There really is something truly exceptional about the location of Heron Bay Golf and Country Club, and if you haven’t taken full advantage of all the resources at your fingertips, I highly encourage you to start. For example, the Cubihatcha Outdoor Center is located here in Locust Grove. I took Spalding and Haley with me to the wetland enhancement and protection corridor, and it was a great activity for the family.

The center is home to a myriad of different species of animals, and has two winding walking trails. Since none of us are marathon runners, we decided to take a nature tour on the two mile loop. The other loop is eight miles and runs along the Towaliga River, which I am sure is home to many interesting and unique species that we didn’t get to see, but we definitely had an abundance of interesting plants and animals on the two mile loop. Our tour was lead by a friendly staff naturalist that is an expert at the many different species of reptiles, amphibians, insects and plants that can be seen on the trail. If you prefer to take a self-guided tour you can,  but having a professional point out the rare plants and tiny insects that we would have otherwise missed really helped enhance our experience. We all thoroughly enjoyed the nature hike and all of us left knowing more than knew before about the plant and animal life right here in Locust Grove.

It’s important to get out and do things as a family, like spending a day on a nature hike. There are plenty of things to do as a family here at Heron Bay, like the Goblin Gallop coming up next Saturday, October 25th. I hope you didn’t forget. If so, it’s not too late to pre-register, and you can always register on the day of the race. If you can’t run or walk in the race, come out to cheer on the runners and walkers – they would love the support – and it is a great way to connect with your neighbors.

I cannot believe the Goblin Gallop is only a couple of weeks away! I don’t know about you, but I have been training so hard – trying to avoid a repeat of last year. If you didn’t participate last year, then you missed me struggling to breathe as I crossed the finish line and collapsing only about three feet after the finish. This is especially embarrassing because I even cheated throughout the course by sporadically using my wings. It definitely wasn’t one of my finer moments, but that’s what I get for thinking I could run almost (more…)

To celebrate the start of fall, our family decided to enjoy all of Heron Bay’s outdoor activities in one day. I’m here to report that it can’t be humanly done. As herons, we were able to take shortcuts by flying, and even we couldn’t do it.

We started out with by going to the Canongate Grille for a filling breakfast.  Spalding and I had a putting contest on the practice green while we waited for the girls to finish eating. I hate to admit that he beat me three out five putts.

Our next stop was to enjoy some of the trails in the neighborhood. This time, Haley created a contest to see who could identify the most native plants. (more…)