A friend once sent me a text message: “Do you know if any of the parks around here have bucket swings?” I could think of one. Maybe two. But that was it – and not because there aren’t more bucket swings in Stockton.
It’s just that, short of going and hoping the best, there isn’t a really easy way to find out which of Stockton’s more than 60 parks has exactly what you’re looking for, be it a slide or a soccer field. So here’s Play Date, a series of little guides to the area’s parks and play areas.
This week: Victory Park
Sorry, guys. No bucket swings.
The Basics | Victory Park
Location: At Pershing and Argonne in Stockton
Type: Community
Size: About 27.5 acres
Amenities: Home to the Haggin Museum, the park features a playground (for big kids) and tot lot (for the littler ones) with slides, bars, and – this is cool – a mini climbing wall. There are ponds with ducks and turtles; group picnic areas and barbecue pits; lots of benches with plenty of shade; two lighted softball fields; Two lighted tennis courts; a swimming pool and restrooms. All along the park’s perimeter is a sidewalk that’s perfect (and popular) for walking and jogging.
A little history: The Victory Park site was gifted to the City in 1924. In 2009, when the park’s ponds were drained for maintenance, ducks – almost 100 of them - were relocated to Swenson Park. (Some fish and turtles were moved too). They seem to have found their way back.
Play Date: Haul out the jogging stroller for a Saturday-morning run. When you’re finished, find a raspado cart ($1 per cone) and an empty bench.
(Source: City of Stockton)
This one reminds you that you live in a city.
Victory Park reminds me of that a little bit.
This isn’t a park in the sense of a refuge or a hideaway. It’s park as community center and civic hub. It is a fantastic place to be - but maybe not if you’re looking for a quiet afternoon on a lazy weekend.
You’ll be sharing space with far more people than you would at, say, a neighborhood park: Joggers running up and down the Haggin Museum steps, walkers who invite you to pet their dogs, families gathering for weddings in the lovely rose garden.
There might be a political rally, a pageant, a festival.
There will definitely be a bounce house.
It’s chaotic – but the good kind, the kind that makes me really happy.
And I happen to think that feeding ducks in a public park is an essential formative experience. I’ll let you in on something, though: They’re not interested in your leftover Goldfish crackers. Don’t even bother.
