I really have to give some Kudos to the city of Rockwall. The past few weeks I have been enjoying a lot of what this community has to offer and I don’t think I have had a better summer in a long time.
Last weekend my husband and I decided to check out Harry Myers park right next to old downtown Rockwall. I had scoped it out a couple of days before to see what it had to offer. Let me just run down the list for you real quick. They have a great little community pool where they often have special pricing days and other cool events. For instance today is doggie swim day at the pool. Dogs are $5 and owners swim free. What a great idea for all the dog owners out there and my mother suspects that they do the doggie swim days right before the pool is scheduled to be cleaned.
Harry Myers Splashground
There is also a skateboarding park next to the pool for all the “skateboarding is not a crime, don’t judge me, high school kids” to go and blow of some steam though I have to say this time of year when the mercury is sliding past the 100 mark only the dedicated few still seem to show up. I am willing to bet that come late september that little portion of Harry Myers will liven up considerably.
On the other side of the pool area is an absolutely huge wooden playground built to look like a series of castles and boats among other things. I cannot wait until it cools down enough for me to take Benjamin (my son, 3 years old and cute as heck) to play on it.
If you get back onto the main road and go down to the third park entrance area on the right you will see possibly the best summertime activity I have yet to find in Rockwall. The Splashground. I think I might love it even more than my son does. First let me say, its free and I looooove free. It has a multitude of large sprayers and splashers and burbling fountain-like things, a bucket that continuously fills and dumps…love that one. Its has to short pillars on each side with motion sensors you run your hand over to turn the splashground on so that when it’s not in use it doesn’t waste water. This is where my husband and I spent a good portion of our day last Saturday and it was an absolute blast. Not only a great place to play with shaded benches for the onlookers and parents but a great place to meet other families with kids. And if you look to your right there is a covered barbecue area, down the hill is the pond/lake where children can fish. All in all a great place to go on hot summer days.
If you get to hot you can always pack up and go down to The Candy Jar Malt Shop for a real malt or my favorite, a root beer float. They have a great chili dog there too, they only use Nathans hotdogs. The owner, Steve is very personable and his 2 kids are usually at their normal stools surfing the net unless they are out at the art side of the farmers market on Saturdays selling scoops of ice cream.
And of course there is the little Rockwall Farmers Market and the Art Market on the other side of the square. My husband, my son and I all went to the farmers market this
morning. We bought some Roundrock Honey at which point we were told that when we run out we could just order more online and apparently the owner does the deliveries himself. Wow, how great is that? Of course, we had to stop and get some lemonade from the little girl and her brothers selling it about midway through the stands. Business is apparently booming in the lemonade industry because the kids couldn’t make it fast enough for the people buying it. We also purchased some Texas Toffee and went to sit down under one of the massive trees around the old courthouse to relax and drink our lemonade. We were still around when the vendors started to pack up their fruits, vegetables, soaps and whatnot. Apparently its a good idea to do so because we ended up with a free bag of melons to go home with. As everyone was packing we decided we had better go and check out the art market before everything over there closed down as well. Ben loved looking at all the colorful art, especially the booth with the plant prints. My Husband had a great time exchanging inappropriate jokes with the guy who does those beautiful carved exotic woods and his wife. If you get by that particular stand I definitely recommend you stop and chat. That man is a crack up.
At this point we started to get pretty peckish so we went around the corner to Zanata for lunch. We had almost decided to go somewhere else and I can’t tell you how glad I am that we didn’t. Good lawdy the food in that place is good. Foodgasm good. We had the Corn Polenta soup. Freakin awesome. It was creamy with pieces of smoked ham in it and just a little bit of a kick. I was sharing with my son who enjoyed the soup more than I had expected so I ended up getting a few bites while he gobbled down the rest. My husband of course had no intention of sharing his. I mean, what would he fill up that hollow leg of his with if he did right? Next we had the Blue Crab dip at which point I became a quivering mass of NOM NOM NOM NOM. It was so rich and creamy and full of flavor, served with some great springy, spongy ciabatta bread. I think the Crab dip was everyone’s favorite and it was gone in no time flat. Next the three of us shared the “Hubbard’s” Pizza…I was hesitant about this at first but I’m glad we got it. On this delicious wood fire creation they put pepperoni, marinated shrooms, chorizo, tomato sauce and garlic…Well they tricked us. Oh granted that was all there and it sounds fairly simple but the result was so much better and much more complex. The mix of toppings was absolutely perfect. Nothing seemed to get lost in the mix. I could clearly taste the different meats and the marinated shrooms, and tomato sauce does NOT cover the heavenly chunks of tomato with their wonderful roasted texture and taste that they put on the pizza, and just the right amount of basil with that wonderful sweet pungent taste and smell that fills your nose. Mmmmmmm, memories. I’m even going to start on the black currant tea that I got. Alright I am going to…when you take a drink it’s just a great regular old tea but as soon as you finish your gulp you get this aroma that fills your mouth and nose like you just ran a really good unsmoked cigar under your nose and took a big whiff. It was heavenly.
It was a great day. So good that when we were heading back to the car my son started to try to convince us that it was not time to go home yet…right up until he fell dead asleep in his car seat. I can’t wait to hunt down all the other little treasures and great activities I am sure are hiding all around Rockwall. If anyone by random chance ends up on this page and has the perseverance to read this far into the post, I must say…thank you. Even though I am fairly confident that I am just typing to myself here most of the time I still hold out hope that someday someone will leave evidence that they were here. And, If you know of any kick-butt-cool stuff do to around Dallas please, let me know! I love to find free and cheap stuff in the Dallas area and if it’s kid friendly all the better!
I have started selling handbags. Beautiful, Western Cowgirl, blingified handbags. I don’t have very many yet but you know how it goes…not enough to invest..need something to sell so I can increase my stock. I figure if nothing else it will help me to keep busy and not go so stir crazy in the house. It happens to the best of us Stay at home moms. Trips to the park are just not enough sometimes to break up the monotony. Its nice to have another thing to build and take pride in. So here it is: http://www.cowgirlblingthings.com/
