Spellman Park/Whitecliff Park – Rags to Riches

Last week we had a nice warm day with 60 degree temps which caused us to look for a forgotten court.  We were surely successful.  We started the afternoon at Spellman Park which is tucked back into a neighborhood near Highway 44 and Big Bend.

This was certainly a forgotten park – only one tennis court with no surface, many cracks and a large glob of mud seeping into the back corner of the court.   Although the court looked conducive to a win by the boy from north county we decided it was unsafe.

Accordingly we travelled about 3 miles to another Crestwood Park.  Whitecliff Park.   What a fabulous public tennis facility.  The park is well maintained and has four lighted courts with a picnic table in between.  The court surface was in great shape.

The match began as usual. Stan stormed out to a 4-1 lead with Scott fighting back to even the score.   It was a little windy and that usually works in Scott’s favor.  Not the case today.  Stan finished out the last two games for a 6-4 first set win.

The second set was more of the same as Stan stormed out to an early lead.  Scott thought for a minute he was going to win by default as Stan found the only rock on the court surface, slid and landed on the ground.   Although his ego was bruised, Stan got up and resumed the beating!   Second set to Stan 6-2.

Other nearby attractions are Grants Trail and Grants Farm along with Ulysses Grant’s house known as Hardscrabble also nearby is the historic Sappington House and Cemetery

These were by far the nicest courts we have played on for this blog.  Surface and Location ratings were both a 10 with a .5 deduct for the rock.  Total score of 9.75.  We highly recommend these courts!