Lake Martin Voice Realty
Someone Left Me This Note On My Truck Today
Today I took my kids to eat lunch at Chappy’s Deli in Peppertree Shopping Center. We had a great lunch and it was fun to be “off” of work. However, I guess I ruined someone else’s fun today, because when I got back to my truck, I found this note tucked under the wiper:
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I guess I should be thankful there was no cursing. Actually it was pretty polite (see “please”). It is way too nice to submit to a site like PassiveAggressiveNotes.com.
Here is my parking job, the shadow hurts the shot but you can see the offending entry on the white line:
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Here’s a shot from directly in back. Snoopy is right, I broke the barrier:
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The irony is not lost on me that normally this time of year, Snoopy’s in a great mood. He’s on TV a lot, doing Christmas specials, etc. But here he is back to his dejected position on the dog house, looking straight up at what the person had to write. Clearly, I have disappointed him.
I would like to say to this person: I was wrong. I did a bad job parking there. Please know I will pay more attention in the future.
And….. Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!!
Lake Martin BBQ Fans – Check Out The Red Hill Cottage Cafe
Cotton’s BBQ has some competition.
Last week I ate at the Red Hill Cottage Cafe with my fellow Lake Martin realtor John Christenberry. He had been there before, and claimed that their barbecue was as good as Cotton’s. I laughed at him and accepted the challenge.
Verdict:
John was right, it is really good. Apparently their angle is that they cook everything on Green Egg Grills. They are also distributors for the Green Egg and you can get related supplies there, as well as a bunch of other lake home decor and furniture. It all looked nice, but I was there on a mission for Q.
I am an admitted stickler for good BBQ, therefore I am really tough on Q restaurants. The Red Hill Cottage Cafe passes easily.
Method: As stated before, they cook on Green Egg Grills, so that means their Boston butts are directly suspended over the coals. The good thing about this is that when the fat is rendered out, it drips down into the coals, sizzles, and returns as flavor bombs that return to the butt. Yum.
Presentation: I ate a sandwich, and the meat was of the pulled persuasion as opposed to Cotton’s that chops. No judgement here, to each his own. But I do think that the pulled method helped Red Hill expose the fabulous job on the meat.
Sauce: The sauce was good. Tomato based, sweet yet not overwhelming. They also did not put too much on it to hide 
the meat. That’s one thing I don’t understand about some places, they purportedly spend 12 hours cooking the meat and then smother it in sauce that they cooked in 30 minutes. Personally I like Cotton’s tomato based sauce better. One suggestion – I wonder how good Red Hill’s pulled pork would fare with a vinegar based sauce that can penetrate every nook and cranny on that sandwich? Plus they would be the only ones in the area with a vinegar based sauce.
Cost: It was cheap. $2.95 for a sandwich. Every lunch gets free dessert. I would say that the same meal at Jim N Nicks would be $15 pre-tip and it would not be 1/2 as good.
The Last Word: Great – a welcome addition to the list of Lake Martin restaurants. Their barbecue is so good that I wonder why they do anything else. It is every bit as good as Cotton’s, and for me that is saying a lot. I think they will benefit each other, because they all help traffic, which helps all area restaurants. In fact, Red Hill, along with Green Valley, Cotton’s, and Catherine’s, are worthy foils to the east side eateries of Niffer’s and another of my prime favorites – Oskar’s. But thankfully Red Hill’s menu is different enough from each of them that I think all can peacefully coexist. Johnny G’s, however, had better step it up.
Where: The Red Hill Cottage (I guess it’s the name of the decor store) and Cottage Cafe are located on Alabama highway 229, just south of the intersection with Highway 50, by Castaway Island Road. Official address is 4068 Red Hill Road, Tallassee. Phone is 334-857-2233.
When: According to their menu, they are open 7 AM to 7 PM Wednesday through Saturday.
What: DOWNLOAD RED HILL’S MENU HERE – they serve a lot more than BBQ. Even breakfast. In fact, I went back the day after the Q meal and ordered 2 smoked turkey sandwiches, 1 smoked ham sandwich, 3 bags of chips, 3 co-colas, and got 3 free desserts (nanner pudding, bread pudding, and strawberry cobbler). My bill total was like $15 pre-tip. Not bad, and the sandwiches were great – a worthy “chick option” to the Q.
Hey Reader – what’s your take? Leave a reply below and let me know about your experience! If you don’t see the “Leave a reply” below this, click on the word “Comments” and leave one so we can all benefit.
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 |
Lunch At Willow Point – Lake Martin
A couple of Sundays ago found us at Willow Point eating lunch to celebrate my Moms birthday. We ate lunch in the Willow Point Clubhouse, which overlooks the golf course, and of course, Lake Martin. I had my camera with me, and it was such a beautiful day, I thought to take a few photos.
Why do most Lake Martin lovers wait until Memorial Day to come to the lake? Beats me. Springtime has great weather “ plenty of sun and temps in the low 70s. What a beautiful day. Enjoy:
Willow Points 18th green:
Willow Points Driving Range:
The tee box on number 10, one of the holes that play along Lake Martin:
Willow Point Villas (available for rent by members):
The Pool & Cabana:
