Cold Springs

After the Zoo and Pizza Hut, we went to the Waco Water Park to take all the cousins swimming....the Water Park is a really nice and fun place....however, they have a rule that you must wear a swimsuit, even if you wear shorts and shirt over it...all of us did not have swimsuits....so we could not swim there.

We drove to Cameron Park to check out Cold Springs, the little swimming hole right across from our old homeplace, 2220 North 4th Street....It's legal name is Proctor Springs.....It is by Wilson's Creek and the old playground....This was the spot you would go to to REALLY cool off on those HOT summer days before the days of air conditioning. The swimming hole and the pavilion are still there, though the shallow wading pool is gone....this little waterhole is not deep but is ICE COLD.....thus the name Cold Springs...it is spring-fed.

Old timers might remember the Lion's Mouth, with the springwater coming out of the rock itself... ....It was easy to imagine an earlier time, when an Indian or pioneer might have stopped there for an ice-cold drink.....Initials and dates from long ago are carved into the rockface above the spring....the Heads used to put 4 or 5 big watermelons in the pool to chill them, before refrigerators were common...The water is ICY cold!! I mean FREEZING! 

Everyone stuck in a toe and went backwards at first, as it was so cold. Wasn't long 'til the cousins were swimming like ducks....I got my feet and legs wet, just enough to cool me off.

.Just being there again brought back so many great memories of childhood friends and family...me, my sister, Sue, and all the cousins running down the path from my house to jump in and swim until you were frozen and your lips turned blue.

It was so special that these modern-day cousins were able to enjoy one of the most memorable things that generations of my family had enjoyed..... Plus we saved fifty dollars, as we did not have to pay to get in!!!