Monday, January 10, 2011
Phillips Willow Creek Park: A Review
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 5:05 AM
Location: Down Winchester, just off Brick Church Pike
Size of Park: Unclear
Crowds: None
Approximate Age of Patrons: n/a
Topics of Conversation: "Where the hell is everyone?"
Stray Dogs Seen: Two. One pit-bull type and one mixed breed huddled near a house
Types of Vehicles in Parking Lots: n/a
Perceived Safety: Very low
Number of Gunshots Heard: None
Dog Friendliness: Unknown
Number of pitbulls sighted: Two
Accessibility: Fine
Incorporation of Local History: None
Recommended Patrons: People who are fans of zombie apocalypses
Willow Creek Park is, itself, fine. Lovely playground, nice grassy area. In person it's kind of small, but the houses in the neighborhood all have yards, so it's easy to imagine that the point of the park is just for people to have someplace to walk to and back from when they're out in the neighborhood.
The map shows the park much bigger, though, which would be lovely, with more creekfront views.
But I'm going to be honest. I did not even get out of my car. I have been uneasy in neighborhoods before, but this is the first place I've been to in town where I wondered if the world had ended and I got left behind. All of the houses were in disrepair — in need of paint, siding peeling off, windows sagging. Some had signs warning you not to trespass but it wasn't clear if there was anyone left to trespass. I saw no one outside, no smoke from fire places, no cars idling or moving, no TVs visible through windows, no movement. Nothing.
The only signs of life we saw were the two dogs huddling together against one of the houses.
It was creepy, like an empty movie set or something. So, I took my picture and got the hell out of Dodge.
Frankly, it was the creepiest neighborhood I've been in since I started reviewing parks.
Comments (2)
Showing 1-2 of 2
