When the heat gets mean, kind grandparents take the grandkids somewhere to cool off. Anywhere you can swim or splash together is bound to be a hit, and these three options offer additional entertainment with the cool, cool water:
Credit: Eric Champlin
Credit: Eric Champlin
Wade near a waterfall at Cochran Mill Park
Any time between sunrise and sunset. Free park admission. 6875 Cochran Mill Road, Chattahoochee Hills.
Splash through brooks and enjoy stair-step waterfall views and a wooden bridge at Cochran Mill Park, which is just about a 20-minute drive from the airport.
If you’ve got active teens and tweens in tow, consider expanding the activities to include horseback riding or mountain biking. But this is fun just as a short jaunt, too. It’s an ideal grandkid entertainment option when you aren’t always sure of the weekend schedule since you can visit anytime during daylight hours.
Swim in a spring-fed pool at F.D. Roosevelt State Park
11 a.m.-6 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday. $7 general, $5 seniors 65+, $3 kids under 3. $5 parking. Liberty Bell Pool - F.D. Roosevelt State Park, 2970 Georgia Highway 190, Pine Mountain.
It’s a bit of a drive — about an hour and a half outside of Atlanta — but a visit to the cool spring-fed pool at Georgia’s largest state park should be on every Atlanta grandparent-grandkid bucket list.
The drive will take you through hardwood forest and the cool shade of Pine Mountain, and the 9,049-acre state park features waterfalls, a small fishing lake, and the possibility of guided horseback rides at privately operated stables.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt frequented the warm springs of this area in 1924, and this jaunt will also allow you and the kids to visit his modest home and a museum before or after the dip.
Credit: Piedmont Park Conservancy
Credit: Piedmont Park Conservancy
‘Despicable Me’ Swim In Movie at Piedmont Park pool
7:30-10:30 p.m. Friday, July 21. $15, Piedmont Park Aquatic Center, Monroe Drive NE, Atlanta.
This is the stuff summer memories are made of! Your group can swim or float for an hour at the Piedmont Park pool with its beach entry, current channel and landscaped deck.
Then settle in the water to watch the 25-foot inflatable screen featuring the 2010 animated movie “Despicable Me.” Laugh together at everyone’s favorite supervillain, orphans and minions, or just relax and tune out if you’ve seen it dozens of times already.
Any kids under 16 need an adult guardian to accompany them the whole time, so wear your suit and get ready to cool off as the sun goes down.
Enroll (after creating a free account) and pay admission here.
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