Best picnic spots + playful third places

Plus, important updates about our national parks and public lands

Apr 25, 2025

∙ Paid

All of the topics in today’s newsletter are related!

Even though the marine layer weather has moved in — with maybe some drizzle over the weekend — next week looks to be the perfect picnic weather.

I’m going to get on with the rest of the newsletter and not dilly-dally today! I hope you enjoy it and get outdoors.

In play,
Michele

As a friendly reminder, make sure you ALWAYS check official sources when you are heading out to any of the locations I share. These are merely suggestions. Only you know what works for your family. Plus, your experience may not be the same as mine — and there can be changes to the hours or unforeseen circumstances or conditions at the suggested locations.

Fun Question of the Week

Sorry about last week! I guess there was some technical difficulty? Instead of a fun poll, your newsletter said: “Something went wrong.” And isn’t that just a MOOD?! It is for me right now! Hopefully it works today, but I don’t have much control over how Substack behaves. So have fun with it if it works this time!

I will share the answers here in next week’s newsletter!

Play Trips: Playing around with picnics

Picnics can happen inside on a picnic blanket in your living room, outside your home, in a community space, or at a park near a playground. These are a collection of some of my favorite park picnic spots in OC. It even includes a fun recipe from Heejee at White Blank Space!

Go to the blog post!

I hope it inspires you to get outside for a meal, especially when it warms up a bit. But even now, you can pack soup or something warm in a thermos to enjoy outdoors.

PLAY: Do you know about third places?

This is the section of the newsletter where we talk about PLAY or connecting to nature each week. I might share a video, an article, a book, or something inspiring. Just trying to help keep you empowered to prioritize play to benefit development and preserve childhood!

I guess the idea has been around for a while, but it definitely got thrown around a lot during the lockdown years because we temporarily lost access to those places. Home and work/school are the 1st and 2nd places. Third places are ones that scientists say contributes to wellbeing in so many ways:

“As hallmarks of thriving cities, third places are shared public spaces (other than home and work) that host casual hangouts, foster chance encounters, and bring families together. Historically, publicly owned third places have also been free.” - Urban Institute article

Parks are third places.

“Parks remain a consistent source of connection and well-being. Public green spaces offer a refuge for physical activity, mental health, and casual gatherings. These open-air environments support both social and solitary activities, making them invaluable as adaptable spaces for everyone. Parks create opportunities for engagement that span generations and cultural divides. Moreover, parks offer an egalitarian appeal. Unlike some third places that require you to make a purchase or abide by certain social norms, parks are free and accessible to all. This makes them a unique and invaluable part of our urban fabric, fostering inclusion and fairness. Public green spaces remain vital for addressing broader social issues, including mental health and social isolation.” - Public Square: A CNU Journal article

I’m such a lover of third places and especially for when it comes to play! Have you ever visited a restaurant or shops area that has green space? Think about the new turf area in Downtown Disney or the middle of River Street Marketplace in San Juan Capistrano. It’s just grass or turf. There’s nothing special about it, but the kids are magically drawn to it and they get so many benefits from playing there!

They meet other kids from all over — some might even be visiting from out of state or out of the country. They create pretend games and use their imagination. I feel like many times they work together on a common goal (to build a rock pile, gather sticks or fallen blossoms). I remember watching a group of kids just run in circles on a route a la “follow the leader” but it was very organic. The leader kept switching when to a new one when the current one would fall back because they ran out of breath. LOTS of giggles!

The library is my favorite third place for ALL the benefits it provides to us all. In fact, I’m sitting in the El Centro Public Library right now as I’m writing your weekly newsletter. My husband had to come out just for the day (a 3 hour drive one way which means 6 hours on the road today for a 5 hour meeting!) so I decided to accompany him and knew I would feel welcome here. And, I do. It feels safe and cared for and I’ve already exchanged smiles with a lot of the library patrons. I can hear whispers of conversations and a little one making some noise in the children’s section.

And, as an aside, if you are ever out here try El Zarape in Imperial! Their Albondigas was A-MAZING. Address: 139 S Imperial Ave, Imperial.

So, see how these third places are connected between 1) the poll about where your kids play to the 2) picnic spots around OC, and now we’ll talk about 3) our national parks and public lands which would also be considered third places.

Play News - National Parks and Public Lands

First, a personal note

I have to be honest with you here, the news is not good. I struggle with wanting to be a source of playfulness in your week — but also wanting to help keep you informed so you can help speak up and fight back about the very real threats to nature and our parks.

I want to start by acknowledging that this is an easy thing for me to tackle. My whole life revolves around parks at every level. I’m such an enthusiast and every waking moment I’m either at a park, researching a park, scouting out a park, writing about a park, enjoying a park, savoring memories of a park, sharing a park with someone else, or dreaming/planning a vacation which includes parks. My entire photo collection from the past 2 decades skews heavily towards parks!

And when I write about it here, I know you get it. You love parks, too. You want to make sure public lands are protected and conserved for your children, grandchildren, and the next generations. My youngest child specifically talks about how she worries about the animals and wants to make sure she speaks up for them — since they don’t have a say in what happens to their habitats.

Advocacy for parks is always ongoing

In fact, data shows 92%-96% of us agree on keeping public lands public and protecting our national parks. So it’s not like I need to convince you of anything. But it’s also not enough to love and visit the parks. We also need to put forth effort to protect them. Unfortunately, this work will never be done. These fights have happened multiple times in my park blogging life and I have to say — on a positive note — that results tend to turn out in our favor. There are MORE OF US. No matter who we’ve been up against, we’ve won the majority of our fights. And I’d rather fight and not win, then not fight at all. I’ve publicly joined in-person efforts and written letters to:

Prevent the state of California from closing 70 state parks (2009-2012)
Save Irvine Adventure Playground and keep it an adventure playground (2013)
My own city council when I have concerns about actions at our local parks
Support the creation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (2024)

And so many more! I also share public comment meetings and opportunities with you so you can be part of the civic process.

This is going to be a tough one, though. There are purposely a lot of moving parts. It takes all of us working together. So add your voice to make us louder and stronger! Don’t ever give up.

Work on it in whatever way makes sense for you. I am choosing to follow the lead of ResistanceRangers.org because they know the parks and know the issues. Here is their list of actions you can take and even things to keep in mind when you are visiting the parks. Follow their @resistancerangers account on Instagram to get the latest updates.

Call to action you can do TODAY!

There’s a proposed change (link to NPR article) to the Endangered Species Act that would redefine “harm” to only mean literally killing a species – NOT affecting / destroying its habitat. This is a blatant attempt to strip protections from threatened species. Habitat is essential to survival. We have until May 19th to comment on this proposed change (link to Federal Register with proposed rule)!
- To submit a comment (125,283 comments submitted at the time of writing), just use the SUBMIT A COMMENT green button at the top of that page on the Federal Register.

Throw a public lands picnic!

See! I told you it would come around to connect with the rest of the newsletter! The latest call to action is to throw a public lands picnic (doesn’t have to be at a national site - it can be anywhere).

Go to this page on their website to learn more about the event!

Now that I’ve given you some picnic spots, you can invite some friends who also care about the parks. You will be gathering together in support of the public lands and the public employees who are gearing up for another round of firings or RIF (reductions in force) “potentially up to 25% across the Department of the Interior.”

Their key messaging goes on to say: “These cuts would paralyze the NPS. It would take decades to recover (if recovery is even possible). The NPS has already lost 2,400 employees since January 20—12% of its workforce—through resignation offers, early retirement offers, and buyouts. For an already-understaffed agency, this hit hard.”

Thanks for listening and for caring!

Another important resource

More Than Just Parks
here on Substack just built upon what The Wildlands Conservancy started. It’s a public tracker called the Threatened Public Lands Map. It’s pretty f—ing amazing with a lot of potential. So if you have any expertise in these things or want to help with suggestions, then make sure you check it out. Spread the word! They say: “Explore it. Spot errors. Send us what we missed. If there’s a location that belongs on the map, let us know.”

Communication Panels Installed at 3 Tustin Parks

Tustin Parks and Recreation just announced new Communication Boards installed at 3 of their parks.

They said: “Say hello to inclusive play! We’ve installed communication boards at Cedar Grove, Citrus Ranch, and Heritage Park—because everyone deserves to be heard and included. 💬💚 Big thanks to Caroline Cho and the amazing team at KOI for helping make our parks more accessible for people of all abilities. Whether you’re asking to go down the slide or saying “let’s play,” these boards help everyone join the fun!”