Looking for a place to swim

We bought Lincoln a baby float from Academy to take to the pool. It has a canopy for sun protection. So one day last week we packed up the van with Lincoln's Radio Flyer Traveler wagon and headed to a pool. We were planning on going to Bishop Park's public pool. When we drove up we saw county buses and found out that the pool is only open on the weekends to the public. So we drove across the street to the Y to see how much it would cost to use their pool being non-members. Get this! $15 per adult and $10 for children (and that includes a 9-month old)! We paid $44 a month for our membership there and it would cost us $40 to swim in their pool for an hour! They are really trying to discourage people using their pool I'd say.

So we got on our phones to look for other public pools in Athens. At this time, Lincoln started getting tired so we decided to drive around so he could get a 30-minute nap in or pool time would be no fun for anyone. We decided to call and drive over to Memorial Park. It was difficult finding parking first off. We drove around for a while and ended up parking farther away than we wanted. But we had Lincoln's wagon so we threw our bag in there and pulled Lincoln to the pool. The Athens-Clarke County pools cost $1 a person, even $1 for Lincoln. I changed Lincoln into his swim diaper and shirt. Just as we were getting ready to walk in the shallow end, a lifeguard tells me that cotton shirts can not be worn in the pool. I have never heard such a thing! I wasn't even wearing a bathing suit. So Joe and Lincoln get in the pool and I sit on the side watching. I felt like crying because this was our first time as a family going swimming with his new float. He had swimming lessons at the Y, but this our family pool day and I had to watch. Joe became sad seeing me sad sitting there.


Joe and Lincoln swimming at Memorial Park

Lincoln started getting fussy because he hadn't eaten since he woke up from his nap so I looked for a place I could nurse him. There wasn't shade around the pool so I walked out the front gate to sit on a park bench. The boy sitting at the table said if I left for more than 5-minutes I would have to pay again! I said I am going to be sitting right there (where you can see me) feeding my baby. I probably won't even be gone 5-minutes. Lincoln ate pretty good. A Chinese lady and grandma sat by me. It made me wonder what they thought about breastfeeding in public. They probably bf in their culture, but I wonder if in public is a taboo. Then another mother with a toddler stopped and looked at me. The toddler pointed and the mother said, "Yes, that's a baby." The mother and I made eye contact and she smiled so I felt like I was supported. Lincoln finished and was happy again so we walked back through the gate. I told the boy, "I'm back" who had his back turned to me. I told Joe about the 5-minute rule.
I was wearing a Lycra sports bra so I decided to go swimming in my running shorts and sports bra. It was hot and I wasn't going to let a stupid cotton shirt keep me from enjoying quality time with my family. (Does anyone know why you can't wear cotton in a chlorine pool?) We stayed a little while longer before Lincoln was ready to leave. We put a cloth diaper and a clean cotton onsie on him before putting him back in his wagon. We rolled out of there, not sure if we will return. 

Since that pool visit, we went to Bishop Park's pool over the weekend. There was a large black population there and several were students and former students from my school. I made sure I wore my bathing suit this time. I saw them approach another girl about wearing her shirt. This time though we walked up to the gate with our float to find that we couldn't bring that in. We mentioned taking it to Memorial and they said they probably didn't enforce the rule. Come to think about it, we were the only ones with a float there. Joe was upset and took it back to the car. It was actually overcast and once we were in the water, we were cold. I let Lincoln's mouth go under water so he choked and was ready to get out before too long. We sat on our towel trying to stay warm while talking to a friendly black family. So that has been our public pool experience in Athens.

When we lived in apartments, we went to our complex pools and last summer while I was pregnant I went to the YMCA and when I was training for a triathlon, I went to the YWCO. Since we are not living on the coast, we are doing the best we can with what we have. I'll tell you what we will not be doing again. We will not go to "the beach" at Sandy Creek Park. It is a portion of a lake roped off. Sand was pumped in on the side. We went for the first time on Memorial Day. I've known it was there, but always said, "That is not a beach!" We decided to try it since it was a holiday. There were a bunch of ignorant people there. First off, I saw some students from my school. Then we saw some extremely overweight people wearing skimpy swimsuits. Then smoking "rednecks" walked by us, set up chairs in the water, and when the cigarette was finished, a lady dropped in on the sand and had a boy step on it to put in out. A man had a naked women with her legs spread open tattooed on his back (he was with the children from my school). There were young adults drinking alcohol (with a beer pong) and smoking on the beach even though signs are posted that both are prohibited. Joe said, "Where did we go?" I said, "Sodom and Gomorrah."