{"id":245192,"date":"2012-07-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-08T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/what-are-your-favorite-uptown-playgrounds\/"},"modified":"2012-07-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-07-08T07:00:00","slug":"what-are-your-favorite-uptown-playgrounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/what-are-your-favorite-uptown-playgrounds\/","title":{"rendered":"What are your favorite Uptown playgrounds?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Hinds | Columnista SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a stay-at-home dad, one of my primary objectives is to actually stay at home as little as possible. Almost every time I\u2019ve acted on the intuition that my 3-year-old twins need to take it easy and spend the day at the house, it has backfired on me. We all get on each other\u2019s nerves, the house ends up trashed and I feel like a failure for not having gotten anything done. At least when the kids have public meltdowns at Sea World, I feel like we have gone somewhere and the house isn\u2019t any more of a mess when we return than it was when we left.<\/p>\n

\"What
Andy Hinds y sus hijas gemelas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thankfully, living in Uptown there are plenty of activities I can do with my kids without investing an inordinate amount of time or effort, and if I really want to keep it minimal \u2013 if the kids are on edge or if I\u2019m just feeling lazy \u2013 there\u2019s no better outing than a trip to the playground.<\/p>\n

Just as I had a handful of regular bars to choose from when I was in my 20s, I am now faced several times per week with the choice of which local playground to visit. As it turns out, criteria for choosing a playground are very similar to those for choosing a bar: chief among them are amenities, atmosphere and the crowd that\u2019s likely to show up.<\/p>\n

Though we do venture outside of our comfort zone from time to time, there are three playgrounds within a two-mile radius of our house that the girls and I frequent, and all have distinctly different characters.<\/p>\n

Morley Field<\/strong><\/p>\n

Morley Field is awesome in that it\u2019s walking distance from my house. I find it a bit frustrating though, that in the midst of the greatest outdoor sports and recreation complex in San Diego, the only play area for kids is utterly lackluster: a couple of slides, a swing set, monkey bars and some stuff to climb on. The atmosphere at Morley Field is comfortable, but slightly less than convivial.<\/p>\n

I usually don\u2019t exchange more than a few words with other parents here, and there doesn\u2019t seem to be a consistent crowd of regulars. The personnel vary depending on when you go, as local parents with younger kids are typical throughout the day, but there are sometimes unsupervised older kids, whose parents are playing softball or soccer, running roughshod over the toddlers. Despite its shortcomings, the playground at Morley Field is perfectly adequate, and it\u2019s surrounded by a lot of other fun opportunities for kids and adults alike.<\/p>\n

Parque del vecindario de Montclair\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Nestled in a cul-de-sac at the end of Nile Street in North Park, Montclair, which my girls call the \u201ccircle playground\u201d because of the ring of sidewalk surrounding it, is one of the hidden gems of the area. You would never see this one simply driving around unless you were lost in the weird warren south of Upas Street. This is our current favorite, and I almost feel guilty for writing about it, as if I\u2019m sharing the location of a secret surf spot or parking lot.<\/p>\n

The structures are perfect for 3-year-olds, and in addition to the usual swings and slides, there are contraptions that spin and bounce, more sand than a set of twins could ever eat, walls to climb and several artificial boulder outcroppings for the kids to teeter atop. The crowd here is very chill and friendly. I almost always end up both seeing people I know and talking to parents I have not met previously.<\/p>\n

One thing I\u2019ve noticed about Montclair is that there are frequently more dads than moms here. Possibly the biggest complaint I\u2019ve heard from other stay-at-home dads, although it\u2019s never bothered me personally, is the isolation and even ostracization they\u2019ve felt from playground moms. You won\u2019t find that at Montclair.<\/p>\n

Parque del granero de la carretilla<\/strong><\/p>\n

The equipment at Trolley Barn accommodates kids from toddlers to tweens with all the usual features, and a particularly good selection of slides. Be forewarned: like Montclair, Trolley Barn has no public restrooms, a circumstance that can be frustrating for kids and adults. The atmosphere is laid back and friendly, with parents, kids, dogs and people who use the park to lounge, sunbathe or huddle around picnic tables, all doing their respective things in close proximity with no tension that I\u2019ve ever observed.<\/p>\n

One of the benefits of its location at Adams Avenue and Florida Street is that there are plenty of restaurants and coffee shops within walking distance of the park. The parents at Trolley Barn tend to be slightly younger and maybe a bit more bohemian than those at the other two I\u2019ve mentioned. I sometimes feel a little conspicuous when I go here, since I don\u2019t have any tattoos or facial piercings; but no one seems to hold my square-ness against me.<\/p>\n

In writing this \u2013 and in being a parent of kids in whose lives playgrounds figure prominently \u2013 I\u2019ve realized there is no comprehensive, user-friendly database for playground information in our city. Everything I know about recreational facilities for kids is through word of mouth. As I mentioned earlier, my kids and I visit other playgrounds in Uptown, but the three I\u2019ve mentioned are the ones we like best, for various reasons.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, I can\u2019t help but wonder if there\u2019s some amazing wonderland hidden behind an old church or under an overpass somewhere in Uptown that I will not discover until the kids have outgrown playgrounds.<\/p>\n

So, how about helping a daddy out? What are some of your favorite Uptown playgrounds? You can join the discussion on the new San Diego Uptown News Facebook page at facebook.com\/pages\/San-Diego-Uptown-News\/242049585857165, and please remember to click \u201clike\u201d while you\u2019re there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2014<\/em>Andy Hinds is a stay-at-home dad, blogger, freelance writer, carpenter and sometimes-adjunct writing professor. He is known on the Internet as Beta Dad, but you might know him as that guy in North Park whose kids ride in a dog-drawn wagon. Read his personal blog at butterbeanandcobra.blogspot.com. Reach him at betadad@gmail.com<\/span><\/a> or @betadad on Twitter.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n


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