Watch out bunny.  There’s a sly cat trying to move in on your Easter gig.  Congratulations to Buckaroo the Cat and his owner Lynn Whitley for winning our Easter Photo Contest.  The handsome feline edged out cute kids and adorable dogs for the grand prize.  We think his mini necktie sealed the deal, although his girth is impressive too.  From the looks of it, he may or may not share his $100 gift certificate prize to Kilwin’s with his owner. 

Thanks to everyone who participated!  Our photo contests are gaining steam and another is on the way soon.  So sharpen your claws!

I recently had the opportunity to see the new “Hubble” IMAX at World Gold Village as part of our Davidson Realty company outing. “Hubble” is the amazing story of what it takes to maintain the Hubble telescope and the incredible view of the universe that Hubble sends back to Earth.

From the very beginning, the Hubble had technical issues and since it was launched there have been several missions to improve the telescope. This movie mentions the previous missions to give people an idea of what it’s taken to maintain the Hubble, but focuses on the last mission to keep the Hubble in orbit. Large portions of the movie were shot by this Astronaut team. One of my favorite scenes was the shuttle launch, captured in the IMAX format makes you feel like you are sitting in the bleachers of Kennedy Space Center watching it live. The spectacular views of Earth from space are also incredible. It’s amazing to see how difficult the simplest task is for the astronauts working in their space suits; at one point the movie compares the delicate work of fixing the Hubble in a spacesuit to trying to do brain surgery wearing mittens.

Even though I’ve been on the WGV marketing team for almost a decade now, I’m ashamed to say I had never played the putting course at the St. Augustine golf community. So when friends asked me to last Thursday, I jumped at the chance! We met at 4:30 at the World Golf Hall of Fame and as soon as I realized I putt right-handed (even though I write left-handed) I did surprisingly well. This isn’t your average Putt-Putt couse after all!

This putting course is comprised of 18 greens that are maintained to USGA specifications. And the flags are moved daily – at least that’s what I heard! Because we wanted to catch the 6:00 PM “Hubble” IMAX movie, we decided to play “best ball”. The round of 18 took us about an hour, thanks to my friend Candy making a hole in one on the final green! We have a guest blogger writing a review of the movie next week so I won’t mention that the movie was fabulous and everyone should go see it!

Mark your calendars because this Sneak Peek Saturday is going to be a fiesta you don’t want to miss! Join us May 1st from 1-4 pm for an open house event in Heritage Landing at World Golf Village.  The theme is Cinco de Mayo and you can register to win a $100 gift card to La Nopalera, one of the best Mexican restaurants in town.  Make sure to try their pitchers of margaritas – they can’t be beat! 

Heritage Landing is a neighborhood full of fun! The amenity center, Camp Heritage, is a sight to see for any family looking for summertime fun. This clubhouse features an open air picnic pavilion, Jr. Olympic swimming pool, tennis courts, and an awesome water slide with a lookout tower that promises to entertain your kids for hours. The Camp Activity area offers horseshoes, volleyball, shuffleboard and more!

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know many of my blog post ideas come from casual conversations I have with the Davidson Realty team. (Well, conversations I either have or overhear!) This post is no exception. After the sales meeting on Tuesday, a few agents were talking about the ridiculously good deals on houses in St. Augustine, specifically at The Legends at World Golf Village.

Here’s a little background on The Legends…. They are a condominium community at World Golf Village that offers many private amenities for their residents, including a fitness center, putting green, tennis courts, clubhouse and two pools. It has a wonderful location near shopping and restaurants and is an “A rated” school district. Like much of WGV, it is only 20 minutes to the beach. Sounds pretty good, right?

So I wanted to learn more about the “ridiculously good deals” they had. Ashley Wood, one of Davidson’s agents, knows all about condos in St. Augustine and she lives in The Legends so I asked her for the inside scoop. She explained there are two builder closeouts that are available right now for around $50,000 each. Can you believe that? A WGV condominium for $50,000! I’m not a Realtor, but if you do a little quick math and assume you put 20% down and get a 6% rate on a 30-year fixed, your loan payment would be under $240 a month! That’s simply a crazy good deal!

If you want to learn more about The Legends and all of the opportunities they have there, contact Ashley.

The morning of March 17th, a couple hundred of us gathered at the west end of the Bridge of Lions for the re-opening of the Bridge. It was raining. It was also raining in 1927 for the original opening ceremony. But, the rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of those of us attending. We were all there to participate in the history of the moment and to honor those who fought to renovate the bridge instead of tearing it down and building a modern bridge. The Save Our Bridge committee led a community wide battle that ended with the commitment of the city and the state to renovate.

The nationally circulated trade magazine for commercial landscape and development, Landscape Architect and Specifier News, selected the Davidson Companies’ headquarters building at the gateway to World Golf Village as its February, 2010 showcase project.  The magazines choose the Davidson building as the cover feature based on the storyline and pictorial beauty portrayed in the project submittal.  Working from the materials and script produced by the Davidson Companies, the magazine’s editor emphasized the project’s “people-friendly” characteristics and gracious business environment.  The fusion between the building’s indoor spaces and its outdoor rooms fascinated the editor, who displayed, in the article, all of the intriguing design elements that distinguish the building.

As one of World Golf Village‘s featured builders and a company that continues to innovate in home design, we were eager to learn more about local home builder Providence Homes.  Despite a challenging real estate market, Providence continues to keep moving forward.  In 2009, Providence ranked second in production of detached single-family homes in the Jacksonville area. Providence Homes are featured in the family-friendly enclave Grovewood in World Golf Village’s King and Bear. Last week we talked with Providence Homes’ Director of Marketing Mike Fox. 

The time has come to send us photos of your Easter best! We want to see it all: pastels, bonnets, costumes, bunny ears and cotton tails! Man, woman, or child – even pets are welcome! We want to reward the photo you’re most proud of or embarrassed by with a $100 gift certificate to Kilwin’s Choclates & Ice Cream and that will buy A LOT of chocolate! 

We are collecting photos now, so send em’ over to pdavidson@davidsonrealtyinc.com and they will be posted on April 5th for the voting to begin. Our Facebook fans will decide the winner, who will be announced on April 15th. Make sure to get all your friends and family to vote for your photo to help you win! You just have to be a fan of the page to vote.  Let’s get the Easter fun started!

The World Golf Village neighborhoods of Turnberry, Royal Pines and St. Andrews welcome “sneak peekers” on April 3rd with all the heralds of Spring, from blooming flowers to chirping birds and, of course, an array of lovely homes.  Treats will be served during the open house event from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and visitors may enter to win an brunch for two  at the Renaissance Resort in WGV.

Each of these family-oriented neighborhoods offers its own distinctive ambiance and advantages.  Turnberry features homes in the $200,000s and homesites that make the most of its beautiful lakes and nature preserves.  Families enjoy lots of “play” time at the neighborhood swimming pool, basketball court and gathering room.  At Royal Pines, handsome custom homes start in the $400,000s and feature distinctive architectural details and elegant designs. Royal Pines residents have access to all the amenities of World Golf Village, as well as their own neighborhood park with a turn-of-the-century crane fountain.  An intimate enclave of 64 patio homes, St. Andrews offers low-maintenance living without any sacrifices. Starting in the $200,000s, the homes at St. Andrews are idyllically situated around a lake and residents enjoy a lakeside pool.