Bayfront Park and Our Fountain of Youth

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Bayfront Park is one of my favorite spots in Corpus Christi.

It’s a great place to exercise – I’ve been to several outdoor Boot-Camp classes there and when I trained for my half-marathon in 2014, we usually started at Bayfront Park.

It’s a great place to eat – Food Truck Friday gives me a chance to grab something yummy and watch the kids climb up and down the sea wall after lunch.

My favorite part of Bayfront Park is the fountain.  I love to wade in it – on a really hot day, I’ve put the kids in swim trunks and just let them play in the water.  They have an amazing time.

Some of my friends aren’t too keen on that fountain.

They say it’s “ghetto.”  They won’t let their precious darlings play in the water.

Lemme set the record straight. It’s not ghetto.  It’s urban.  There’s a difference.

The last time I was in New York, #2 was in diapers, #1 was about 4.  We strolled to a neighborhood park near the Brooklyn home where we stayed.  It was a hot day, so kiddos were running around in the neighborhood fountain.  We stripped the boys and their cousins to their skivvies and let them splash.

It’s a fond memory.

Boys and Cousins played and laughed with all the other kids.  They didn’t know these kids.  Some were definitely from the neighborhood, some weren’t.  The kids came from all walks of life.  Some of the families had unfortunate habits – like leaving trash on the ground.  OK, I admit it.  Someone left a diaper on the ground.  Gross.  But I gave the kids a bath afterwards.  No harm done.

A few years later, while visiting my family in Chicago, we went to Millennium Park.  This time #3 was in diapers; brothers were 4 and 7. The boys had a blast playing in the iconic Crown Fountain.  If you aren’t familiar with Crown Fountain, it has two 50 foot glass block towers with faces projected on them.  The faces change every so often.  They smile, wink, and laugh… and then they pucker their lips as if they are about to whistle.  When they pucker, a jet of water shoots from the mouth.  The kids race to get hit by the water.

The kids come from all over Chicago to play in the fountain.  The tony North Shore suburbs, the working class South Side and even the projects.  Just like in Brooklyn, my boys splashed and played with kids of all races, all religions and all economic levels.  Just like in Brooklyn, some of the families had gross habits.  Just like in Brooklyn, it didn’t matter a bit.  They were all kids having fun.

Bayfront Park is no different.  Yes there are poor people using the park.  Yes sometimes the fountain is overcrowded.  Yes sometimes people don’t pick up after themselves as they should.  That doesn’t make it ghetto.  It makes it urban.

Our Favorite Fountain!
Our Favorite Fountain!