We have a serious soft spot for pets.  And we’re pretty sure you do too.  You might even think your pet is the cutest, most lovable, smartest and all-around most wonderful animal ever.  We get it.  In fact, we would LOVE to see how wonderful your pet is.  Whether your pet is truly adorable or only a mug a mother could love, we want your best photo.  Get ready.  Our Pet Photo Contest starts August 1st. The photo with the most votes will win a $100 gift certificate to Petco.

To submit a photo please email it to pdavidson@davidsonrealtyinc.com

I first started going to Carrie & Co. Hair Designers about six months ago because my friend with the best hair recommended it.  To be fair, her strawberry blond tresses with perfectly sunkissed highlights are something few of us can ever achieve. But she always has a great cut too and that is something we could all use. 

I’ve not been disappointed. Both Stacy and Carrie herself have given me great haircuts. So good, in fact, that I can “fix” my hair myself and make it look as good as the day I leave the salon.  (For those of you who know me personally, I acknowledge that I don’t make my hair salon perfect every day but I can when I really want to!)  Carrie & Co. is known for doing great cuts and color. Owner Carrie Leake explained, “One of the things that makes us different is that we truly customize color to the cut.  We charge clients on a per foil basis instead of just a half-head of color or full-head.  That way, I can give you just those couple of pops of highlights that will bring out your cut and suit your face and you’re not getting over charged.” 

Carrie & Co. has been open at W. Twincourt Trail (just in front of BP facing International Golf Parkway) for about a year-and-a-half and news has spread.  Now, Carrie is opening another location next to Starbuck’s in the Palencia shopping center.  The new boutique salon, called WOW! will focus on cut and color, and will open September 1^st.  Carrie will split her time between the two locations and Amy Jones, who was recently promoted to Senior Stylist, will be featured at WOW!

Every other month, The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village hosts a “Post for Prizes” contest on our Facebook page. It is a pretty simple contest. All you have to do is submit an answer to whatever the question of the month is. (My favorite question so far is, “What is your favorite line from Caddyshack?”) This month all you had to do was name one of the top 5 reasons the World Golf Village golf courses are the best. The person with the best answer wins a different prize each month. For July, Michael Stockwell gave the best answer and won a $100 gift card to the golf pro shop! Congratulations Michael!

Although all of the answers were wonderful, I was surprised that the chilled apples served on the 1st and 10th tees of both courses weren’t mentioned….Neither was the iced towels handed out by the player assistants on hot days or the GPS in every cart. I guess there are so many great things about the courses, we should have made it a top 10 list instead!  Here we go with the winning 5…

5. The WGV golf courses are core golf courses. The Slammer & Squire has no road crossings and the King & Bear has only one. Traffic never interferes with our play!

4. Both courses are maintained to the highest standards. The grounds crew is second to none!

3. Both courses boast the most beautiful natural setting imaginable! The courses meander under ancient live oaks and next to sparkling lakes.

2. The people who we get to play with – from our neighbors to our out-of-town guests – bring the course to life and make it incredibly fun!

1. And the #1 reason WGV golf courses are the best anywhere is our courteous & helpful staff! They welcome us with a big smile and a positive attitude ALWAYS!

Please feel free to add any reasons we missed! And watch for our next Post for Prizes contest in September…

World Golf Village residents won’t want to miss Dr. Joseph Joyner, Superintendent of Schools for St. Johns County, discussing important education topics and the outlook for our schools. The event is part of Davidson Realty’s Davidson Speaker Series on Thursday, July 29th at 7:00 p.m. There will be tons of great information for our Jacksonville golf course community parents!

During Dr. Joyner’s tenure as Superintendent, the St. Johns County’s School System has earned recognition as one of the best in the country. The county’s schools are number 1 on the FCAT scores, graduation rates have risen to 90.8%, and, year-after-year, the district earns an A rating.  Joyner has been the recipient of the Superintendent of the Year award and has served as President of the Florida School Superintendent Association.

Dr. Joyner’s presentation, “What Parents Want,” addresses both the successes and challenges facing the school system, budget concerns and how the community can help support its students and local schools.

The Davidson Speaker Series is a monthly event started by Sherry Davidson, President of Davidson Realty, Inc. so that local professionals could share their expertise with the community. Wine and cheese are served and the event is free and open to the public. For more information call (904) 940-5000. We hope to see you on July 29th in the Davidson Realty building for a wonderful presentation!

Never have we been happier to hear the hammers, electric saws, beeping trucks and other sounds of new construction!  Once again our St. Augustine golf course community is abuzz with new home activity. More than 40 new homes are currently under construction in World Golf Village. The new construction projects are spread throughout a variety of the master-planned neighborhoods. Says Sherry Davidson, president of Davidson Realty, the leading real estate agency for World Golf Village and surrounding St. Johns County communities, “This new home building activity continues a forward trend in construction we started to see at the beginning of 2010, and we expect the St. Augustine and Jacksonville FL real estate markets will continue to improve this year.”

Currently there are 13 homes under construction in The Cascades, the active adult retirement community. Sixteen homes are underway in Laterra Links, the high-end enclave of coach homes, and another 10 homes are under construction in Heritage Landing, the amenity-packed family neighborhood.  Also under construction are two custom homes in Oakgrove Estates and The Crest, respectively.  Davidson added, “We started seeing a recovery to the real estate market in late 2009.  In January 2009, there was not a single new construction project on the horizon, but we kicked off January 2010 with several different projects and the building continues.”

Royal Pines is a very special place to me – one where I spent my childhood and teen years. I still think of it as home and cherish all the memories I have of taking our golf cart around the Village with friends and swimming with my brothers and our black lab, Bella, in my parent’s pool. Now, I am lucky enough to make new memories in Royal Pines – watching my brother fish, my dad cook, and drinking champagne with my mom on our screened lanai while admiring our beautiful view of the lake as the sun goes down. You could say I’m a Royal Pines expert and I’m going to let you in on 5 things that make Royal Pines so unique:

1. Royal Pines is the only neighborhood with 5 foot sidewalks on both sides of the road
2. The community is surrounded by a 40 acre lake
3. Royal Pines is home to the developer of World Golf Village, the President of Davidson Realty, and 3 Davidson agents!
4. And, it’s home to a turn-of-the-century cast iron crane fountain
5. Each home within the Jacksonville golf course community has its own unique style

These Jacksonville golf course homes start in the $400,000s and builders featured are Rutenberg, North Florida Builders, Providence Homes, and The Vintage Group. 

While picking a builder or a previously built home is a monumental decision for the homeowners, it is not the most important element when all is said and done. You and your family are what makes your house a home and what makes Royal Pines such a special place to live!

You would have to live under a rock to not know about the “Twilight” mania that is going on in pop culture right now. The series of books by Stephanie Meyer’s were wildly popular, even before they were transformed into movies. As the third movie in the Twilight sage, “Eclipse”, hit theaters the furor hit an all time high! You can enjoy the romantic thriller in its full glory for a limited time at the World Golf IMAX movie theater with a six-story high screen! This makes it the largest IMAX screen in Northeast Florida and a great way to watch all of the action…

For those of you who don’t know, Twilight is a story about an ordinary teenage girl, Bella, who falls in love with an exotic vampire, Edward. Of course, this creates some unique challenges for their relationship. Their love is further complicated by the fact Bella also is in love with Jacob – who is a werewolf! (It should be noted she loves Edward the most though!)

This love triangle has created a rivalry between fans of the movies: Team Edward vs. Team Jacob. After watching Eclipse, I must admit I am on Team Jacob. Personally, I think he is cuter than the skinny and pale Edward. (I have to wonder if I am going to get nasty comments on this blog post now!) But I mostly side with Jacob because he is honest with Bella. Edward tends to “protect” her too much and this leads to controlling behaviour on his part…that is simply unattractive to me. Doesn’t this bother anyone else? And there is the small fact he is eventually going to take her soul away! Although I don’t think the movie will ever be nominated for an Oscar, it is a great way to escape for two hours or so!

Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how wonderful it was to simply ride our bikes to see this IMAX movie! When you live in The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village, the theater is practically in your own backyard. For more information about living in the best Jacksonville golf course community, visit Davidson Realty.

It takes a Village to win a contest. Congratulations to the all-female crew of Village People who won the World Golf Village “My Neighbor is the Best!” Photo Contest. We love them for their chutzpah, creativity and cuteness.  And apparently so does everyone else.

The winners are neighbors in the Jacksonville golf course community and have become great friends. The photo is from Halloween last year when they showed 10-year-olds everywhere how trick-or-treating is really done.  The ladies will share World Golf Village Fun Packs and a $50 gift certificate to Caddyshack where we hope they will toast macho men and women alike.  Ladies, our hats are off to you, that includes hard hats, cowboy hats, camo caps, bandanas and feather warbonnets.

When you look at a map of the greater World Golf Village area, ever wonder what all those curvaceous creeks are like?  Well, it is simple to channel that wonder into an easy exploration, for most of the larger creeks in our area are beautifully serene and old-Florida wild.
 
Two of the best creeks for a paddle excursion are right at the doorstep to the World Golf Village.  One of them, Six Mile Creek, forms the western boundary of the King & Bear and Heritage Landing neighborhoods.  Six Mile Creek, along with its sister, Trout Creek, flow into the St. Johns River at their confluence with Palmo Cove.  In the 1800’s both creeks enabled loggers to gain access to harvest prime timber and raft it out to the broad St. Johns River, eventually delivering it to the mills in Jacksonville.  Today, the creeks offer a pristine glimpse into the flora and fauna that so intrigued the Bartram’s during their discoveries in the late 1700’s.
 
For starters, I suggest a half-day of boating that will reveal the unique character and quality of both Six Mile Creek and Trout Creek, while providing a window to the St. Johns River’s majesty.
 
There are two ways to do my suggested trip.  For an out-and-back trip, try putting in at the St. Johns County Trout Creek boat ramp on SR 16 / SR 13 – paddling out from there and returning to the same location.  Optionally, you can set up a shuttle with one car at the Outback Crab Shack on CR 13 – that way you can put in at Trout Creek and take out at the Crab Shack (after your lunch or dinner – just tell Ms. Margaret, Joe or David that you are leaving your car, before you depart).