On any given Saturday morning you’re sure to run into the Jones family, Lake Martin homeowners from Atlanta, who are hip to things culinary, and fans of local produce. Despite having a world of foodie options in the city, they frequent the Alex City farmer’s market (and then the Piggly Wiggly meat counter right up the street) and create fantastic dishes to serve lakeside.  If you’re lucky enough to be invited to dine with them, leave your cooler of Natural Light and pimento cheese at home.  Allow Mr. Jones to set the menu.

We took our own family trip to the farmer’s market, and filmed this quick video so you can check it out too:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Lake Martin community extends well past the shoreline into the small towns and countryside around it.  The more you know about the area, the more you will feel at home here.  If you need help finding that perfect lake home, or just want some ideas of things to do while you’re here, give me a call at 334 221 5862.

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I took my kids and nephews because I thought it would be fun to watch the pros show off their skilz.  But they did much more than that . . .

They had 4 boats taking folks out for lessons, and we spent at least an hour on the water with these guys.  They were great with the kids, generous with their time, and pretty good behind the boat, too.  I caught it all on tape, so check in out:

Click here to view the embedded video.

My nephews are going back for lessons later this summer. They already knew how to get up on a wakeboard, and the pros helped them fine tune some tricks and tactics.  One of my sons tried it also, he had never ridden a wakeboard before, and they got him up on his 3rd try. After he got up once, he went three or four more times and we all had a blast.

To top it all off, we came back and watched the pros go over a rail that they had floating in the water by the gas docks, and they gave us free pizza!

If you hear about one of these events going on at the lake, I encourage you to go.  They happen all the time at the marinas – boat demos, wave runner demos, etc.  The next event at Blue Creek Marina is on July 22, 2011.

Thanks to Singleton Marine Group & Blue Creek Marina for this one.

It was a class A event and really opened our eyes to a whole new realm of water sports.

Quick Links:

Singleton Marine – Blue Creek Marina

Slingshot Wakeboards

Axis Wakeboard Boats

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Main Street's Downtown Farmer's Market in Alex City

The Lake Martin area has a lot of great farms and farmers’ markets.  Many times these hidden gems don’t even have websites, much less a marketing machine to let the average visitor know they are there.

It’s a shame, too, because so many of these places epitomize the recent trend back to healthy, locally sourced, “farm to fork” food in restaurants and on the table.  Before the last couple of years, there was no way for the casual fan to help educate everyone else and share local hot spots with friends.

Enter Yelp.com

For those who haven’t heard about it, Yelp is a location based review service.  If you have a smart phone, you can access Yelp through an app as you are driving around.  If you are home or otherwise on a computer, access it via its website, Yelp.com.

Yelp lets you search for all kinds of local businesses – restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, retailers, even real estate brokerages like mine – they’re all there.  You can get details of the business’s location, hours, phone number, etc. But all of these are second to its most powerful feature – customer reviews.

You can also “check in” to places while you’re there, which leads to friendly competition among your fellow consumers and maybe even freebies from the business.

Yelp also lets users create lists, and this is what I am using to pinpoint local farms, food sources, and farmers’ markets around Lake Martin.

Oakview Farms is just south of Lake Martin. www.oakviewfarms.com

Click Here for my Local Farms / Farmers Market List on Yelp

As I drive around the lake, I will add these farms to my list, or take pictures and enter these farms if they’re not already on Yelp.  See – that’s another cool thing. If their business is not already on Yelp, you can take pictures, add tips, add them to Yelp, and draft a review, all on the fly.

So the next time you are hankering for some U Pick Blueberries, or organic eggs, or looking for wheat to grind, whip out your smart phone and check Yelp.  Check FourSquare, too. You don’t have a smart phone? Don’t worry.  Odds are, someone in your car does.

Have you found a farm or local produce grower in the Lake Martin area that’s not on my list?

Let me know!  I would love to add them!

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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!

Click here to view the embedded video.

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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.

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:

Fresh veggie aisle:

Lunch menu:

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.

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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.

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.

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:

From Downtown Alex City Shopping, Lake Martin

Note all the wrought ironwork:

each mini store is unique:

From Downtown Alex City Shopping, Lake Martin

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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:

Sales Office

Here is the future Catherine’s Market:

Catherine’s Market

And here is one of the future Springhouse Restaurant:

Springhouse Restaurant

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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.

GIVE YOUR CABINET A MAKEOVER:

Learn how to convert your entertainment armoire into a wardrobe.

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