Metal slides that would burn your legs if you let them touch it (with concrete landing pads). Huge swings that would take you 20 feet off the ground going full blast and tall metal climbing towers, each with nothing but grass underneath. Merry-go-rounds that would make you dizzy enough to puke and big ass seesaws. So much fun, but what the hell were the designers thinking??? Haha. Playgrounds are safer today, but still fun. As a parent, I enjoyed revisiting that with my own kids.
Many playgrounds hold special memories for me. We always lived in apartment or townhouse communities when I was growing up, and the playgrounds in each were always central to my life. It’s where we’d play every day, and not just on the equipment either. In one neighborhood, we’d play ‘house’, hold ‘concerts’ and have mock weddings (we were weird, ok?) My first boyfriend (age 11) and I must have gotten ‘married’ there about 20 times. Even as we got older, my teenage friends and I would say “let’s meet at the playground”, even at night. Favorite hang out spots, even then.