There's a lot of stuff to do here in Piney Orchard. Maybe the
the most visible is the Skate Nation Ice Arena where the Washington Capitols
Practice. (Some of them even live here in Piney Orchard, and you can always spot one
at the Blockbuster in Crofton.)
Close to the Ice Rink is the Piney Orchard Nature Preserve. Well ok, it's really
more like a mile long black top path in the middle of the woods the county won't let
constellation develop. The biggest highlight is a very large deck that extends over
some wet lands so you can see some frogs or something else slimy. There is also a
very impressive tree that has a name. There are a few signs to point out stuff.
Pretty much it's used to practice roller blading on. But hey, it is a nice
place to take a walk.
But let's face, what we really care about is our pools and community center. Right
now there are three and a half pools available for the entire community and an
additional one for the apartment complex. The Community Center has a very large and
well maintained outdoor pool, a great indoor lap pool and (the half pool) a great hot tub
whirlpool. The other pool is called the Rotary and is located within a neighborhood
of the same name. The Rotary pool is smaller, but some think nicer.
There is parking for only about 10 cars and idea is that folks from the adjoining
neighborhoods will walk to the pool---yeah right!
The Community Center also houses a recently
renovated exercise room. It's quite large and quite a bit of
equipment has been added. Best of all, there are three televisions,
with cable, and a radio sound system hooked up to the
treadmills and bikes so bring your own earphones Frankly, the
sound system is repaired as quickly as we would like but most
of the exercise equipment is kept in good repair. There
are no free weights (for liability reasons most suspect), a
good set of universal and faux Nautilus machines occupy the
space. Don't quit your gym, but you can supplement your
normal workouts here.
There is also a very large, well furnished room with a 40 foot black marble fireplace.
It's perfect for parties but Constellation is unclear about if residents can rent
the room for christening and such.
Oh yes, the parities. The Community Association (run pretty much exclusively by
Constellation) sponsors several holiday driven, kids oriented parties. They send
flyers (about the only real communication you'll receive from them) the week before the
party. They also keep a calendar at Constellation's