Parks of the Space Coast: Nicol Park

August 12, 2023

Parks of the Space Coast: Nicol Park

We visited Robert Nicol Jr. park in Port Saint John, Florida! This riverfront park is conveniently located off Highway 1. Access it going north on the highway. Here is a picture of its sign.

This park has beautiful views of the river and many shaded picnic areas and benches. Here is a picture of a covered picnic area by the water.

🚨Safety Note🚨

There is no fence for this park. It is close to the water and the highway. It is not a safe place for people or pets who tend to run away unexpectedly. Keep any pets on leashes here!

🛝Playground 🛝

The substrate of the playground area is loose wood chips. Here is a picture of the playground from the field.

Here is a closer view of the main playground. Between the trees and the shade cloth, this area is cooler than we expected , even in the summer heat.

🐈Stand Alone Equipment 🥏

Spinning fun! We loved spinning in this little circle. We got two children inside the spinner. I found it challenging to push them fast, but it was a lot of fun.

The monkey bars at this park were hard. Since they were triangle-shaped they were especially challenging to grip with more than one hand at a time.

Beside the monkey bars was a double helix that our 4 year old found challenging but fun to climb.

There was a swing set with two strap swings and two baby swings. Lots of people were always on the swings when we visited so we didn't get a great photo.

🎶Music on the Playground 🎶

The xylophone was very popular. I can't believe I managed to get a photo of it without a crowd.

The bells were a big hit! Get it? We hit bells to make them ring.

Drums! We loved the loud drums here, too!

🛞Other Fun🛞

Our 8 year old loved the steering wheel. She pretended she was a delivery driver.

We loved the shaded spot under the playground. Our 4 year old turned it into a restaurant.

We loved all of the climbing walls, too. Maybe you can find them when you look at this photo taken from under the equipment!

Here's another climbing space.

Here are some fun steps up to the playground.

We also loved these box steps. We expected them to move around, but they were very secure.

There were three slides at this park. Here is the top of one of the slides.

Here is an image of the smallest slide at this park.

🚨Safety Note🚨

Venomous Caterpillars were at this park! We became afraid of the fuzzy caterpillar that lived underneath the playground. We found others throughout the park. Can you see it in this photo? It is a venomous caterpillar - don't touch, they have hidden spines in their fluff! They turn into beautiful brown tussock moths.

Who Was Nicol?

This park was named after Deputy Robert Nicol Jr. He died on Highway 1 in 1987, near where this park is today. He was hit by a car when he was working. It was sad. Now we have a park to remember his sacrifice.

You can learn more about this incident here.

https://www.odmp.org/officer/9951-deputy-sheriff-robert-nicol-jr

🥁Game Time!🥁

Let's play "Simon Says" on the playground. Rather than standing together doing things with the leader in front, let's get a little creative , and make use of the musical instruments that are built into the park!

"Simon Says, ring a bell!"

"Pick up a stick!"

Oh no! Oops. Let's try that again.

"Simon Says pick up a stick."

"Simon says make this rhythm! __-__-__-__"

"Now make this rhythm! -_-_-_" Got you!

"Simon says play that rhythm on the xylophone."

"Simon Says sing this note as you go down a slide. Aaah"

And so forth. Get the children to run from one side of a playground to another, matching rhythms and tones along the way.

We love playing games together. It makes our time at the park extra fun.

Other Parks to Visit

Martinez Park: