Vlasis Park

It was the weekend before Labor Day & we were at a bit of a loose end. As the weather was still really hot & sunny, Beth suggested that we had a picnic at Vlasis Park in Ballwin. The Park is just off Manchester Road & is Ballwin's largest park. It covers 31 acres & includes two ball diamonds, a playground, four tennis courts, restrooms, two ponds (one of which is stocked with fish), two pavilions, a walking path, two sand volley ball courts, & eight horseshoe courts. One of the really cool things about the playground is that it includes a number of water fountains that form part of the play area. The 'tunnel' of water emerges from the pavement & Beth really enjoyed running through it & the water jets - great fun!

The park also includes some 'wind Sculptures' by the sculptor Lyman Whitaker. These are fabricated from copper, steel, & stainless steel & are pole mounted on a bearing so that they can spin around in the wind. At first these seemed a bit of an odd addition to the park but they were actually pretty cool spinning in the slight breeze with the shape seeming to change depending upon how strong the breeze was.