Lake Martin Voice Realty
Archive for the 'Shopping' Category
Kowaliga Marina on Lake Martin: Video Tour
Kowaliga Marina is one of Lake Martin’s oldest and largest marinas. It’s located on the south central part of Lake Martin, off of Highway 63 and next door to Sinclair’s restaurant . It was home to Aquapalooza 2009, featured on Country Music Television (CMT).
Kowaliga Marina has a huge boat showroom, boating and skiing gear, gas docks, plus wet and dry boat storage. Check out their facilities in the video below. Enjoy the tour!
Inside Catherine’s Market At Russell Crossroads
Lake Martin’s newest deli and grocery – Catherine’s Market at Russell Crossroads – officially opened on Tuesday, December 16, 2008. I went by there today for lunch to check out the inside of the store and deli. It was really nice, a first class operation.
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As advertised, the market section had lots of cool, higher end grocery items. The wine shop was well stocked. I even found my favorite Rioja. I didn’t scrutinize the meat counter very closely, but I am sure that it is nice.
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The deli was rippin and roarin. It was covered up with Russell Lands sales agents and employees. I also saw 2 or 3 tables worth of people that drove down from Alex City, including Mr. Ben himself, one of my fourth grade teachers, and a lady we’ve gone to church with for decades. That’s one thing I like about Lake Martin, I always bump into friends wherever I am eating lunch.
I played it pretty safe and selected the stacked ham sandwich on wheat with pasta salad. It was good. A friend got the 1/2 and 1/2 – the soup of the day was some sort of seafood bisque, which he really liked. You order at the deli counter and then go and sit down, they bring you the food. It took about 15 minutes for them to serve it, which I guess wasn’t bad for their first week. With a sweet tea, I was in and out of there for about $11.00, which is comparable to another one of my Lake Martin favorites, Green Valley Market & Cafe.
My only criticism is that I detected some sort of flavor to the sweet tea, like a peach or fruit or some sort of whang. It definitely has some sort of fancy angle to it, to which I am morally opposed. Just give me some straight up tea, please. If you want to get fruity on me, please put it in a separate dispenser and let me know ahead of time. Admittedly, I am a purist, a stickler for good sweet tea, so maybe I am on the fringes of opinion here. But this is a relatively tiny complaint when put against the entire experience. It really was nice, clean, well run, and tasted good. I expected all kinds of problems as this is their third day in biz. None such. Very professional.
Meat Counter:
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Fresh veggie aisle:
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Lunch menu:
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I wish them the best. I think they are a great addition to the Lake Martin area, I am sure to be back in the future.
Click here for the Catherine’s Market menu
And here for the back of Catherine’s Market menu
Also see:
All of the pics I took of Catherine’s Market, and my entire collection of web photo albums on Picassa, including waterfront property on Lake Martin that I have for sale.
Christmas Shopping In Downtown Alex City
Between my cashed in kitchen passes and Thanksgiving break, it has been a while since my last post. I tried to keep the Lake Martin Voice “A” students informed with my Twitter updates, which are visible at the bottom right margin. I am enjoying using my Twitter account as a micro blog, a way to quickly update the world or link in to interesting articles or info from other bloggers.
Over Thanksgiving I mostly stayed away from the computer. I caught up on reading the WSJ. I helped my kids swing on a vine in the woods. I read a bunch of good books about Alabama and the greater Lake Martin area. It was glorious. As a side note, I have created a Lake Martin Voice Library page. Here I will post links to various books that I think the average fan of Lake Martin would like. I promise to keep it on point, refusing to indulge myself with too many books on too many topics. I will try to limit it to a.) Lake Martin history, and b.) real estate in general. If any of you have any suggestions, please leave a comment on the Library page and help us all out.
You out of towners should consider a visit to your Lake Martin home in between now and Christmas. If you have never been here when the leaves are gone, you’re missing a treat. Everything looks different (in a good way). Almost no one is here, so it is incredibly peaceful. Plus there are some things going on like opening of Catherine’s Market at Russell Crossroad, and shopping in downtown Alex City.
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| Cloud Nine - Downtown Alex City Shopping, Lake Martin |
I realize that every small town in America is pimping their downtown revitalization, but I submit that Main Street Alex City is on the right track. Just about every building (with some notable exceptions) has been redone inside and out. Carlisle’s Drugstore – the iconic spot where you can get a scrip filled and eat an egg salad sandwich or a chili dog – did a great job. Henry Foy has a great little wine store, and is expanding into his own renovation.
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Another huge surprise is the renovation of the old Queen’s Attic Antiques building by Dr. Larry Tuggle. he gutted the entire place and transformed it in to a Bourbon Street – esque town experience, complete with cobblestones and clocks. He created little micro stores inside, which play home to many little local vendors. It is really cool.
Some pics:
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| From Downtown Alex City Shopping, Lake Martin |
Note all the wrought ironwork:
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each mini store is unique:
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| From Downtown Alex City Shopping, Lake Martin |
Construction Photos of Russell Crossroads
Russell Lands is building Russell Crossroads – that will be, as they put it, “a ‘town center’ in the heart of the Russell Lands family of developments on 44,000 acre Lake Martin.”
It is being built on Highway 63, just north of Windermere Road. The town center will serve as resource for the neighborhoods of The Ridge, Windermere, Windover, Trillium, Willow Point, and for that matter, anywhere else on Lake Martin. Judging from their plans, and the players that they have committed, my candid take is that this will be very good for the Lake Martin community. There will be a high end grocery called Catherine’s Market, which will also have a deli. The first phase will also include The Springhouse Restaurant – “fine dining in a casual atmosphere.” Future plans call for a Hot and Hot Restaurant.
If I understand their overall plan correctly, in the future all of their area developments mentioned above (except Trillium) will be connected by a trail system so that one could jog, bike, or ride a golf cart to Russell Crossroads, and also go back and forth in between each neighborhood.
I snapped some photos a couple of weeks ago. They are already out of date. I drove by a couple of days ago and saw that they had the roofs on Catherine’s Market and the Springhouse Restaurant. But I will post these here anyway.
The Real Estate Sales office and Discovery Center:
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| Sales Office |
Here is the future Catherine’s Market:
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| Catherine’s Market |
And here is one of the future Springhouse Restaurant:
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| Springhouse Restaurant |
Closets For Your Lake Martin Cabin: $50
Do you have a a cabin on Lake Martin with no little or no closet space? Why not buy a nice armoire for $50?
Lots of the waterfront homes around Lake Martin were built in the 1960s, so that means no storage. The owners can fix them up or keep them rustic, but lack of closets can be a hassle. In fact, one of my listings that sold this summer didn’t have a closet.
Solution: Buy a used armoire. I read in a recent Wall Street Journal article that there are tons of really nice used armoires out there for the taking, some as little as $50. This is caused by the flat screen TV phenomenon. As people upgrade to the new thing, they can no longer fit them into their entertainment center / armoire.
Hotels have it even worse. As they struggle to keep fresh, they are dumping armoires by the thousands. Why not buy one online and take it to your Lake Martin cabin? Either keep it for a tube TV or convert it to store clothes, lake toys, or whatever. Many of these furniture pieces are from pretty swanky hotels.
Check it out:
WHERE TO FIND THEM:
Hotel Surplus Outlet, www.hotelsurplus.com
This Los Angeles liquidator is encouraging customers to buy armoires and convert them into computer stations.
Armoires start at $89.95. Starting next year, the company plans to throw in free tube TVs to help move inventory.
Starting prices for armoires here are down to $50. Among its hotel clients: Le Meridien in Beverly Hills.
This Fort Lauderdale liquidator has sold armoires that were once used to furnish the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach.
GIVE YOUR CABINET A MAKEOVER:
Learn how to convert your entertainment armoire into a wardrobe.
