What makes this worth a Sunday afternoon is the mix: serious skaters running the oval, kids clutching cones, people who clearly dusted off their skates from a storage unit and are having the time of their lives. The music tends toward funk and old-school hip-hop and gets louder as the afternoon goes. Food trucks and cart vendors cluster nearby, though the selection rotates — don't plan your visit around a specific one.

If you've got two hours, show up around 2pm when the crowd has filled in but the light through the trees is still good. Skate one lap if you can, watch the regulars for a few minutes to calibrate, then grab something to eat on a bench and let the afternoon go.