The Experience: Eastwoods Park is one of the oldest parks in Austin. A history of the Parks and Recreation Department indicates that the park was in place with a playground by August of 1930. The park is lovely due to the huge trees, and in fact, is known for its bird watching due to the attraction of the trees and Waller Creek, which flows on the edge of the park. One of the trees was so huge it took three of us wrapping our arms around the trunk to encircle it fully. We were curious to see what kind of people would be frequenting a park located right next to the university on a weekday afternoon. Our answer turned out to be “not many”. During the approximately 45 minutes we were there, the visitors to the park included one homeless person, one young mother with her toddler, one middle-aged woman walking her dog, and one young couple walking their dog. An internet search reveals that the park is occasionally the site for large picnics and celebrations, and does get busier on the weekends. The main playscape was in the shade, which was nice. The underutilized wading pool is in the center of the park, with a very small toddler playscape nearby. Regular swings and baby swings are available. The bathrooms in the old stone building were very nice. Sadly, there was a great deal of trash (a lot of it seemed to be left by the aforementioned homeless man) and some broken glass in the park. However, the overall setting was attractive and serene. There was a short path leading to an iron bridge, which crossed sluggish Waller Creek. The creek in that area is lined with overgrown bamboo, which made us wonder how it got there. The bridge and view were very pretty, but the water does attract mosquitoes, and we were swarmed with them on our short walk across the bridge and down the bamboo path.