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Faulkner Park on Broadway

March 13th, 2011

Faulkner Park Tyler TX Spring Softball
During the spring there comes adult softball season in Tyler TX which is played over at Lindsey Field.

Teams need a place to practice on the weekends and Lindsey Field is usually taken so then what do you do?

Faulkner Park is a good baseball park with smaller fields and in the Spring is also heavily used on the weekends. There are, however, some practice fields down below and over near the tennis courts.

We setup this Sunday at the Faulkner Park baseball practice fields. I worked on my batting, fielding, and under hand pitching as well as the rest of my team.

No one reserves these fields for practice as you find at Lindsey Park and so they are almost always available.

You will also find two very nice playgrounds for your kids. There is the splash park which has some pretty cool water spray action going on. It’s basically a toddler water park without a pool and risk of drowning. A traditional park is right next to it.

The other playground is in the middle of the park and has massive slides, a bridge, as well as tons of other stuff.

So if you are a baseball team or softball team looking for that long lost field no one uses for practice you just might find it at Faulkner at the bottom of a hill by the tennis courts. If your wife is not playing on your team she and your kids will have a blast at the park while you perfect your swing.

Great Wolf Lodge verses The Villages indoor waterpark

January 23rd, 2011

When deciding on family vacation destinations indoor water parks are becoming more of an option especially in east Texas.

You no longer have to wait until the summer time to go for family fun at Splash Kingdom Water Park as The Villages indoor water park in the Flint TX area is now open.

One problem with The Villages water park, it’s tiny inside there, super crowded, and very expensive. A positive about The Villages water park is that they are very close to Tyler TX.

Now looking at Great Wolf Lodge water park in the Grapevine TX Dallas area you have a much larger all inclusive kind of thing going.

Great Wolf Lodge is in the Dallas TX area so it is a small drive from Tyler TX. The drive is a definite negative but if your spending a weekend somewhere for vacation is a 1 1/2 hour drive that big of a deal?

Great Wolf also has a really nice connected hotel and restaurant and you don’t have to worry about being hit up with a sales pitch for buying a vacation time share.

Finally with Great Wolf water park you get more elbow room, water rides and a generally more friendly professional atmosphere to experience a great family time.

The city of Kerens Texas Speed Trap

September 4th, 2010

Kerens Texas Speed TrapFrom time to time I have to drive through towns like Kerens and Malakoff Texas to get to San Antonio, Austin, and New Braunfels.

A lot of us in Tyler TX make this drive for various reasons.

Some have kids going to college at UT Austin. Others are spending a vacation in San Antonio, The River Walk, Sea World, The Alamo or Schlitterbahn Water Park.

With the Splash Kingdom water park nearby I don’t care to drive to Schlitterbahn water park anymore but still I must make this trip through these speed trap festering towns.

One thing I discovered this last trip I took was that there were atleast two unmarked police cars with radar guns mixed in with the regular cop cars.

You would drive past a regular police car only to have s disguised police car come by a few minutes later with radar on.

When driving through Kerens Texas the speed limit dramatically decreases within very short intervals.

It is virtually impossible for travelers to not see a squad car drive past you when going through this area.

My radar detector picked up two police cars with KA bands and I stomp on my breaks every time even though I am going the speed limit.

There is always the fear that I might be going over from missing a speed sign and so I must stomp on the breaks.

I am not crazy to be as paranoid as I am when driving through Kerens Texas.

It really is a terrible city for drivers and family vacationers. You can very easily end up with a $200 speeding ticket and a much higher car insurance payment if your not careful.

These speed traps in these cities create an unbelievable fear over me simply because they are legally robbing me blind when I get pulled over in these speed traps.

I am a safe driver and I pay attention to road signs but the sneaky speed changes in Kerens TX could easily be made clearer.

The police in this town most definitely use the situation for income generation for the city budget with little regard for families who will see their insurance fees go up.

This last trip I made to San Antonio was a good one. I have an Escort passport radar detector and was put on notice every time a radar gun was remotely near.

I did not receive a ticket in Kerens Texas this recent trip but I am remembering the many tickets me, family, and friends have all received driving through this town over the span of many many years.

Faulkner Park in Tyler Texas Has a Splash Water Park For Kids

July 2nd, 2010

Faulkner Park

Texas summers get really hot, and not everyone can afford to go to a water park everyday. But at Faulkner Park they have a great way to cool down with out the emptying your pocket. They have a small water playground with built in water guns and different water sprinklers. It is a great place to have a family picnic.

Children have a blast in the sun finding new friends and playing in both the water playground and the normal playground. They can get really dirty and then wash off while paying! The worse part about this play area is the freaky slide that slide down a hill. Kids will love it and parents hate it because they don’t know where their children go as they slide down the side of a small cliff. Children have a blast climbing up and down the rope dome.

You can have a relaxing time fishing out on their beautiful small lake. And walking the beautiful trails around the park. Faulkner has a few little league baseball fields and two practice fields. They have little league games and tournaments out on these fields. You can also play tennis on the nice tennis courts which also hold tournaments and matches.

Faulkner has different workout programs for people looking for a good workout and to meet new friends. They have classes with great constructors that will build you up and encourage you to do your best and push yourself.

Faulkner is my personal favorite park in Tyler. My children have a blast playing in the water. Other parks in Tyler have tried to do a water playground but have succeeded in putting in a fountain that is backed up with dirty water. The Faulkner water play area always seems very clean and the water is constantly drained. Your kids will have fun and you don’t have to worry about the water that they are playing in, if it is germ filled or not.

Splash Kingdom Water Park Gets You Fun in The Sun

May 11th, 2010

Growing up in Tyler Texas has been a wonderful experience. But as any native Texan knows, the only downside to living here is the crazy weather. As for the summers, I don’t know what I would do if air conditioning and iced tea hadn’t been invented. The absolute surest way to stay cool in the stifling Texas summers is to jump into the pool or go to a water park! A huge problem I always faced when summer rolled around was that my family didn’t own a swimming pool. Moreover, there were no public pools or water parks nearby. Every summer I would struggle to stay cool by swimming in my neighbors’ pool. After a while however, the neighbors beg you to go home… eventually they call the authorities but I digress. The point is this; Tyler Texas was in desperate need of a water park.

I was overjoyed when I learned that a water park would in-fact be opening in Canton. The only real problem was that Canton is about an hour away from Tyler. Still, most people prefer to drive a mere hour to get there, rather than driving a couple hours to get to Hurricane Harbor in Arlington.

After Splash Kingdom opened I visited with some of my friends. We were all very impressed by the cleanliness of the water park. There was always an employee emptying trash cans or sweeping sidewalks. As for the rides, I was mostly, but not completely pleased. The park has five big slides; three body slides and two tube slides. The tube slides are very fun; one is an open slide and another is enclosed. I didn’t really enjoy two of the body slides; “The Express” is a slide with an enormous drop and it is definitely not for the faint of heart! It’s far too terrifying for me. The other slide was the “Pink Panic.” Contrary to the Express, it was so slow that I think I actually got stuck in the middle of the slide, and I found myself pushing against the sides of the slide in order to propel myself further down the slope. The only body slide I really liked was the “Royal Flush,” which was really fun. If slides are not your favorite part of water parks, there is also a lazy river and a wave pool, which are great if you just want to relax. There is also a kiddy pool and playground, and a new area called “Paradise Island” that has some slides that are not as thrilling as the large slides.

Splash Kingdom is a great place to hang out in the summer, and it is a lot of fun. The prices are reasonable ($16-20), and for the summer of 2010, the park will be open May 29 through August 23. It is now one of my favorite places to go to cool off in the summer. For more information, see their website at www.splashkingdomwaterpark.com.