John P Lyons Recreation Center

³⁄₅ splash!
so this is mostly for the pool. i’ve been inside and the other facilities seem chill, and from my understanding they run a bunch of youth programs. so cool.
but i think the key thing, especially given it’s summa summa time, is that they have an outdoor pool that open daily during the hot months. now, stop that. stop rolling your eyes. it’s a clean and well-​monitored pool. i think i’ve seen up to 5 life guards ready to jump in should that be needed; otherwise super chill. no running, no diving in the shallow end.
i only get to this on the weekend, but seems sunday afternoon is kinda thing. families with young ones on the shallow end, then adults and cannon-​ballers on the other end. at its deepest, it’s supposedly 8 feet. dunno, never checked.
you can also just lay out along the sides — but mind the sunscreen!

I never even knew this place existed until about a year ago. It’s obviously a much needed community center for this area. It seems like they offer a lot of activities for all ages, and even a pretty large pool out back. It’s apparently able to be rented out since the 3 events I’ve been to in the last year have all been private dancing events. I’ve been twice for a ballroom dance competition for kids called the Mindsteppers competition as well as a dance recital.
There’s plenty of parking nearby since where the neutral ground would normally be, they’ve created angled parking spots. It’s the only place in the city where I’ve seen this, and honestly it’s kind of ingenious and this city could use more parking like that as well as more community centers like this one.

Sometimes the best things in life are free. Just like the ginormous pool here.
Sometimes it is so hot outside my brain feels like it is melting. Literally.
I come here to get wet.
The crowd is diverse. The pool is deep. The lifeguards are nice.
Tip: bring a daiquiri. The 64oz type. You won’t be disappointed. Also, bring a towel and a foldie chair.