Live on the water

We live in the country - only a few houses surrounded by woods - deer, turkey, owls, foxes, possums, armadillos, and even a bald eagle or two in the winter time. 

A spring-fed creek is just down the hill, and if you turn right, there is a small private park with a century-old partially-refurbished flour mill, picnic tables, a small bandstand with a cement dance floor. Used to be a favorite site for weddings, and some summers they have had music every Fri or Sat night. Trout are occasionally stocked in the creek, but the grandkids catch mostly little tiny sunears and crawdads. 

When we lived in Massachusetts, we rented winter houses just a block from the beach. (In the summer, they are far too expensive - so we moved twice a year.) But the MA water never gets warm enough for swimming for this MO gal - even on July 4th it is icy. But we loved to hike around the beach, marshland, and an abandoned estate with grapes-gone-wild and a small pond with perch and bluegill.