Central Park in Largo Florida

My daughter Melissa and I have explored many parks in the central western area of Florida for her son Nathan.  We have been pleasantly surprised that there are so many of them with innovative play equipment suitable for the young as well as the older child.  That does seem a bit strange for a state whose majority population are senior citizens!  What is equally interesting is that the play equipment varies from park to park.  We chose to go to Largo park last Saturday because it offers a holiday train for little Nathan.  We had also learned awhile back, when attending Prince of Peace Lutheran church, that the park was going to feature a Bethlehem village for the Christmas activities that evening.

The playground in Central Park has double swings, one for a young child and another for an adult or older child.  Another playground we visited this past week had a large merry-go-round with small circular movable disks to ride inside of the main one.  Maybe the recent playground equipment is not so unusual, but rather it is just that John and I have not been visiting parks for the past thirty years!

Another interesting feature of this park  are the whimsical statues of children found in various locations of the park.  I especially like the above one of three children crossing a creek.

As I may not be writing another posting until next year, I will take a minute here to wish all of you our readers a very Merry Christmas!  We left the park for supper and just John and I returned in time for the tree lighting.  The whole park was now lit up with Christmas lights.  Adding to those lights were those of a ferris wheel and a carousel.  The playground still had many children playing in it.  Prior to the tree lighting a small stage near the tree had a variety of dance groups performing for the gathering crowds.  I especially enjoyed the choreography for the song  "The Little Drummer Boy".

The Christmas story was played out in the Bethlehem village by live actors, including a real baby.  We certainly had a enjoyable evening strolling through the park.  Besides enjoying the lights, arts and crafts booths, we also stopped to look at a great horn owl perched on the arms of staff member from a bird sanctuary located in Largo.  There was also a bonfire built by a Boy Scout troop where many people were gathered roasting marshmallows.  It was not that cold of an evening, either!

We enjoyed a little bit of everything that evening, including chalk art.  I bet there are plenty of Santa Clauses here in Florida running to the beach after a day in their costume!