With the recent opening of The Beach Park at Colombo Port City, I was invited by one of my mom’s good friends to come along for a visit. This wasn’t going to be any ordinary outing to the beach. I was told that there would be volleyball and more interesting to me, an allowance of dogs. My overweight beagle, Jackson, is in dire need of some exercise as my family has been told time and time again that he is overweight. Probably doesn’t help that my mom feeds him way too much. Nonetheless, I put him in my car and drove up to Port City. To get into Port City, you have to make a reservation at beach park with your vehicle number so that the security guards will let you in at the entrance.
We arrived to The Beach Park around 5:30 PM. I’d recommend people visit at this time due to the fact that it is almost dusk and the heat is surprisingly manageable. The park was not too crowded with a fair number of foreigners along with children running around playing on the beach or in the ocean.
I was also intrigued by those playing volleyball. A sport I wish I could play more in school, but I have concert band on the same day. My mom’s friend held onto Jackson for a few minutes while I put my basic volleyball skills to good use. It had been a while since I had played with a full net as usually in school, I usually play with my peers during lunch near out lockers when the volleyball nets are usually put away. This, along with the strong winds against me, made it difficult to serve properly as it was difficult to judge how much power would be needed in order to get the ball over the net. Depending on the winds and the power of my serves, the ball would either not clear the net, or go too far out of bounds from the team on the other side.
I can see this spot being a more frequent destination for Jackson and I. I used to take him for walks before school started F2F usually to Thalangama lake. With school being in session, it doesn’t make much sense to come all the way back home and then go back towards that area as with traffic and other factors, it would be too late to do anything. With The Beach Park being a mere 15 minutes from my house, it makes more sense to go there instead. I ended up leaving around 6:45 as Jackson and I were both quite tired and darkness was ensuing. The exercise was definitely much needed for Jackson. Despite him being tired, it was easy to tell that he enjoyed running on the beach and exploring the unknown very much and I’m sure he is looking forward to his next outing there. I know I am.
