Swimsuit Issues Stop Me From Swimming At The Hurst Chisholm Park Aquatic Center Today

Santa and his Hurst Castle

This morning I was out of German groceries, so I decided to drive up to the ALDI Food Market in Hurst to re-supply my schnitzel stash.

Since I was up in Hurst I decided to go for a walk in Hurst's Chisholm Park prior to getting my German goods.

Continuing with my theme of almost constant Holiday Cheer I decided I should share with all of you fellow cheery sorts a picture of the cool Hurst castle that sort of guards, with no moat, the eastern edge of Chisholm Park.

As you can see, Santa and some helpers, and maybe Mrs. Santa, or Santa's gray-haired girl friend, or a secretary, are malingering in front of the castle.

Chisholm Park has a very nice Aquatic Center. I have my own Aquatic Center which was totally usable this morning, what with the morning low being only 67, with yesterday's high in the 80s. The same high temps have been heating me today, to the point that I ran my A/C when I got back from Hurst, due to it being too hot in here.

Running the A/C in December? I do not remember doing this before.

I thought a cooling dip in the Chishom Park Aquatic Center's pool might be refreshing. But, when I got to the Aquatic Center's entry I saw the sign you see on the left, rather demandingly demanding that one must be in a swimsuit to enter the water.

I did not have what is considered a proper swimsuit with me, so that put an end to the getting cool in the Hurst pool plan. That and the Aquatic Center was closed.

I got a half dozen German Pomegranates at ALDI today. Ever since I figured out how to free the Pomegranate fruit I have been liking this particular Superfood.

I also got an ALDI German ham today. Ham and Pomegranates seem as if they should go good together.

Going To Hurst To The Chisholm Aquatic Center After A Futile Search For A Fort Worth Public Pool

No, that is not one of Fort Worth's many public pools you are looking at in the picture.

The little town of Fort Worth, with a population of nearly 800,000, has no public pools. Or public swimming lakes.

The pool you are looking at in the picture is the Chisholm Aquatic Center in the little town of Hurst, Texas, with a population of almost 40,000.

That makes Fort Worth about 20 times bigger, population-wise, than Hurst, if my math is correct, which it often isn't.

I had to be in Hurst this morning. So, I thought a morning walk around Chisholm Park would be a good thing to do to help clear my head before I had to do what I had to do in Hurst. Even though it was pre-noon, the Chisholm Aquatic Center was very busy.

Which makes a lot of sense, what with the temperature, at that time in the morning, nearing 90, a temperature level which has currently been reached at my location, with the real feel of the temperature being 102. That is getting a little warm.

I don't know what Fort Worth kids do to keep cool if they don't have a pool.

Well, there are those delightful Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats on Thursdays, when, for a few hours, it is safe to get cool in the usually polluted Trinity River.

But, the river is only safe where it passes past downtown Fort Worth. Further downstream, like at Gateway Park, you don't want to be getting cool in the river.

I think I may getting cool in a rare afternoon dip in my non-public Fort Worth pool. You are welcome to join me. Clothing optional.

UPDATE: I have been informed by someone named Anonymous that the City of Fort Worth's Marine Park pool is open this summer. I have pedaled my bike through Marine Park. I do not recollect seeing a public pool. However, a public pool is not the type thing that would stick in my memory.

Breaking The Speed Limit In Hurst's Chisholm Park Wondering Why Fort Worth's Public Pools Are Dry

Do Not Go Over 16 in Chisholm Park

I was up north in the bustling suburb of Hurst today, to go to ALDI.

Before ALDI I went to Chisholm Park to go on a relaxing walk.

On my vehicle's analog speedometer I can easily tell when I'm going 5, 10, 15, 25...etc. But I had trouble telling if I was going over Chisholm Park's speed limit of 16.

I need a speedometer with a digital readout.

I like Hurst's Chisholm Park. Multiple scenes of a mom and dad and kids, often with a dog or two, having fun fishing, picnicking, walking, talking.

When I was a kid my parental units often took me and my siblings to parks. During summer pretty much every weekend we'd take off to go camping at one of Washington or Oregon's State Parks. Once a year we'd go on a long road trip vacation, to places like Yellowstone, Disneyland and Tijuana.

I was still a kid when I realized that many of my peers were not as blessed as I in the parental units taking them to parks, and on trips, department.

When I used to go to the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge I'd often see scenes of a mom and dad, with kids, watching the prairie dogs, walking the trails. I more than once thought to myself that this does not look like a family that goes on trips to Yellowstone and Disneyland.

Hurst Chisholm Aquatic Center

And then Fort Worth started charging an admission fee to this park, which should be a free to enter amenity for all the people who live in Fort Worth.

But, Fort Worth decided to reduce the number of visitors by charging that admission fee. I've not been back, as my own little protest. And I mention my disgust semi-regularly.

In Hurst's Chisholm Park, among many other amenities, you will find the City of Hurst's Chisholm Aquatic Center. A large area with large pools and water slides.

Fort Worth closed all its public pools due to alleged budget woes. Yet, somehow Fort Worth found $3 million for a little pedestrian bridge across the Trinity River. And almost a $1 billion for something called the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. But, no public money for public pools.

No public pools might be cool if Fort Worth had a lake or two with a public swimming beach or two, but it does not.

And yet somehow Fort Worth still manages to be the envy of the rest of the planet.

Part of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is a little lake, that has shrunk over time, to now being small pond size. If this little pond were engineered to be filled with clean swimmable water, surrounded by sandy beaches, well, then the silent majority of Fort Worth citizens would actually be getting something that benefited them from the TRV Boondoggle.

But that won't happen, because it ain't the Fort Worth Way.

Chisholm Park Fishing While Not Easily In-N-Out In Hurst Today

Fishing In Chisholm Park

I went to Hurst today with 3 destinations in mind. ALDI Food Market, In-N-Out and Chisholm Park.

I'd not been to Chisholm Park before. It is the biggest park in Hurst. Chisholm Park has a fishing lake, a big aquatic center, covered picnic pavilions, ballfields, paved trails, big parking lots and a lot of people having fun in the park on this very pleasant Sunday in April.

On a sign by the lake I read "A Freshwater Fishing License is Required For Anglers 17 Years Old and Older (unless born before Sept. 1, 1930)."

Apparently if you are older than 82 you don't need a fishing license, if I am parsing those words correctly.

Chisholm Park regularly stocks the lake with fish. Largemouth Bass, Channel Catfish, Rainbow Trout and Sunfish Species. The Rainbow Trout are stocked only in the colder winter months because that particular breed of fish does not like the temperature of Texas lakes in summer.

Plenty Of Places To Toss Your Bones In Chisholm Park

Judging by the dozens of people I saw fishing there must be a lot of fish to be caught to sustain that level of fishing optimism.

I saw something in Chisholm Park I'd never seen before. Each of the picnic pavilions, each with a large BBQ pit, were ringed with 8 angled garbage cans.

I was completely bum puzzled and bamboozled til the engineer, Big Ed, figured out that all the angled garbage cans were likely in that configuration to facilitate the easy tossing of bones during a BBQ eating frenzy.

I saw a group of 3 people working on a big BBQ. It smelled real good.

After smelling the BBQ I was hungry. So, it was off to the newly opened Hurst In-N-Out Burger joint.

Well, no luck at In-N-Out.

In-N-Out was over run with customers. There were In-N-Out traffic directors, splitting the incoming cars, with one line going the dine-in option, the other the drive-thru option. There were dozens of cars in the drive-thru. The In-N-Out traffic directors led incoming dine-in customers to a parking spot.

I got led to my parking spot and proceeded inside. I figure this would be like my recent In-N-Out experience in Tempe where it appeared to be really busy but there was no line due to how efficient In-N-Out is.

Well, the Hurst In-N-Out appeared to be very efficient, but there was a line, a long one, almost out the door. And a lot of people were standing waiting for their order number to be  called.

I decided to bail.

I liked Chisholm Park. Since it is so close to ALDI, I'll be back. And I'll try In-N-Out in Hurst, again, when it quits being over run by burger maniacs.