Rotary Park is a small, public park which straddles the McCormick Ranch and Gainey Ranch border on the north side of Doubletree Ranch Road.  With an expansive grass area that is conducive to impromptu touch football games, ultimate Frisbee and gatherings of dogs and their handlers, I distinctly remember the city spending approximately 100k alone on the original restroom facility.  There was a modest playground area for the little ones as well.  Recently, however, a good park got even better.

With recent upgrading to the playground apparatus, there are now climbing walls, new slides, swings and other fun staples.  We had the boys over to visit their grandparents this weekend, and took the quick stroll from their home in the Vista De La Tierra subdivision.  Having forgotten that the renovation was on the agenda, we were pleasantly surprised by the transformation.  I couldn’t help but flashback two decades to when this beautiful palm tree-lined portion of Doubletree didn’t even exist.  Hard to reconcile the Hyatt Regency and upscale Gainey Ranch community with the working cattle ranch that it was in my adolescence.  

If you are looking for new options to keep the little ones entertained, you might want to give this old standby another try.  For those days that you just don’t feel like battling the crowds at the Railroad Park or the throngs of budding soccer/field hockey stars at Mountain View Park, Rotary Park makes for a nice, relaxing alternative.

Don’t mind the overgrown kid jumping off the swings (not pictured).  He’s harmless (except to himself).