It was a beautiful March day in Northeast Florida, so we decided it was time to showcase another of the four featured King & Bear golf course homesites in World Golf Village. Dottie Lay, Davidson Realty’s Top Agent for 2010, agreed to be the tour guide. Of course, we decided to start our outing with lunch on the veranda of the King & Bear clubhouse. You will see in the video we enjoyed an incredible view while we ate and chatted. Then, we headed over to the entrance of Heritage Cove, where our beautiful Heritage Oak greets the neighbors as they arrive home. I must admit we spent a few minutes swinging from its rope swing before we started the video! Next, we wandered over to the homesite we were featuring. It is at 3309 East Heritage Cove Drive (Parcel 15, Lot 4)
 
The homesite is situated on a short, private cul-de-sac with only eight lots on that end of the street. It offers panoramic vistas across the 10th and 12th fairways of the King & Bear golf course. You can also see a sparkling lake and the King & Bear Clubhouse in the distance. At night the lights from the clubhouse twinkle on the horizon, which is just beautiful! Views from the backyard extend over 2,000 feet. Personally, I believe this homesite offers one of the finest views in all of World Golf Village. The homesite contains 16,500 square feet (.38 acres) on a basic rectangle 110 feet wide by 150 feet deep. The homesite is offered at $165,000, which really is an amazing prize for such an amazing homesite! Please enjoy the video!

Our featured St. Augustine golf community resident for March is Steve Berry – the New York Times Bestselling Author! Most well known for the Cotton Malone series of thrillers, he has 12 million books in print – in 40 languages and 51 countries. Steve’s new book, The Jefferson Key, will be out on May 17th. He lives with his wife, Liz, in the King & Bear. Learn a little more about Steve…
 
1. Which moment from your life would you choose to relive if you could?
 Each of the three days my children were born.  It’s quite an overwhelming experience to see new life being brought into the world.

2. What historical time period would you most like to visit?
 The Tudor era.  What a fascinating time.

3. Who has inspired you as a mentor and why?
 The thriller writer David Morrell and Walt Disney.  Both are brilliant, ingenious, and master craftsmen. 

4. What’s the best way to spend a rainy weekend?
 Wandering around Christchurch, New Zealand would be pretty wonderful.

5. How do you define integrity?
 Doing what you say you’re going to do.

6. When you were young what did you want to be when you grew up?
 At first a priest, then a doctor.  Finally, a lawyer, and now a writer.

7. What’s your favorite book?
 HAWAII — by James Michener — because it was the first adult fiction book I ever read.

8. What are the redeeming qualities of the person you most dislike?
 Their determination (however misguided it might be)

9. Where would you choose to live if you had to leave this country?
Germany

10. What do you complain about more than anything else?
 The lack of time

Lions are not only kings of the jungle they also have reined as sentinels on the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, Fl. for close to 85 years. The lions were given as a gift to the city in 1926, by a close friend of Henry Flagler’s, Dr. Andrew Anderson and were sculpted by Romanelli studios.  They are copies of the pair that stand guard outside the loggia Dei Lanze in Florence.  Their names are Firm and Faithful.  The city recently celebrated their return to the bridge this past Tuesday.  They had been in storage for six years, where they underwent restoration while the Bridge of Lions was being re-built.

You can’t be a native of St. Augustine, FL and not be excited by their return.  Their Italian Carrera white marble stands out splendidly against the backdrop of the Matanzas Bay and the brilliant blue sky.  Even at night, the city’s lights reflect their majesty as you cross the Bridge of Lions, which joins St. Augustine with Anastasia Island.   

Spending a day in St. Augustine is always a treat, but getting to go downtown and see the lions returned to their rightful spot, makes you proud to call St. Augustine, FL, a city steeped in history, home!

I’ve taken my eagle vision for granted for far too long.  Goading my kid sister about having to wear glasses in second grade (I’ve matured since then).  Bragging to my own children that they are blessed with perfect vision thanks to great genes from yours truly.  So I guess it was just a matter of time before my obnoxiousness caught up with me. Blame it on good ole fashioned aging but my eyesight is starting to falter.  Small type gets blurry, especially towards the end of the day or when I’m trying to play Scrabble on my iPhone or, in fact, as I’m writing this blog in 11 point font.  For now my drugstore readers are fine but a proper eye exam is in my near future.  So, I asked around among my contact and eyeglass wearing friends about an eye doctor.  The hands-down recommendation was the Eye Center of St. Augustine.

Located at our very own West Town Place at World Golf Village, the Eye Center of St. Augustine is a full-service facility offering optometry and ophthalmology care.  The physicians of Eye Center specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of eye disease such as cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration and retinal disease. Physicians in the practice include Paul W. Hund, III, M.D.; Todd P. Thompson, M.D.; Patrick Hale, M.D.; Elizabeth K. McLeod, M.D.; Michael A. Dagostino, O.D., and Todd Hockett, O.D., FAAO.

We have two commercial parcels available for sale at special prices in our St. Augustine golf course community. One of the pieces of land for sale is at the main entrance to World Golf Village and the other is at the entrance to King & Bear at World Golf Village. There are many reasons why working at World Golf Village is attractive. For example, it is right off of I-95 with easy access to Jacksonville. In fact, it only takes 25 minutes to reach downtown Jacksonville from our interchange. To make it even better, it is an easy drive straight up the interstate without traffic lights or congestion. Of course, the people who already work at World Golf Village know other reasons that make working here wonderful. The attached video introduces you to a few folks that share the reason why they love working here – from the people to the amenities to the golf! Did I mention that only property owners may become members of our golf club – and owning commercial property counts! Let us know if you want all the info on what a golf membership includes. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the video!

Renowned worldwide for our courses – the King & Bear and Slammer & Squire – our World Golf Village community is one infused with golf. Davidson Development’s Vice President Rick Pariani who was instrumental in the design of World Golf Village, and Cathy Harbin, Director of Golf 20/20 World Golf Foundation, discuss the creation of golf in the “village.” This fascinating webinar provides a behind-the-scenes look at how World Golf Village’s esteemed courses were designed and built, including insights into the one-time-only collaboration of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

Click to view part 2 of this video

After being closed for almost a month for extensive renovation and upgrades, the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX theater re-opened at the end of January.  We are now proud to say that our St. Augustine golf course community is home to the largest IMAX Digital 3D screen in the Southeastern United States.  The WGV IMAX is also one of only five institutional theaters in the World, with this level of IMAX Digital technology.  In addition to a new digital 3D projection system, the new IMAX boasts a state of the art sound system and a new 60ft x 80 ft wide screen – that’s about six stories high!  I for one can’t wait to adorn myself with those polarized 3D glasses (that are made only for IMAX) and see one of the 3D movies.  I hear the glasses are most comfortable and they make you look smart – I need all the help I can get in that department!  All of this sounds rather technical – well it does to me anyway, but here’s the real deal; The WGV’s IMAX will now be able to run both 2D and 3D movies, including first run Hollywood Movies.  Harry Potter, here I come! My colleague, who has had the opportunity to see “The Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D” tells me – that (except for the fact that his pants were dry) he almost felt the waves were crashing down in his lap! 

Of course, all of this great technology does have it’s downside –Motion sickness!  I’ve been on those 3D rides at Disney – it’s great to feel like you are really there but my stomach doesn’t think so! After having said that, I absolutely love a thrill and I’ll be there the first opportunity I get!

Along with the renovation comes a great new IMAX website, which is absolutely first class.  To find out more information about film schedules and book tickets online, go to www.WorldGolfIMAX.com

It is late February as I write this – and it is also in the high 70s! The sky is blue and the breeze is light. All in all, it is a perfect day. It is the kind of day that makes one think of all the fun outdoor activities spring brings. Although many people in Florida golf year round, some of us just do it when the weather is beautiful and we need an excuse to spend three or four hours outside enjoying the day. Thinking about hitting the links again made me start to mentally review my golf wardrobe…what did I buy at the end of last season just because it was on sale? What did I buy many seasons ago that I need to stop wearing altogether? What fashion faux pas did I make last year that I really don’t want to repeat this year? All of this daydreaming about bad golf attire gave me an idea for a fun contest. Since I can’t be the only one that has some funky golf clothes (at least I hope I am not the only one!), we decided to ask everyone who has – or knows someone who has – a funny golf outfit to take a picture and email it to Peyton at pdavidson@davidsonrealtyinc.com between now and March 14th. We will post all of the photos on the World Golf Village Facebook page on March 15th for all the world to admire. Then, you have until March 21st to vote for your favorite. The winner will be announced on March 22nd and they will win a $100 gift certificate to the PGA TOUR Stop so they can buy a new fashionable golf outfit – or anything else their little heart desires! We hope you enjoy the wonderful world of bad golf outfits with us! For questions about the contest, just call Peyton at 904.940.5000. Good luck!

Thank you to PGA TOUR Stop for donating the gift certificate!