By: Stephanie Reynolds
I used to read them when I was a kid (and an adult, I still have the first one on my Kindle, and I read it when I want a little bit of my childhood back).
In any case, in that, book Trixie or Honey (I can’t remember) gave this quote: If you stay two weeks somewhere, you’ll see most of what you want to see. If you stay a month, you will see all of what you want to see, but if you live there, you will never see anything at all!” Put a pin in this for a moment…
Now, have you ever thought about what life is like for the locals you see when you go on vacation? For example, if you go to the beach, do you ever look at the locals and think, “I wonder how often they go to the beach?” Or if you are eating at a famous restaurant on the strip in Vegas and you really enjoy it, do you ever think, “It would be so cool to live here! I’d eat here every week!”?
Have you ever been eating at a restaurant, maybe lost on your phone, and realize that the next table over is filled with people who are EXCITED to be here on vacation?
One of the problems with living somewhere is we tend to “never see anything at all.” We get so jaded about the familiar that we don’t stop to think that for someone else, where we live is extraordinary, fun, calm, or sentimental.
So often we get like kids in summer — “There’s nothing to DOOOO!” — not realizing that our “nothing” is a place that people actually come to on purpose.
I want to help you rediscover how amazing Limestone County is. Below is a list of 56 things you can do in Limestone County through the year. I invite you to cut this list out and post it on your fridge. Now, whenever you have a spare weekend or someone coming into town, you can do something on this list!
1. Sheriff’s Rodeo
2. Red White and BOOM
3. Merry Market
4. Chocolate Walk
5. Home and Garden Show
6. April Walking Tour
7. Donnell House
8. Richard Martin Trail
9. Swan Creek Trail
10. Marbut Bend
11. Cemetery Stroll
12. Haunt Walk
13. Tinsel Trail
14. 1818 Farms
15. Mooresville Tour
16. Feed the ducks at the pond
17. Fridays after Five
18. Kiddie Carnival
19. Cruise-in On The Square
20. Houston Library
21. Farmers Market
22. Merchants Alley Happy Hour
23. Piney Chapel Heritage Tractor Show
24. Ardmore Rodeo
25. Crape Myrtle Festival
26. Fiddlers Convention
27. Storytelling Festival
28. Veterans Parade
29. Christmas Parade
30. Sippin’ Cider
31. Tour of Homes
32. Rural Village walking trail (extra point if you saw the waterfalls, two extra points if you went to the cave when the bats were flying)
33. Take an arts class
34. Business event at Launch Box
35. Lunch and Learn at the library
36. Use the Sportsplex for anything exercise related (not just watching, actually using it — like the pool, the archery range, etc.)
37. Attend any concert at any of the schools
38. Run/walk any race in Limestone County (the “rat race” doesn’t count!)
39. Try paintball
40. Practice at any driving range
41. 9 or 18 holes at a local golf course
42. Try pickleball
43. Hit balls at the batting cage
44. Attend air show at Pryor Field
45. Go to the Sulphur Creek Trestle Battle Monument
46. See the Trinity School display
47. Fish in the county
48. Skeet or trap shooting
49. Archery or hunting
50. Boat or kayak on any lake or river in Limestone County
51. Alabama Veterans Museum
52. Delmore Bros. Museum
53. ASU Sports Museum
54. College Inn/Newby Gulf Station Museum
55. Complete our Columns and Cultures walking tour
56. Go on a carriage ride
If there is anything that you heard that interests you, come see me. I would love to help you organize an itinerary completely free! Let me help you cross some of these things off your list!
By: Stephanie Reynolds, Athens-Limestone Tourism Association
January 3, 2025
