If you have run races before through Active.com – you will be saved a step in registering.  If not, that is OK too, an account is free.

The race fee is $40 for the 10k and $20 for the 5k.

I plan to run again this year, it’s my third year in a row. It is the only 10k I have ever run in, so I don’t have much in the way of comparison.  I think it’s hilly, but my Birmingham friends tell me it is not so bad.  Whatever.

At any rate, it gives me great motivation to stay active while I train for it.  Even though it’s not very hilly where I live, and I run only on roads or the treadmill, that seems to prepare me pretty well.

The race is run over the trails in Russell Forest.  Honestly, “trails” – is not quite accurate, they are really dirt roads.  True, there are sections that are gravelly, but for the most part it is hard packed red clay.  The roads meander through the woods by Lake Martin, and are just beautiful. Many moons ago, when Russell Lands still leased that area for hunting, my dad used to take me quail hunting all through there.

I think one of the best parts of the race is the after party.  Russell Lands the power of Russell Crossroads and has the Chef from Springhouse there serving tasties (I think they did a squash bisque last year) and the folks at Catherine’s Market are supposed to have cold beer and drinks.

Plug For Runkeeper

To anyone that is training for the Russell Forest Run, or if you like to run or walk in general, take note of the Runkeeper app.

A friend of mine told me about this app for my iPhone. I love it for many reasons.

First, it’s free. Secondly, it keeps up with all of your workouts and syncs them to the runkeeper.com site. You can set your own running routes, and it calculates distance for you. When you start your run, you let it know what route you plan to run, and it tracks the GPS on your phone and updates you with distance, time, and pace announcements through your earphones. You can even select what playlist you want to play while you run, and whether or not you shuffle.

When you are done, you let it know, and it uploads your results to your private runkeeper.com account.

My only complaint is that it is not compatible with my heart rate monitor. I have one of those older chest strap monitors that transmits your heart rate. It works great on the treadmill but my iPhone 4 won’t put it through to runkeeper. Maybe it’s an iPhone thing, I don’t know. It would be really cool to be updated on my heart rate because that’s how I train anyway, not by timed pace per mile.

Enough about me.

I hope to see YOU at the Russell Forest Run. It’s a fun event that shows you that there’s plenty of things to do around Lake Martin in the winter.

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It’s the little things that remind me how much I miss it, like the other day when I opened my drawer to grab my wallet and I saw my boat keys. At the end of last summer we bought a (new to us) Sea Ray Sundeck. We didn’t get much time to really shake it down properly, although the warm autumn had us riding well into October.

My wife’s father is an extreme car cleaner. Waxes. Buffs. Uses a toothbrush (though not to wax and buff). While she isn’t quite that bad thorough she has told me more than once that she can’t wait to get it out and put the scrubby dubby on the new boat. I guess that will be nice…. but me, I am looking forward to that moment when you cruise out of the no wake zone, point it to the big water, and open up the throttle.

I can’t wait for spring.

What about you?

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That’s right, Jake and Elwood have gotten the band back together, and they are performing at the Benjamin Russell High School Auditorium in Alex City on Tuesday, February 14th, 2012, at 7:30 PM.

They are playing complete with the intercontinental Rhythm and Blues Band, with a “piping hot” horn section, with gospel singers, and dancers. In fact, their sax player Murph Dunne got in a huge fight with his wife. He lost her and a job to be here, so the least you can do is show up.

I will grant you, there will be a few elements missing from the normal show. While they do feature gospel singers, I am pretty sure that James Brown will not be doing back flips on a trampoline. But on a positive note, there will be no crazed women firing M-16s at the boys.  Here’s a link to their latest promo video.

Seriously, this is for a really good cause – The Alex City Arts, and was funded in part by a grant from the Alabama State Council of the Arts.

Doors open at 7pm. Tickets: $15.00 for adults, children 12 and under $5. Tickets will be available February 1st at the Russell Hospital Gift Shop; The Chamber of Commerce; and ‘Main Street’, Alexander City, or at the door. For more information call; Ron Morgan, President, Alex City Arts at 256.234.9806 or e-mail Topdog@Lakedog.net

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Aliant Bank is auctioning the Water’s Edge neighborhood.

Water’s Edge, formerly known as Eagle Point, was a proposed waterfront development on the Big Kowaliga section of Lake Martin. It was (by my unscientific estimation) one of the largest, if not the largest, waterfront loan in Aliant’s history. It is located at the end of Coosa County Road 20, directly across the water from the old Veazey’s Marina near Willow Point.

Aliant loaned the money to real estate developers that tried to market it as Eagle Point, but the bank ended up taking that land back, and now has hired auctioneer JP King to auction off the whole shebang.

I have read JP King’s promotional materials and also called and emailed them for more information. At the time of this writing, they did not have a location map, neighborhood covenants and restrictions, but did have about 15 photos. Here are the major points:

Date: Saturday, March 10, 2012
Time: 10:00 AM Central Time
Place: “On Site” – I don’t know which part of the property that means, but if you take Coosa County Road 20 all the way east, surely they will have signage up.

Disclosure Of My Extreme Bias

I have a lot of personal bias when it comes to both Aliant Bank and Water’s Edge, nee Eagle Point.

Firstly, growing up in Alex City, I either know or am related to just about everyone that works there. Fine folks and experts at Lake Martin lending. In fact, they are about the only source that I know of right now that will loan on Alabama Power leased lot homes.

Secondly, I have a lot of personal history with Water’s Edge / Eagle Point. I helped Aliant do much of the homework (market studies, comparable sales, realtor stuff, etc.) when they first foreclosed. I also listed two of the spec homes that they had for sale. I had those homes listed during the construction phase and for several months after they were completed.

However - and this is a big however - I never listed any of the lots nor the Island parcel. Not the lots close to the spec houses (which the auctioneer is calling “The Cottages at Eagle Point”), nor the “island” portion (which the auctioneer is calling “Narrows Point at Water’s Edge”).

The only time (to my knowledge) that Aliant has put any of these lots on the market was when they listed lots 3 and 4 with Rhonda Gaskins at RealtySouth, the brokerage that listed the homes on lot 1 and lot 2 after my listing period expired. As was apparent in our Lake Martin MLS, they listed the lots for $195k and dropped the price to $159k before that listing expired late this fall.

Why The Water’s Edge Auction Will Be Interesting

I think Aliant’s auction of the foreclosed Eagle Point / Water’s Edge waterfront development will be interesting for three major reasons:

1.) Waterfront auctions on Lake Martin homes, lots, and other property have not gone well in the past. Foreclosed or not, I can only think of one auction where a sale has been consummated in the last five or so years. I sell Lake Martin real estate for a living, and that’s the sole example of success, but I can also recall five or six aborted attempts. One in particular, the auctioneer allegedly marched off in a huff after no one submitted an opening bid.

2.) The auction is not absolute. This may change, but as of this writing, according to auctioneer JP King, none of the parcels is being sold absolute.  Selling absolute means, essentially, if you bid $1, and you’re the high bidder, you get to buy it at that, regardless. If it’s not absolute it means that the bank has a minimum price, and if the bids don’t meet their minimum, they are not compelled to sell to you. Granted, this may change. When I talked to the auction company, they admitted that their information was incomplete right now. (Sidebar – the auction is in about 10 weeks. When will it be complete? Who will bid without complete information?)

3.) Only two of the lots have ever been on the market. As mentioned above, they last asked $159k each for lots 3 and 4 on the “Cottages” parcel. They have never – repeat never – put the island portion on the market (that is the parcel they call The Narrows).

Would you like to bid on waterfront lots or homes at Water’s Edge? Please contact me using this form or call me at 334 221 5862.

More Information about Water’s Edge At Lake Martin

I have written extensively about Water’s Edge in the past and also taken tons of video. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND that these are old posts from when I had the homes listed, so the pricing etc. NO LONGER APPLIES:

 Lot 2, Water’s Edge

Does Ceiling Color Keep Away Bugs?

Water’s Edge Featured In Lake Magazine

Lake Martin Seawall Construction

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My boat, of course.

I had been holding out hope that I could squeeze in one more boat ride, but with the cold weather coming on, there just wasn’t enough time.

I must admit that I feel pretty smug that I got the goody out of it this fall. The warm fall weather afforded many a fun family ride and (per IRS regulations) a very conservative amount of deductible business expenses.

Have you ever taken a boat ride on Lake Martin on a Sunday afternoon in October?  Pure solitude, almost guilty fun.

Thanks to John Christenberry, I can say that we at Lake Martin Voice Realty even scored an atypically late – October 28 – real estate showing by water.  That is just one of the many records Christenberry has racked up in 2011.  More on that later.

Not A Defeat

To Winter’s uneducated eye, this may appear to be a defeat.

My lovely Sea Ray Sundeck is now on the rack, full of antifreeze, seemingly powerless.

Au contraire, Emperor.

Like the Russian generals against Napoleon, I am merely baiting him to waste his resources for months, whilst I lie in wait at my dacha. 

This is not over.  I live to fight again and will strike at Winter soon, preparing in the meantime anchorages laid bare by his low water complacency.

My Advice: Don’t Criticize It, Winterize It

If you haven’t winterized your boat, you had better do it now. Quit procrastinating. If you don’t have time, or, worse yet, don’t know what winterizing means, I recommend these Lake Martin boat mechanics:

1. Steve Northington at Cathouse Marine - (334) 358-2838 – Steve is the darling of the forum folks at LakeMartin.com. He resuscitated my boat from a salty death.  Impossibly, he reforged the blade that was broken. Highly, highly, capable.
2. Clarence Cunningham at Anchor Bay – (334) 857-2654 – Clarence is excellent and is the one bailing me out of winter’s clutches this year.  I do not winterize my own boat, I trust it to Clarence.  In fact, I have not tried any of that sort of thing since my wife was nine months pregnant and I almost ruined our SUV by attempting a “simple” oil change.  One has to know one’s own weaknesses.  The longer I live, the more I discover in myself.

If you are like me, and know better than to attempt your own winterization, call one of them.  Tell them I sent you.

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The Piedmont Plateau Birding Trail is the central Alabama version of the popular birding trails like the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail and the North Alabama Birding Trail.

What is a birding trail?

A birding trail is a collection of locations where bird lovers and other folks can go to observe some of Alabama’s renowned diversity of bird species.  The Piedmont Plateau Birding Trail is organized into three “loops.”

The Lake Martin Loop, obviously, is the part of the trail that will be closest to Lake Martin. Some of the observation points are directly on the water of the lake, such as the DARE Park and the Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail head.  Others will take you off the water, but to nonetheless interesting spots like Horseshoe Bend National Military Park.

The new trail has already earned some attention.  Deborah Storey covered it in this Hunstville Times article.

For what it is worth, I think this is an outstanding idea and brilliant marketing on the part of the various Chambers of Commerce that worked together to get this done.  I congratulate the Alexander City Chamber for taking the lead on it.  Even if you are not a “birder” – you should realize that birding related tourism is a really big business, and Alabama is a mecca.

Furthermore, it offers yet another thing to do off of the water for people who love Lake Martin.  Fall is the time of year that I think gives you the best chance to hike, bike, and explore the area around the lake.

Speaking of things to do, how many of you have never been to Horseshoe Bend National Military Park?  Why not? It is only about 10 miles off of highway 280 between Dadeville and Alex City.  The dedication ceremony gave me a perfect excuse to tour through it again. When I was growing up, we had oodles of school trips out there.  As a child, I never appreciated the sheer beauty of that park, nor did I grasp the historical significance of a battle that shaped the destinies of millions of acres of land, entire nations of native Americans, and at least one President.  (Hint: check a $5 bill).

After my tour the other day, I was really getting my nature, my history, and my local pride groove on.  I went wild in the Park’s gift shop, buying several (my wife rolled her eyes) books about The Battle, this area’s history, and nature.  My fellow nerds will please note I added them to my Lake Martin Voice Library.  Check them out, they are excellent reads.

To see my other pictures of the opening of the Piedmont Plateau Birding Trail, and Horseshoe Bend Park in general, please see:

Flickr Photo Set by Lake Martin Voice

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Lake Martin will have a higher water level this winter!

Alabama Power has just notified everyone that FERC approved their request to keep the level at 483, Martin Datum, rather than going to the customary 480.  The timing of this announcement has prompted many questions to me from astute Lake Martin Voice readers.  I feel I must respond here.

As was widely reported by Lake Martin area media, on November 4, 2011, Alabama Power applied to FERC to have permission to keep the water three feet higher this winter.  Since November 4, we have heard nothing from FERC.  Cue crickets chirping.

Then, yesterday, at 10:12 AM, I clicked “Publish” on this post about Alabama Power’s unmet request.

Today, about 24 hours after I posted that, FERC consents.

Yes, in a time period faster than it took for Johnny Fontane to get “that part,” FERC went from silent to servile.

For all you conspriacy theorists out there, I give my official response:

Omerta.

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This is old news to locals, of course, but I realized I had not posted anything about it on my blog.  Sorry about that.

This has been an unusually  busy fall for Lake Martin Voice Realty. Both John Christenberry and I have been blessed to have a few deals in the works and lots of people here looking for a waterfront home or lot on Lake Martin.

Alabama Power made this request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC is also the acronym that will decide to approve or reject Alabama Power’s application for a new rule curve for the next 30 years.

For all of the official information from Alabama Power as it relates to Lake Martin’s water level, go to this page on their website, then select “Tallapoosa River” and then “Lake Martin” in the appropriate drop down boxes.  The normal winter water level for Lake Martin under the current rule curve or license is 480 feet, Martin Datum.  Alabama Power has requested to keep it at 483 this year because of, in their words, “to address forecast LaNina impacts during the upcoming winter and spring months. Once approved, the lake should remain up to 3 feet higher than normal winter pool. Lake elevations are always subject to change, depending on conditions.”

If you would like to monitor the water level on Lake Martin, I think the best spot on the web is Bruce Pate’s Lake Martin.com. From here you can see the current level, and also a cool chart that allows you to compare to prior years, and to the current rule curve.  Bruce also allows you to create a water level alert, customized to your needs.   For instance, you might know that when the lake gets below 484 you can work on your dock or install a water pump for your landscaping.  Go to Lake Martin.com and create an alert that will email you when it gets close to that amount.  Neat idea!

Other Great Resources About Lake Martin’s Water Source

Lake Martin is fed by the mighty Tallapoosa River, which, I would argue (in extreme bias) is the most historically significant river that is east of the Mississippi and south of Clingman’s Dome. Here are some links to see Tallapoosa River flow numbers:

Tallapoosa River near Heflin

Tallapoosa River near Wadley

Tallapoosa River near New Site / Horseshoe Bend

The Tallapoosa is part of the Alabama / Coosa / Tallapoosa River Basin, aka the ACT Basin.  If you would like to watch water level readings for the ACT Basin, see:

ACT Basin by Army Corps of Engineers

Alabama Dept of Environmental Management

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Anchor Bay Marina is close to my office and our family cabin, so I often find myself there.  A couple of weeks ago, (I think it was the end of September), I was there on a weekday.  We were going out on the boat to do a little filming of some neighborhoods from the water when  I started having trouble with the starter on my boat.  Yikes.

Since we had to be back to town to pick up the kids from school, I didn’t want to risk it.  Solution –> rent a boat from Anchor Bay!  They already had one gassed up and ready to go.  It cost me no down time, and was so convenient that I shot the above video out of pure gratitude.

Another thing that makes Anchor Bay unique is that  Harbor Docks Restaurant is tucked away in the back.  Drive up by car or by boat, and enjoy a casual menu (pizza, fried seafood) either outdoors or in the air conditioning.  It’s kid friendly, and they’ve been known to have live music on the outside deck.

This year’s Indian Summer afforded us several Sundays in a row after Labor Day where we went for boat rides.  We made a habit of hitting Harbor Docks for supper, on the way back home. Not having to fix food and clean up = Mommy likee.

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I don’t really understand a whole lot about predicting the fall foliage colors. My friends in the southern Appalachian Mountains tell me that the leaves change at high elevations first, then work their way down.  Lake Martin’s summer pool level is at about 490 feet above sea level, and there are not too many areas that vary from that level.  By that I mean there are no mountains towering above the Lake Martin, so the leaves change at once, everywhere.

I could have this wrong, but to my eye we are at the peak right now.  Some of the leaves are falling, but most are still on the trees.  Furthermore, the various weeds and vines that normally just obscure your vision in the forest are also at their brightest.

If you promised yourself that you would come to Lake Martin and just ride around one day when it’s not so busy at home and work, this could be the perfect time.

My wife and I did some riding around today, taping a lot of video for my upcoming Neighborhood Tours.  It was fantastic.  It started to drizzle about 1:30, but before then, we were able to video The Ridge, Windermere, Windover, The Harbor (where I snapped these pictures), Marina Marin, and The Village.

I plan to take that “car footage” and edit it in with the boat footage I took when the water was still up.

Stay tuned, hopefully they will be helpful to you!

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