CHOKA LIFESTYLE: Weekend Adventures: Autrey Mill Nature Preserve

Wow. Two posts in one day!

I just really wanted to share our little outing today before the whirlwind work week sweeps me away.
First of all, I have been itching to go somewhere. Anywhere! While I would really love a nice long trip, we can't really afford that right now (see previous post) and we are being very conscious of our spending before the move. So any trips in the next two months are not happening unless they are in our own backyard.

I wanted to go to a place that I had never been before. I've lived in Metro-Atlanta for basically 22 years of my life (6 years were spent in Celebration, FL, but we'll save that for another day). I know the roads, the cities, the popular places. But this weekend I was really interested in the not so popular places or the ones you just don't hear about often. I know there are a good bit of historical mills in Georgia so that's what I started out searching for. And again because we were on such a tight budget, we could not travel very far away.

The first thing that popped up was Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Heritage Center. It was maybe 5 miles from our current apartment i n Johns Creek. I had never been there before or even heard of it for that matter! So we went exploring!

We spent about 1 1/2 -2 hours there walking the trails, and taking pictures, feeding the ducks, and just enjoying the day. The trails are really nice. When you first start out you are met with this really friendly area. I thought these were so cool! More places should do this. Honestly, the trails were not that rough where you would actually need a hiking stick, but I still loved the idea!

We kept on walking the Forest Trail and eventually came across the Plains Tepee, which is not the type of dwelling Native Americans had in this area but is used at the heritage center to educate and contrast against the mud and cob structures that were used in this area!

If you keep on walking you will come across the monkeys. Actually, when you look on the map you will see there is a landmark called "Monkeys" and the whole time we were walking I kept wondering "What is this Monkey thing??" And your first reaction as you come up on them is, "What the heck are these things??" Well, they are monkeys. And they are there to remind you that just because you may not know what something is, that does not give you a reason to destroy it.

There are a couple of blinds that allow you to watch the wildlife (there are tons of birds and chipmunks) and today we were the only people there so it was very peaceful and serene. Apparently, Nick saw something terrifying though....

And if you keep on walking you will find other little goodies along the way but I don't want to spoil them all for you! On Sundays, the Visitor Center is closed but you can still walk up and feed the ducks and say hi to the cute bunnies.

And you know me... I always can find the tropical vibes anywhere I go!

All in all the day was fun and we spent the remainder of the evening reading magazines at Barnes and Noble, but this little place filled my desire to see something new, and I want to go back when they are open to check out the Visitor Center and see the historical buildings. You should check it out if you have time! Here are some other pics from our visit there:

The Old Warsaw Church....I think I was getting hungry at this point...