Landa Library Park in San Antonio, Texas (#7 for #SA2020Resolutions)

Having to pick your favorite park in San Antonio would be like having to pick your favorite child – it can’t be done. Each child (park?) has special qualities that come together to make him/her (it?) a unique and treasured individual (or park). But, if I HAD to pick a favorite park in San Antonio – not that I would, of course, but, you know, if you were holding me down and tickling me and I absolutely had to get you to stop and you said, “OK! I’ll stop but ONLY if you tell me what your FAVORITE San Antonio park is!” –  I’d squeak out, “Landa Library Park!” But only under duress, you understand. And then I’d feel like I just betrayed all of the other great San Antonio parks. Because I’m co-dependent like that.

Confession time: before I had kids, I didn’t visit parks. Well, that’s not strictly true. I did visit them as a teenager but my friends and I were less interested in the park itself and more interested in finding free places to hang out, away from our parents, where we could write poetry, wear black, listen to Depeche Mode from our car stereos, and lament our cruel lives. Ah, youth! But, I digress.

Located near Trinity University in Monte Vista, Landa Library Park is just that: a park adjacent to a library. The benefit of having an air conditioned library with clean bathrooms and a cozy children’s section at the park make it far and away one of the best parks for parents in San Antonio. Add to that the park’s simple beauty, intimate feel, comfortable benches, plenty of shade, and immaculate upkeep (by the Landa Gardens Conservancy), and it’s tough to beat.

I fell in love with Landa Library Park when my firstborn was just a babe. When you’re a new mom and you’re cooped up indoors with a tiny, often screechy infant, you long for fresh air. Well, that and sleep. And sanity. But, you’ll settle for fresh air in a place where other exhausted mamas are likely to congregate. My baby girl and I would attend the infant/toddler story time at the library and then head out to the park where I’d nurse her on a bench under a shady tree. This became our routine until she was old enough to stumble around the smaller playground for kids under 5, climb the tiny staircase with my help, and slip down the little slide. Eventually she grew old enough to run around the park on her own, making new friends while I watched her and nursed her baby brother on that same bench until he was old enough to chase her down.

Over the years, I’ve shared my love for Landa Library Park on San Antonio Mom Blogs and also on Family Travel with Colleen Kelly long before I became a park ambassador for SA2020. In fact, I also hosted my daughter’s 7th birthday party there.

And our love for this park continues. Now that our kids are 6 and 9, they still ask to visit Landa Library Park. We pick up paletas at El Paraiso on Fredericksburg and head to Landa to enjoy them. Then the kids run around, exploring the park’s nooks and crannies and climbing all over the playground designed for older kids. When they’re pleasantly hot and sweaty, we go inside the library to cool off and pick out books to take home. It’s our idea of a perfect afternoon.

If you’ve never visited Landa Library Park, you’re in for a treat. It’s sure to become one of your family’s favorite places to play. And, mark every Saturday in May on your calendar for Landa Gardens Month, which hosts free performances and activities for families. San Antonio mom blogger Inga with San Antonio Charter Moms wrote all of the free fun at Landa Gardens Month last spring.

Check out all of the San Antonio parks we’ve visited this year as part of our #SA2020Resolutions.

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