomamama.com/content/gas-station-park-mystery-park-s-48th-and-park-avenue
