If you want to take full advantage of living where you live you need to find a couple of local places to hang out that aren’t going to empty your wallet and that you enjoy enough to stop by fairly often. A go to restaurant, maybe a bar and a place just to be. If you find all of those in one then all the better. One of my favorite go-tos is downtown New Port Richey, where I can find all 3. If I just want a place to walk around and handgout I head to Sims Park.
I’ve been going to Sim’s Park off and on for years. It has a pretty great playground area for kids, a ‘splash pad’ near the playground, and also some seating so the adults can sit under some shade and chill while the kids enjoy running through the water. It’s a great place for a birthday party too.
I don’t typically go to the park with kids since mine are pretty much grown. It is a great family hang out, but it’s also got plenty to keep adults occupied. There’s a walkway along the river that passes by a small exercise area and if you want to walk further just go up to the street above the river and you can find lots of places to visit. An old fashioned ice cream shop is near by and so are an assortment of places to stop in and get an adult beverage. There’s been a lot of change lately, I haven’t been in several of the newer places.
My favorite thing to do is just walk around the lake. There are all kinds of birds to spot and the entire area is beautiful. They recently did a renovation and added walkways over the water that I kind of love. They added lots of lights so the walkways look really great at night and the entire area is well lit and safe.
The park even has a little museum in it that tells the history of the Pasco county area. I’ve stopped in a couple of times; if you enjoy museums you should definitely stop in. There’s a section on local native Americans and a lot of items that help imagine how different life was when Pasco county was getting started. I like the simple everyday items like an old sewing machine, a desk, and clothes from the area. There’s no charge to visit but you can make a donation if you’d like.
There are a lot of community events thrown at the park as well. There’s family movie nights and festivals for what seems to be any excuse they can come up with. The one downfall is event parking, it can be a bit of a challenge. However, it’s totally worth it and when there is not an event there is plenty of parking.
Have you been to Sim’s Park? Where is your ‘go-to’ place to spend some time?
Here’s what you need to know to play tourist:
5547 Main Street
New Port Richey, FL 34652
(727) 841-4560
https://www.cityofnewportrichey.org/parks-facilities/sims-park/