This week we got up early and braved the traffic to visit Philippe Park in Safety Harbor, Florida.  This park is along the shoreline of the bay nestled among beautiful oak trees.  We arrived about 8am, and it was already climbing into the mid-80's in temperature and muggy.  The park offers a lot of shade which helps to make it more pleasant during these steamy hot summer days.  We headed to the area where the Indian mound is located - it has beautiful stonework and walkways (or stairs) leading to the top.  As we exited the car, the first thing I noticed was this beautiful old live oak tree.

We had our dogs walking around with us, so we kinda let them lead the way for a little bit.  We came across what from a distance looked like a bunch of stones (kinda like stone hedge).  As we got closer we realized it was a playground for the children.

Empty - it is a school day.  Looks like a unique playground - never seen this type before.  As we walked around, across the road from the memorial for Odet Philippe, I see the entrance sign to the park.  Perhaps there was another entrance in the past, because this doesn't seem to be facing the right way to get noticed.

We continued along a path that lead us to the water and to the east side of the Indian mound.  Here's one of the walkways up to the top with the winding rows of stairs and stonework.

If you missed my pet photography blog, check that out for some photographs of the dogs on this stairway. Click Here

After taking several dog portraits, we wandered around to the other areas near the water.  Then started up this stairway to the top of the mound.

Halfway up these stairs, this is one of the views of the bay area.

The view from the top of the mound is nice, but not very photographic so maybe another time when the sun is rising or there is some beautiful light.  Perhaps if you make the trek to this park, you can see the view in person.  They do have a nice walkway along the water.

And some wildlife (lot of squirrels) but we saw an anhinga sunning itself along the edge of the water.

As it got close to 10 am, it was now getting closer to 90 degrees and we decided it was time to head on out.  This is a great park to check out for owls at the right time of year - we have seen, heard and photographed them in the past - so keep your eyes and ears open!

A short drive to downtown Safety Harbor and we stopped at a dog friendly restaurant called Athens Restaurant to have a bite to eat.  The dogs enjoyed it and sitting in the shade with a little breeze, we began to cool off just a bit before heading back across the bay to home here in Temple Terrace.

For more photographs of Philippe Park, click here.