Tillie, Larry, and Berries

On our second day of vacation, with my dad joining me, Paula, and the kids, we hit Tillie Fowler Regional Park (Jacksonville) for a day of exploration. I thought a walk in the great outdoors might pull us through on the day after "that election." We arrived just in time for a hokey program put on by a tireless city employee, and were introduced to snakes and other assorted unlikely pets. Then we made binoculars out of toilet paper rolls for a squirrel hunt.

  

Marshall thought the binoculars ought to really work--he kept complaining that his toilet paper roll binocs "didn't help." The squirrel hunt through the woods did teach us how to watch for telltale signs of squirrels--what they eat, what they scratch, where they nest... then as our guide led the group on a return hike to the center, we ditched the group and forged ahead. With my instincts and a crude map to guide us, we found a three-tiered observation deck, a 100-year-old brick road, and a rough path few seemed to have taken.

 

Actually, it was Halle who led us, using the blue blaze on the trees as her guide. She did a great job--there were just a few spots where I needed to point out a blaze she had missed. I called her "Scout" for the rest of the day.

 

There was also a butterfly garden, where we tried to trick one into landing on our finger. I guess wild butterflies are smarter than the ones they keep in butterfly "habitats."

 

After the hike, we hit the playground and then had an amazing lunching experience at Larry's Giant Subs. This place was delicious, and as we traveled the next few days, we kept finding them. Alas, our last siting was nowhere near Atlanta (just outside Savannah).

 

  

Then we hit the Chamblin BookMine, one of the all-time best used bookstores, with row-upon-row of books. Paula and I were careful to spend less than 50 bucks there--she on supplemental textbooks for the kids' school, me on an Andrew Jackson biography (our first and maybe my favorite Democratic president).

   

Finally, as we waited for my mom to get home from work, the kids played outside at my parent's house. Here's a shot (above) of the berries Cooper was found eating. He's still with us, so I guess they weren't poisonous.

Comments

[Karen]

Looks like a fun day! "That election" hahaha

[~Paule]

John, your family grows more beautiful every year. The berry mysterious plant is a Callicarpa. Probably Callicarpa americana. It's also known as beautyberry.
Merry Christmas to you all.