ELK'S PLAYGROUND
(Posted 2008-09-04 14:16:17 by ArchPaladin)

So we finally went out and started exploring the city in an "official"
sense.  While I would very much like to get into more urban exploration (as
I mentioned a little while back), there aren't many options where we live
as we're not in a large city, and time is short with school in full swing. 
Ergo, most of my exploratory activities are limited to out-of-the-way
natural places - basically the overlooked crannies that the city never grew
into.  I suppose it's not _urban_ exploration anymore then, but "rural
exploration" doesn't have the same ring to it, and where we will probably
go is not very rural either.  I think I'll have to settle for the generic
"exploration" term for what I'm doing.

In truth, it's probably for the best that there isn't a lot of abandoned
stuff in the city.  My wife has agreed to come with me when I go out, and
I'm glad to have her along for the company, but I don't know how much she'd
want to go wander around abandoned buildings.  I imagine it would depend on
the target.

At any rate, our first target this week was a small park area called "Elk's
Playground", which is located at the end of a street that connects to
Daniel Webster Highway right by The Big One ice cream stand.  It's
basically a small field with a limited playground area.  Pros: a gazebo and
small ballfield.  Cons: no slide.  There was a sign at the entrance that
spoke about skating hours, which makes me think the field is pressed into
service as a skating arena in the winter, as it is remarkably flat.  There
are two small trails that lead off into the woods in the back, where there
are a couple of firepits and a rundown treehouse.  Beyond that is brush and
the glimpse of a railroad track, which we didn't go investigate due to lack
of close-toed footwear.  That may be a future investigation.

It's a nice area.  It would be very good for outdoor group activities if
Greeley Park is crowded and people wanted a little seclusion.  It was
excellent for a picnic, which was what we did while there.

We brought along the camera, which I intend to make a staple of future
exploratory visits.  Rather than hosting the photos here (and filling up a
lot of disk space), I've decided to create a flickr account to host all the
photos.  The photo set for Elk's Playground is here, and the link directly
to my flickr profile is here (which is also going in the blogroll at the
bottom of the page for easy access).  Future explorations will yield more
photo sets.

Update (18 Jan 2010): Well, how about that.  I decided to host photos here
after all, and shut down the Flickr site.  Go figure.  Anyway, the links
above have been removed.

[nggallery id=4]

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