Travel Tips

It's been a long time since I lived IN a city. I like living out away from the hustle and bustle. I like owning land and having space. I like for my "yard" to include forests, streams, lakes, etc. In general, I am a country type of guy.

The photo above is a springtime look at my house. We have a "natural" area in our front space, where we have many native plants and ferns. Many flower annually, and make the place especially fragrant and beautiful in the springtime.

Anyway, welcome to my home, VT friends.

Tallahassee and Leon County is very, very proud of its large population of huge oak trees. The area does NOT want to become like much of central and southern Florida, where all the trees have been bulldozed to make Magic Kingdoms, zoos and water parks.

Our yard is no exception to this tree-loving attitude. The photo at the left was taken on my front deck, looking up. That canopy of oaks sure does keep things cooler in the summer.

Several years ago, we put in a landscaped backyard water garden, which is now home to many lovely flowering bushes, not to mention quite a few fat goldfish.

We have a swing in this garden area, and often sit out back in the springtime enjoying a glass of wine and a good book. If we need any comedic relief, we can watch the maniacal squirrels playing in the trees.

About 500 meters east of our house, and still on our land, we have a very nice wetland area. It's a small pond, surrounded on two sides by forest and by pasture grassland on the other two sides. There are all sorts of migratory birds, amphibians, frogs and snakes resident in this area.

Bonnie and I have about a 5 km walking trail that lies both on our property and surrounding plantation lands. Our trail includes a pass right by the pond, as we simply call it. It has no name.

At night, you can sit quietly and hear all sorts of sounds, including many different species of owls.

PLEASE CLICK ON AND ENLARGE THE ACCOMPANYING PHOTO FOR A BETTER LOOK AT THE DOGWOOD BLOOMS.

In this photo, taken approximately 200 meters away from "the pond", you can see a wild dogwood tree blooming in our forest. This is another portion of our property.

As you can see, we have lots of natural beauty and nature on our land. I really love living in the country.

The closest building to our house is approximately 400 meters south of our house. Indian Springs Baptist church is a small, rural southern Baptist congregation. The historic building was constructed in 1852, before the start of the American Civil War. There is an old graveyard adjacent to the church, including graves from the Spanish American and First World Wars. In front of the church are some even older graves, of church members who died around the time the church was built.

We aren't really churchy people, but it is very peaceful to hear the gentle sounds of a piano and a choir singing next door on a Sunday morning.

PLEASE CLICK ON AND ENLARGE THE ACCOMPANYING PHOTO FOR A BETTER LOOK AT THE DOGWOOD BLOOMS.

As mentioned above, we have several private walking paths that criss-cross our land, as well as the surround plantation property. In this photo, taken on our land approximately 1 km away from our pond, you see our simple woodsy pathway, complete with a few springtime dogwood blooms for colorful effect.

Let me close this little springtime visit to my home with a bunch of firey miniature pink azalea blossoms. This photo was taken in my front yard.

I hope you've enjoyed your short visit to my home here in eastern Leon County, Florida. : )