Franklin Park Pool

I grew up at Franklin Park Pool. This is where I truly learned how to swim, took swimming lessons, participated in annual swimming competitions and in the end, became an instructor and life guard.
It’s not the greatest pool in the world. There are only two pools (the «kids pool» and the «big pool»), the locker rooms are literally just rooms where you can shower and throw your stuff (there are no actual lockers), a minimal BBQ area and there is literally a «cage» where you can stash your kids. BUT since I grew up here, I knew there was nothing better, and it was within walking distance of my house.
I always found the people who worked and taught lessons here to be amazing (which was also how I ended up doing the same later on). I don’t know if the staff is still up to that standard. The place was a little lame on the rules (you honestly weren’t ever supposed to have toys in the pools), but once I was put in charge of summer life guard duty with one of my best friends, we turned that on it’s ear.
There will never be a better summer job than one where you can get into an all out war with the two guys who ran the park programs by enlisting your afternoon swim class into helping you fill up water balloons and take them down. And I’m sorry, but we started American Idol wayyy back in the day with a boom box, a handful of CDs and impromptu performances with the kids when we would get bored.
And yes, I hated «adult swim» when I was a kid and we would get kicked out of the pool for an hour. But I LOVED fire fighter swim hour when I worked there and got paid to sit in the sun and watch beautiful men swim laps, jump out, do a set of push ups and jump back in. Money. Well. Earned. =)