The most recent edition of Golf Digest ranked Kiva Dunes Golf Club as one of their Top 75 Best Golf Resorts In North America.  Courses from Hawaii to the Carolina's and everywhere in between are included on the list.  Kiva is ranked #60 in a three- way tie with Kuai Marriott Resort & Beach Club in Hawaii and the Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio.

Golf Digest has over 900 people who rate courses all over the US, Canada and Mexico for this list.  What an honor to have one of our own courses included in this prestigious list.

The Pepsi Star Series Concert Schedule for The Wharf Amphitheater, 2010

Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com

March 6- Saturday:  Rascall Flatts with Darius Rucker

March 13- Saturday:  Corey Smith with Randy Rogers Band

April 11- Sunday:  Tim McGraw with Lady Antibellum & The Lost Trailers

May 7 & 8- Friday & Saturday: Widespread Panic

June 26- Saturday: Jason Aldean

July 4- Sunday: Montgomery Gentry at Fourth at The Wharf

July 31- Saturday: Steve Miller and Peter Frampton

The Hangout located at the Public Beach area will be hosting The Hangout Music and Arts Festival May 14-16 from noon to 11 PM each day.

The artist lineup includes some of today's most popular musicians covering a broad range of tastes and styles.  Some of these artists include John Legend, Alison Krauss and Union Station, The Black Crowes, Gov't Mule, Zack Brown, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Michael Frante and Spearhead, Modisyahu and many others still to be announced.

Tickets can be purchased at The Hangout and all Surf Style stores from February 8 and after February 15 at www.hangoutmusicfest.com. 

A recent report from the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDE) out of Washington DC announced that the sugar sand beaches of Gulf Shores Public Beach received a perfect 5-star rating.  We were the only beach in the Southeast to receive this honor.

The annual report sutdies water quality, monitoring frequency by the city and public notification of contamination of beaches along the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf Coast and Great Lakes shores. 

The only other 5-star beaches in the US were Orange, CA, Worcester, MD, St. Louis, MN, and Rockingham, NH.

 Way to go Gulf Shores!

Mystical Order of Mirams Parade  on 2/12/10.  Parade begins at 6:30 PM starting at Wintzell's and ending at Ride Aid.

Gulf Shores Mardi Gras Parade on 2/16/10.  Parade begins at 10 AM beginning at Hwy. 59 from the bottom of the Intracoastal Canal Bridge to Main Beach in Gulf Shores.

Orange Beach Mardi Gras Parade on 2/16/10.  Parade begins at 1:30 PM beginning at Wintzell's on Perdido Beach Blvd. to Hwy. 161.

The Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitor's Bureau just released rental numbers for our area for the month of July.    The occupancy numbers were up 3% over July 08.  This is a real positive consider the fact that there were over 700 new units in the area rental pool this year.

The City of Orange Beach also reported an incresase in lodging tax over the same period in 2008.

The Wharf in Orange Beach hosted the Student Life summer camp which included more than 12,000 you.  The CVB assisted with finding housing for these visitors who also impacted occupancy and tax revenue.

May 2009- Governor Bob Riley signed the bill to allow for construction to begin on the new Gulf State Park hotel to be located on the spot where the original hotel was destroyed during Hurricane Ivan.

The Gulf State Park is one of our most lucrative state parks and the loss of the original hotel was a blow to the state and all residents along the Gulf Coast.  The loss of the convention facilites cost our area millions of dollars in tax dollars due to meetings lost to Missisippi and Florida. 

With the convention facilities at The Wharf as well as a new Gulf State Park hotel we should see a surge in convention business in our area.

The beautiful Alabama Gulf Coast has more than sugar sand beaches and incredible fishing to draw visitors now.  Sports has become a major draw for our area.  Venues include the Gulf Shores Sportsplex with a 3,000 seat football/track stadium, softball, baseball and soccer fields as well as the Orange Beach Sportsplex with a 1,500 seat soccer field, 5 softball, 4 baseball and 3 additional soccer fields.  Foley has also joined in with 2 city soccer fields, 3 softball and 2 baseball fields as well as a children's play area.

Recent events include a 60-team high school softball tournament and the SEC Women's soccer tournament, the Alabama Hich School Athletic Associationn's track and field championships has been held in Gulf Shores for the past 5 years.

The New York Times recently ran a great article praising the beaches of Gulf Shores & Orange Beach as one of the best places to live on the Gulf Coast.  It also includes quotes from many of our locals as well as some interesting statistics. 

Be sure to click the "More Photos" link below the lead photo for a great slideshow of some of our area's best features.

Due to the overwhelming numbers of tax bill adjustments for the 2006-2007 tax year, the State of Alabama has decided to re-appraise all property in Baldwin County for the upcoming 2007-2008 tax year.  This means that tax bills will not be mailed out to property owners in early October as has been the case in past years.  Right now they are expecting tax bills to be sent out at the end of December.

Please read the Mobile Press article by clicking the link below for more details.

March 6th will open the new softball fields at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex on County Road 6 in Gulf Shores.  In addition to the new softball fields, a new concession stand and sportscast tower were added. 

There will be a softball tournament to celebrate.

Check out the attached article for more details.

The Alabama Motorsports Park, A Dale Earnhardt Jr. Speedway, is still in the works for the Mobile/Prichard area.  After several months the developers have their permits and are getting closer to securing financing.

The facility will consist of a 7/10 oval with 75,000 seats, a kart track and road course as well as an RV park and amenities.

This project will be a real boost to the local economy, particularly in the Prichard area, but also here along the coast.  Visitors to the coast can easily drive over for a day of racing and still enjoy the beaches and vice versa.

Nolan's, the much loved and much missed local restaurant, will be reopening soon in a new location in Gulf Shores.  It will be in the Sawgrass Landing shopping center, next to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo.  All of everone's favorites will be back including their famous steer butt!

Nolan's was located on East Beach Boulevard for many, many years until Ivan destroyed the property.

The City of Orange Beach has approved re-zoning the gulf front property located just west of the Hwy 161 & Perdido Beach Blvd. from high rise condominium to hotel. 

Developers hope to be able to start construction quickly and open a 160 room hotel in 2011. 

Click the link to AL.com for additional information.

A recent poll announced that people are still taking vacations and still spending money in resort areas of the U. S. instead of traveling overseas or to the beaches of the Caribbean.  With all the great deals we have had along the Alabama Gulf Coast and the great efforts of our local Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitor's Bureau, we have continued to see visitors in our area.

Please take a moment to look at the statistics in the article online and see that not all the news out there is bad!

Some of you have been asking if our market is looking up.  Hopefully these videos will answer your questions and give you some valuable information.

Feel free to call us anytime you have questions about the real estate market along the beautiful Alabama Gulf Coast.