Red Snapper World Championship

The third annual Orange Beach World Championship Red Snapper Tournament opened last Friday (April 21, 2006) in Orange Beach, Alabama to record crowds. The largest number of participants in a single day, a total of 1500, fished on opening day. And no wonder with cash prizes in the thousands. In fact the first prize winner will be awarded $25,000 and winners of second through sixth prize will receive a total of $36,000. In the event someone catches a new world record red snapper $500,000 will be given to that lucky angler. A Nissan Titan truck will be the prize for a new state record red snapper. I'd say these are pretty good incentives to buy a $5 ticket and pay for a deep-sea charter.

I was unable to attend the opening day events but one of my team members went out on a large charter boat, "Miss Celeste", from Zeke's Marina. He reports a fabulous day of fishing and photography. No one on that boat caught the largest fish of the day but he captured some shots of some large catches at the weigh-in at Zeke's Marina in Orange Beach. My plans before the tournament ends on May 21, 2006 are to visit the weigh-in station to view the exhilaration as the boats arrive with their big fish.

It really is exciting that our community hosts the world's largest bottom fishing tournament. Lots of media are present, both TV and various publication representatives, to report from the event.

Before the fun ends make your plans to visit the Alabama Gulf Coast and contact Meyer Real Estate for accommodations. You will be happy you found time to fish in this fun event or at least that you watched the fish arrive at the dock. Maybe you'll catch the big one and go back home with extra cash.

Water and Woods

With signs of spring surrounding us and summerlike weather in the high 80's and low 90's occurring lately it's very hard to sit at my desk and work. In my new office surroundings I can almost see the beach. It's two miles away but because of the larger condominium buildings in Gulf Shores (Alabama) being visible from my window it brings the coast closer to me. On any given day I ride along the waterfront on the way to a routine business meeting in Orange Beach (Alabama) and watch the waves lap at the shore. It definitely puts me in a peaceful state of mind. What I've done in the past, and should start again, is take my lunch to the boardwalk at the public beach in Gulf Shores. Just those few minutes gazing out at the waves and watching vacationers walking the beach is so refreshing. Day in and day out the scene changes either from a gulf so calm you could water-ski, to a rough wave day that is so awe-inspiring. Most days if you sit long enough dolphins appear in the waters just off shore. This is especially easy to see from the balcony of a condominium or even the deck of a beach house.

I really think I have the best of both worlds because the shore is so wonderful and inland just a few miles the residential areas are lush with greenery, flowering shrubs and trees. The woodlands in our county are so abundant. In fact an aerial view such as the one I experienced this past summer at the Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival brought this back to mind. At that Festival, because Meyer Real Estate was a Corporate Sponsor, I was privileged to ride in a hot air balloon and see first hand how the business and residential areas are just carved out of the woods. And the water, oh my goodness we have such an abundance of water throughout our coastal area not just the gulf waters but bays, bayous, lagoons, rivers and an intracoastal waterway.