On Saturday Keeley and I took our morning walk at
Estabrook Park. It is 126 acres and runs along the Milwaukee River between Capitol Drive and Hampton Avenue.
Its got several soccer fields, sand volleyball, a skate area, a couple of playgrounds, a softball diamond, and more. According to
Residents For Off-Leash Milwaukee Parks, there's supposed to be a new dog park at Estabrook too.
They said it was supposed to be open by Memorial Day and it's what we came to check out. But we were disappointed because this is what we found. It looks sort of smaller than what we were expecting. There's no fence up yet. Heck, there's not even any grass yet. Major disappointment.
So Keeley and I just continued our walk instead. We walked around this pond even though there was a sign that said "No Dogs".
I used to catch tadpoles here when I was a little kid.
Old train tracks cut the park in half almost.
This spot along the Milwaukee River is supposedly good for fishing.
Keeley loves to sniff stuff on his walks.
This little tunnel goes under Estabrook Drive and emerges at the Eastside Bike Trail where it runs along Wilson Drive.
There are also little paths through the trees but Keeley and I didn't go exploring any of those this time. Instead we just stuck to the
Oak Leaf Recreational Trail which is all paved.
Alright, so we finally heard that the dog park at Estabrook Park was open for business. Keeley, Teagan, and I went to check it out.
This dog area was supposed to be open by Memorial day, but didn't actually open till sometime after Labor day. That's very behind schedule if you ask me.
I think Keeley and Teagan thought it was okay. But I'll say that there's not much too it. It's supposed to be 3 acres, which in my opinion is already fairly small for a dog park. Plus once you subtract out the small dog area, the entrance gates, and the pavilion, it's probably more like only 2 acres. There's already a few mud pits too. I'd like to know who is in charge of planning these things. Do they even have a dog themselves? Have they ever been to other dog parks? I just think it could have been done so much better. 
At least Keeley and Teagan enjoyed it for variety's sake. They like going some place new. There weren't many dogs there to play with but Keeley still had fun sniffing everything. I would think that for being so small that people could at least clean up after their dogs a little better. I was disappointed that there was poop everywhere. I really had to watch where I stepped.
