What is a sprayground, you ask? We asked the same thing. Apparently, it’s every little kid’s dream – A place where they can run through the sprinklers and not get in trouble for getting their clothes wet. Metro Nashville offers a variety of free and unique solutions to beat the heat in the summer. Where we come from, you have to pay several hundred dollars every summer to join a neighborhood pool. Nashville will hear nothing of the sort. As of this Monday, all pools and spraygrounds are open for business through August 6.
SWIMMING POOLS
Free to the public, there are 7 metro pools open 6 days a week. Coleman, East, Hadley, Hartman, Looby, Napier and Rose. check out Metro Parks‘ pdf for hours and additional info. Most of the pools offer swimming lessons for a small fee.
SPRAYGROUNDS
There are 2 official spraygrounds in Nashville, although we hear that the Bicentennial Mall fountains make for an excellent makeshift “sprayground.” They have been open since May 24, and they will remain open about a month longer than the metro pools, closing on Labor Day. The Kirkpatrick Sprayground is at 620 South 9th Street, and the Watkins Sprayground is at Jo Johnston Ave. at 17th Avenue North. They’re open 9am-6:30pm during the week, and 10am-3pm on the weekends.
FIRE DEPT SPLASH OUT
For our Murfreesboro readers, the Murfreesboro Fire Department will literally be spraying kids down with a fire hose this summer. They have three Splash Outs scheduled this summer, on June 19, July 17 and July 24. Maybe next year Nashville will take the hint and start up something similar of our own.
WAVE COUNTRY
We know we promised free, but at $10 for adult admission and $8 for kids, it’s not much of a budget stretch to hit Wave Country once or twice this summer. Located at 2320 Two Rivers Parkway, Wave Country has a giant wave pool, brand new “high speed” slides, and a children’s water playground. It’s open Tuesday-Sunday from 10am-7pm.
POOLAPALOOZA
This one’s not for the kiddies. 21+ at the Cascades Pool in Opryland, every Friday night is Poolapalooza. Free admission, free concert, even free select parking. The evening starts at 6pm, and the concerts start at 7pm. The fun goes through August 29.
Photo by Shades of Gray.