Park #10 in our family’s #SA2020Resolutions quest to visit 20 parks in 2014, is Elmendorf Lake Park. It hasn’t escaped my attention that, in blog posts anyway, we are halfway to our goal. In reality, we’ve visited 16 parks but my blogging needs to catch up to reflect that!
Our visit to Elmendorf Lake Park took place on a hot July day around 3:30 p.m. so, as you can imagine, it felt like we were visiting the surface of the sun. We came across this pretty park on our way home from picking up my daughter at Camp Metro, the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas’ summer day camp located in an old Edgewood district school on the west side of San Antonio.
We didn’t stay at this park for long for two reasons: 1) the unrelenting heat and, 2) a certain gentleman sitting on a bench, staring at us, while guzzling a tall boy (huge beer, for the uninitiated).
I’m aware that any park could have people hanging out, drinking beer in the middle of the day. I certainly don’t hold this incident against Elmendorf Lake Park because that gentleman didn’t take away from what the park has to offer: a clean and well-kept running/walking path, friendly ducks waddling about, and a stunning view of Our Lady of the Lake University. But, I admit, he’s one of the reasons we didn’t enjoy a lengthier stay to explore this park, which made me sad. We were there less than 20 minutes, just enough time to look around and snap these few photos.
This was the first time during our park visits that I’ve had even an inkling of concern for our safety. The guy stayed on his bench and its likely he never would have bothered us.
Was I scared the man was going to approach us? No. Did I truly fear for our safety? Not really. It was daylight and cars were whizzing by, right in front of the park. But something in my gut said it was time to go and, if there’s anything I’ve learned as a mother, it’s to trust that instinct.
I’ve wondered about that unsafe feeling several times since our visit to Elmendorf Lake Park and I posed a question on the San Antonio Mom Blogs’ Facebook page recently on this topic:
Are you comfortable walking or running alone in San Antonio parks? Why or why not?
Several San Antonio moms mentioned that they never visit parks by themselves, which is probably wise. Bring a buddy (or a big dog!) on your park excursions.
I generally don’t feel concerned for our safety when we visit San Antonio parks. But I do stay alert and aware. And I don’t visit parks by myself.
I’m sad that our visit to Elmendorf Lake was cut short. We missed seeing most of its nearly 30 acres. But, maybe that gives us a good reason to give it another try one day soon.
UPDATE: Just found this article that says Elmendorf Lake Park will soon get a new swimming pool and other amenities. Great news!
How safe do you feel when you and your family visit San Antonio parks?
Check out all of the San Antonio parks we’ve visited this year as part of our #SA2020Resolutions.
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