Everyone Knows It's Wendy

When Mr. Ginley's California brother, Brian, paid us a visit last week, I decided to take a day off so Mr. and I could show him one of our MetroParks.

But, which one would it be? 

Then I remembered my friend, George, had been to Wendy Park and remarked that many improvements had been made – including a new pedestrian bridge, expanded all-purpose trails and additional parking.

Our destination became clear. And so it was the three of us trooped off, with me driving. Wendy Park isn't hard to find these days. Well-marked signs guide you off the Shoreway and along twisty roads and a traffic circle ("no, we're not going to Edgewater") and on to Wendy Park. It's tucked away, off to the east a bit, along the lakefront. 

Given that we'd seen the refurbished former Coast Guard station the last time (Brian checked it out later that day), we instead chose to try out the new trails. Soon, we were hoofing it over the pedestrian bridge and admiring the view of the Flats, Downtown Cleveland and environs.  

We watched the activity near the salt mine for a bit and chuckled, remembering how Mr. Ginley told our son he'd have to go work in the salt mines, that we'd buy him a metal lunch box and a thermos, but the 4-year-old wasn't having any of it. (He opted to go to Pre-K instead.) 

We clip-clopped our way to the other side of the bridge and walked a bit further until we came to the next bridge, an ancient behemoth that lifts so boats can sail underneath to continue their journey to Whiskey Island on the Cuyahoga River. 

Walking single-file across that bridge then back again, we had nearly made it when we heard the signal that the bridge was going to begin lift-off. We scurried the rest of the way and watched from the sidelines as its deck rose ever so slowly to let a large salt barge pass. Ginormous chains pulled up the deck of the bridge, clickety-clack until the deck was all the the way up. Then a tugboat at the rear of the freighter powered it past us and docked near the piles of salt we'd seen earlier.

As we headed back along the path, we noticed a second lift bridge, its deck supporting train tracks. Our luck continued, as a choo-choo pulled up a half-mile or so away and waited for the deck of that bridge to descend, at which point the train chugged its way across. 

The boys were in hog heaven, and admittedly, I enjoyed the show, too.

It helped that the weather was picture-perfect. 

Sometimes I get busy and lose sight of all the cool stuff we have in our berg. 

Tuesday with Wendy gave me the opportunity to recall, relax and enjoy.