Did you know that there is an award-winning garden just minutes from World Golf Village? The Arboretum at St. Johns County Agricultural Center is planted and maintained by Master Gardeners with emphasis on seasonal displays of color. The Master Gardeners’ efforts were rewarded this year at the International Master Gardeners Conference in Las Vegas with the “Search for Excellence Award” for demonstration gardens. The University of Florida presented St. Johns County Master Gardeners with first-place awards for the “best” Demonstration and Educational gardens in Florida in 2008 and 2007.

Come get “Drunkin’ fer a Cause” on September 11th to help raise money for charity. Trust me, you have never seen anything like this before! Probably because St. Augustine’s “In Garb Pub Crawl” is the world’s only monthly costumed-period garbed pub crawl and it happens to be right in your backyard. The fun starts at 7 PM and lasts ’til 11 PM.

Dress up and enjoy some history on the second Friday of each month. Only $5 if ye dress in 16th to 19th century period clothing. The group will travel to four different watering holes in the area, starting at Pirate Portraits N’ Treasures on St. George Street, where you can buy yar costumes o’ tickets by 6 PM. No weapons or swords allowed! Arrggh!

Each month, the St. Augustine event benefits a different cause. This proceeds from this week’s pub crawl will go to Diamond in the Rough Farm.

Camaraderie, games, storytelling and more – even bad jokes are allowed as long as you participate!

What if this view is what you woke up to every morning?

This could be YOUR backyard and at an affordable price. Waterbury by the Links offers single-family homes and buildable lots along fairways 2 through 8 of World Golf Village’s King & Bear golf course, the only design collaboration of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. These custom built homes and homesites range from the $600s to over a million. Take advantage of the double fairway views, lake-to-golf views or nature preserve views this immaculate community has to offer.

Golf, nature, and beauty right outside your window. Waterbury embraces the golf course, offering exquisite golf homes in Jacksonville plus 21 incredible water-to golf opportunities. A naturally forested conservation area envelops and frames the neighborhood creating 32 private, woodland lots perfect for your dream home. Waterbury also offers its homeowners 37 private and secured homesites, buffered by a planted, evergreen berm.

Waterbury homeowners can access their discreet neighborhood from the main security gate via 1.5 miles of the beautifully landscaped Registry Boulevard or have direct access from SR 16, through the north entrance of the gated community in St Augustine. This neighborhood not only puts you right in the middle of nature, but also gives you quick access to the world outside. The award-winning St. Johns County School, Ward Creek Elementary is only 1,400 feet from the north gate.

Avid golfers, beginners and pros. Players at all levels will fall in love with the beautiful courses at World Golf Village.

Residents at The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village enjoy two world-class championship golf courses year-round. And while the courses at World Golf Village were designed at the professional standard, they were also built for the players that play just for fun.

The King and Bear (pictured) is a 7,279-yard challenging that takes players through sparking lakes, scenic loblolly pines and 200-year-old live oaks. The picturesque course was co-designed by golf greats Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, and is the only course in the world with that distinction.

The Slammer and Squire was designed by renowned architect Bobby Weed with player consultants and Hall of Fame members Sam (The Slammer) Snead and Gene (The Squire) Sarazen. This 6,939-yard course is set against a backdrop of preserved woodlands and wetlands and offers great views of the World Golf Hall of Fame from several holes.

Retirees Steve and Gail Archer were drawn to the award-winning Neighborhoods of World Golf Village for the amenities, events and energetic lifestyle at active adult neighborhood The Cascades, as well as the preserved lands, beautiful landscaping, conveniences, shopping and golf.

After years of research and planning, the Archers narrowed down their search for the perfect retirement home to two communities, one in St. Lucie and the other, St. Augustine’s The Cascades at The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village. Upon their very first visit to the neighborhood, the couple knew the St. Augustine active adult community at World Golf Village would be the neighborhood they would call home.

The couple purchased their home in The Cascades in 2006, but finally made the official move into their home this year. They moved from Pennsylvania where they still have friends and family who they now enjoy hosting at their new resort-style home. The Archers spend their days entertaining, going shopping, sightseeing, going to the beach and listening to live music at local restaurants.

What do President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jose Maria Olazabal, Christy O’Connor and Lanny Wadkins have in common? These men are the 2009 inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame!

President Eisenhower, selected through the Lifetime Achievement Category, will be the first President inducted into the Hall of Fame. Eisenhower will be recognized not only for his love of the game, but also for popularizing and growing the sport at the end of the 1900s.

Selected through the International Ballot and the second Spaniard in the Hall of Fame, Olazabal is a two-time Masters Champion. Olazabal was chosen on 56 percent of the 91 percent returned International Ballots.

The wildly popular O’Connor, aka “Himself”, was elected for the Veteran’s Category. He will enter the Hall of Fame as the second Irishman, right behind Joe Carr in 2007. O’Connor holds many records, including the Irish record for most appearances in the World Cup with 15 and the only Irishman to win the Harry Vardon Trophy award twice.

Wadkins, a 21- time PGA Tour winner will represent the PGA Tour Ballot. Wadkins, known as a very competitive player, will be recognized for his success on the Tour and for his time spent as a lead analyst on CBS.

You’ve probably seen some changes in the way you learn about The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village. We excitedly launched a full scale social media marketing program earlier this summer. The program combines existing online activities with many new initiatives to create an innovative, comprehensive effort to help community staff and management, homeowners and homebuyers connect in new ways.

Under the guidance of mRELEVANCE, one of the industry’s top social media, public relations and internet marketing firms, our new marketing plan includes a strong presence on popular online networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter; as well as on real estate industry sites such as Trulia and ActiveRain. The goal is to make contact with current and prospective World Golf Village homebuyers and industry professionals. The neighborhood has already seen a great response from its online community, with over 300 Facebook fans already!

We know most of our homebuyers are doing their research online first, so we want to make sure that they can find us and get the information that they need in the way that they want it.

Fan us on Facebook www.Facebook.com/WorldGolfVillage or follow us on Twitter www.Twitter.com/WorldGolfVillag. Videos can also be viewed by searching World Golf Village on Youtube.

Don’t you just love free stuff? Well, if you do, you will love this weekend! This is the last weekend that the National Park Service is waiving all entrance fees into 391 national parks, including two incredible national monuments right in our backyard. Come out on August 15 and 16, between 8 AM and 4:30 PM, to St. Augustine’s Castillo de San Marcos or Fort Matanzas to learn, relax, or just to have fun!

Castillo de San Marcos is one of the nation’s oldest masonry forts. It was built to protect Spanish forces from pirates and international armada. Learn more about this unconquerable coquina monument and why it’s St. Augustine’s most historically significant structure. Or you could play an incredible game of hide and seek instead!

Take a short ferry ride to explore Fort Matanzas on Rattlesnake Island. Guides are available to show you around and answer questions. Make sure to check out the spectacular view from the top!

Learn more about our history, try something new, be entertained and do it all for free!

Attend an open house at St. Andrews Place in The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village and you could watch the British Open on your new 32″ flat screen TV. You can also grab light refreshments at the event on July 11-12 from 1-5 p.m.

Visit four all four homes on tour (priced from $325,000 to $345,900) to register for the giveaway. The addresses are 245 Island Green Drive, 288 Island Green Drive, 308 Island Green Drive and 348 Island Green Drive.

The St. Andrews Place neighborhood has 64 low-maintenance patio homes built around a large lake and a community lakeside swimming pool.

To get there, take I-95 to exit 323. Go west on International Golf Parkway to the second World Golf Village entrance and turn right onto Royal Pines Parkway. Take the third left into St. Andrews Place and turn left onto Island Green Drive. For details, call (904) 940-5000 or visit www.worldgolfrealestate.com.

If you are looking for office space in Northern St. Johns County that is easily accessible from I-95 and very comfortable, please take a look at the Davidson building just inside World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Florida .

Each executive suite is furnished including a telephone with voice mail services, web access and a fax line. A beautiful conference room is available for your use. There is a copier and break room available along with any administrative service you may require.

The lease terms are flexible and the offices range form $950. to $1300. per month. This cost is all inclusive with the exception of long-distance calls and copies.