New Park Benches

We take morning walks in the neighborhood park regularly. It’s the destination we use when I don’t have a specific photo challenge that warrants a trip in to town. The other day we saw a bunch of new concrete slabs being put it where the old park benches used to be. The old park benches didn’t have any arms and were quite low to the ground. So we assumed the old benches were going to be replaced with something that met the new standard. We were right. The old wooden and worn benches were replaced with black metal ones that had arms and were raised higher from the ground. They seem to meet the need, but the old rustic benches seemed to fit in better. There are also a bunch of concrete semicircles put in and we still have no idea what they are for. The whole park is being upgraded with a new huge extensive children’s playground and another exercise area meant for older kids and adults. The basketball area was completely facelifted but still isn’t used very much. The biggest activity is the pickleball court where there is always action going on. That was resurfaced last year. The entire project is supposed to be completed by the end of the year. It will be nice to be done with all of the construction. 

Roosevelt Island Benches

Every once in awhile we like to mix up the destination for our morning walks. On the weekends we normally walk on the concrete pavement of the surrounding area and during the week we walk in the neighborhood park. But at least once a week we take a drive to some other place and explore the area and take photos for the weekly photo challenge that I participate in. This week was even more unusual because we did two excursions. One was to Roosevelt Island and the other was to the African American Museum. We have been to Roosevelt Island several times and in all different seasons. We haven’t been to the museum because you need timed passes which I finally was able to nab last month. When we walked about the island I noticed all the benches that are placed along the route. There are several on the boardwalk - one needs to be careful walking along there because some of the boards are warped. One of us fell over the last time we were there. At the center of the island is the Roosevelt memorial - Teddy stands tall with his arm in the air. The fountains were dry for the season, but the fall ambiance was lovely. We have never stopped to sit on any of the benches, but the views across from them are also interesting - from the Kennedy Center to Georgetown. It’s hard to believe something like this island is so close to the city. It’s worth the drive every once in a while. And during the week it’s rather peaceful and a wonderful place to explore.