Cool?  Did I say cool?  I did say ‘cool,’ but cool as in neat, not cool as in not warm.  It was warm all right, beastly hot in fact, but we still had quite a cool time meeting some good friends there.  Sam gave it the stamp of approval as careened home to go meet a painter, announcing, “I want to go back there sometime!” And I am equally enthusiastic, which will make a future outing something we’ll both look forward to, always the ideal especially when driving all the way across town.

Crump Park and Meadow Farm are next to each other but definitely off the beaten path—295 to Mountain Road via Woodman Road and/or Staples Mill Road.  However, it was well worth the furrowed brow to find it.  The playground is really quite large with lots of different activities as well as two distinct areas to play in.  In addition, there is a fully covered shelter filled with picnic tables that connects the two areas.  The shelter was a popular place for parents to “chill” (as in hang out, not a chilly place unfortunately) and have a momentary bit of shade.  And last but certainly not least, there was an actual Colonial-looking building with clean, modern restrooms —perhaps the hugest selling point of all.  I must be getting old.

Sam had a blast playing conductor, ticket agent, and passenger for hours on the toddler-sized wooden train cars, supposedly headed for Legoland in California.  Heck, I’m game.  Maybe it’s cooler out there.  The wooden fire engine was another big hit—a kid-sized fire engine made out of wood.  The only way to get him out of there was to tell him that Meadow Farm was burning down, and we needed to go over there and put it out!  And it worked, thank God! 

At first the place seemed like a ghost town until we discovered some stray kittens, pigs named Martha and George, two horses, some chickens, and a turkey.  Oh, and there were some women walking around clothes from the 1850’s—full skirts, petticoats, etc.  I can’t imagine how hot they were—and don’t want to either.  I sure was happy to enjoy the modern convenience of the AC blasting all the way home.  Now that is what I call cool, really and truly cool in every sense of the word.  Aaaaah!