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.

All of my blog posts seem to start out with how much fun it is to live in St. Johns County – and this one is no exception. I guess that’s because it is true! In addition to an abundance of history, culture and sports attractions, we also have great live music. Downtown St. Augustine’s Concerts in the Plaza are even more special because they are outside under majestic oaks in the oldest town square in the nation – the Plaza de la Constitucion.

Every Thursday evening, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, families gather in the early evening to share a picnic and listen to a variety of music from, bluegrass to blues, jazz to country, swing to folk, and old time to rock.

There are two concerts left in the Concerts in the Plaza‘s 19th season. One is the last regularly scheduled Thursday night performance. On September 3, Gatorbone is scheduled to perform old-time to jazz starting at 7:00 PM. The other is the Labor Day season finale! From 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, St. Augustine Jazz Society presents The Boston Connection & Gil Surrett and a Jazz Society Jam Session.

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.

It is amazing how many wonderful things there are to do when you live in Northeast Florida! In just over two weeks, The Florida Heritage Book Festival will come to St. Augustine. The event is designed to showcase Florida’s culture and heritage by honoring authors who write about or live in the Sunshine State.

The festival begins on Friday, September 11 with a Writers Workshop. If you’ve always dreamed of writing your own book, you can learn how to polish your writing skills and get published from successful authors like Nancy Haddock, Sean Bean and Thomas B. Cavanagh. The workshop will be at the Casa Monica Hotel from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The price of $65 (or $85 at the door) includes lunch.

The next day, September 12, is full of free daytime events including authors’ presentations, poetry readings, panel discussions and children’s programs. There is also a Keynote Author Luncheon from noon to 2:00 PM at the Casa Monica. Senator Mel Martinez will share his story on how he went from an 11-year-old boy huddled on his bedroom floor in Cuba as gun fights raged outside his window to being a Florida Senator and author of “A Sense of Belonging: One Man’s Pursuit of the American Dream”. Tickets to the luncheon are $45.

All of the proceeds from the events will benefit the St. Johns County Friends of the Library and the Newspaper in Education programs. If you love books, you are sure to enjoy this weekend!

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.

Many people know World Golf Village as a northeast Florida golf community, but not as many people realize it is also home to one of the country’s best spas – the PGA TOUR Spa Laterra. As you meander through the neighborhoods surrounding the King & Bear golf course, you won’t be able to miss the stunning spa buildings. Renowned spa architect Robert D. Henry created a beautiful environment of deep relaxation that flows easily from inside to out. You may choose to linger in our Circular Spa Lounge and sip a cup of tea as you listen to the indoor water feature or you may decide to slip outside and enjoy the Garden Sanctuary with a private seating area and views of the Koi Pond with three floating cabanas. These soothing environments relax you so you may truly enjoy the wide array of treatments waiting for you – everything from an aromatherapy massage and French manicure to an organic tropical fruit facial and spa pedicure.

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!

Can you believe another school year is about to start? As we prepare our children to head back to the classroom, parents in St. Johns County should remember how fortunate we are to live in one of best school districts in the state – if not the country! With approximately 40% of all full-time teachers holding advanced degrees, it’s no wonder the St. Johns County school district is in the top 14% of the nation for “What Parents Want” in public schools. This is also confirmed by six seniors placing in the top 1% and 19 students placing in the top 5% nationally on PSAT.

St. Johns County students also continue to rank among the top in the state on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, known as the FCAT. The test is given to students in grades 3 through 11. Of the 16 scores given to the districts, St. Johns County students ranked first in eight areas! The 2009 results show St. Johns County students were first in reading and math among all 67 school districts for grades 3, 4 and 5. Grades 9 and 10 were also first in reading and second and fifth in math, respectively.

Our Superintendent Joseph Joyner shared that 86% of our students are at or above grade level in reading and 90% are at or above grade level in math. That ranks us number one in the state – and that’s pretty impressive!

Students in grades 5, 8 and 11 are also tested in science. Our students ranked third, second and third respectively in the state.