Real Estate Blog - December, 2017

Three Museums, Countless Experiences

Indoors, outdoors, little kids, big kids, history buffs … find a variety of options to keep engaged at the EarlyWorks Family of Museums. The “family” comprises three facilities in downtown Huntsville. Click here for the museum Web site.

EarlyWorks Museum

EarlyWorks Children’s History Museum at 404 Madison St. SE. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. This was the go-to place when my family first moved to Huntsville – in the middle of winter. We spent so much time here the boys knew exactly what they wanted to do each visit: haul up flags and feel the pelts aboard the keelboat, “blow up” the mine, play in the water in Biscuit’s Backyard, try on the 1800s clothing, climb aboard the wagon. A room can be booked for children’s parties.

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Huntsville’s Hometown Team – Huntsville Havoc

The Auburn-Alabama Football fan feud is one of both viciousness and camaraderie. Much, I am led to believe, like the bickering of siblings. It is mostly good clean fun…mostly. Regardless of which of our football teams you cheer for during the season, or lament the dragging days of their off-season their is no denying the importance of sports in regard to southern culture. While those are our two most recognizable teams in the state, we in the Rocket City have another team: The Huntsville Havoc. Hockey is not the most obvious choice in the south. It’s hot pretty much all off the time, and ours is more commonly a warm Christmas than a white Christmas, but that is what makes the Huntsville Havoc such an exciting experience. There are not many place in…

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Sweet or Savory? Edgar’s has something for Everyone!

The Christmas celebrations are done and now everyone is gearing up to celebrate the New Year. After large meals of turkey or ham with all the fixings, many people are ready for lighter fare. Edgar’s Bakery located at 472 Providence Main Street, Suite 100 in the Village of Providence in Huntsville has the perfect breakfast, lunch, and/or dessert.  

The location in the Village of Providence is the picture-perfect place to slow down, meet a friend to catch up with after a busy holiday. Their menu includes a wide selection: salads, soups, quiches as well as a full line of artisan breads, cupcakes, cookies, and cakes.  You will be sure to find a tasty treat to enjoy while in the bakery.  If you are still looking for a gift for someone that you haven’t…

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Checkout Downtown Madison by the Train Tracks

Downtown Madison makes for a fun afternoon near the Rocket City. Main Street, a  perfectly compact and quaint little strip alongside the train tracks, is anchored by Old Black Bear Brewing Company, and has a lineup of shops familiar to a small town lover: a cafe and a restaurant, a salon, a boutique, keepsake and antique shops, a sweets shop, and a fitness studio, among other tenants like an attorney’s office and artist studio. It’s a diverse group of businesses. Between retail therapy and a bite to eat, it can make for a fun afternoon close to Huntsville, all tucked away in the middle of Madison in under a tenth of a mile’s walk, if that.

Main Street Cafe has a menu that looks a little fancier than their name might suggest, some good outdoor…

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Madison Breweries

Previously I wrote for Rocket City Local about the by now regionally renowned beer brewing scene in Huntsville. There’s also a handful in Madison!

I myself haven’t hung out in Madison in years, having moved back home to the Huntsville area from New Orleans a couple of years ago. My wife Bridget moved here from Boston to work on Redstone Arsenal, and like the perfect social butterfly that she is, wasted no time getting to know the communal spaces to be enjoyed and Alabama ales to be quaffed. She’s been here five years, and has been to places in Rocket City I didn’t know existed.

“Old Black Bear and Rocket Republic are the two big ones,” she told me last week when I asked her about the Madison beermakers. Maybe I age myself saying stuff like this, but…

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Matt Curtis Real Estate Helps Habitat for Humanity Nicaragua

For every 100 homes sold by Matt Curtis Real Estate, the company donates one home to Habitat for Humanity Nicaragua.  So, if Matt Curtis Real Estate sells at least one home every 14 hours, that’s a lot of families getting a home south of our border!

“Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation’s compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain loving one another.” 

– Erma Bombeck

The History of Habitat for Humanity

Clarence Jordan first developed the idea of “partnership housing” along with Millard and Linda Fuller.  The team sought out families who lacked sufficient housing but who were willing to work with volunteers to build their homes.  The homeowners would acquire no-interest loans and some…

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5 Things to Try in the Rocket City in 2018

How about making a New Year’s resolution to try something new? Maybe you can overcome a fear, cross something off your bucket list, or just do something different with family or friends. Here are some ideas to get started. Who knows? You might do them more than once.

Solve Riddles to Escape

Solve mysteries like Scooby-Doo’s gang when you get locked in a room with a small group of people and search for clues to escape within 60 minutes. Two local venues offer a variety of themes, such as a stricken submarine, a devastating Internet virus, alien abduction and a murder aboard a train. This is a team sport of two to seven players, and guests can make reservations (required) with a full group or be paired with others (make new friends!). These games are…

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GrubSouth Makes Delivery Easy in The Rocket City

If you’re a Huntsville resident looking for food delivery options, GrubSouth is a must have app. Also available to use in your PC’s browser, GrubSouth makes ordering great food to your door as easy as it gets.

Easy ordering with GrubSouth

Indeed, their motto is “Eating just got easier”, and if you’re even barely tech savvy, you’ll have tasty noms from some of the area’s most popular restaurants in no time, whether you’re at home in the Rocket City, Madison, or Athens, at work on Redstone Arsenal, or at any of Huntsville’s hospitals, colleges, and businesses.

From Tropical Smoothie to Stanlieo’s Subs and Cajun Steamer to Anaheim Chili, upwards of 50 restaurants spread across town deliver to my address in Jones Valley. They’ve even started…

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Alabama and North Carolina Now Lone Contenders for Toyota Mazda Plant

Alabama has been named one of two finalists (North Carolina) to win approximately 4,000 new jobs projected to be created by the planned Toyota-Mazda plant, expected to be operational by 2021.

No news yet on a specific home for the plant in the event Alabama is chosen. Both of the Japanese automakers are asking for $1 billion in incentives from the winning state, which will have been selected from a list once including several other Southern states such as Florida, Kentucky, and Mississippi.

William Thornton of AL.com reported in November that the $1.6B facility will house production of Toyota’s Corolla and Mazda’s emergent line of hybrid vehicles. The plant projects to make 300,000 cars annually. 

Thornton has also reported on Alabama’s…

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Kitchen Remodeling for 2018!

As 2017 is ending many people are starting to get a head start on planning their remodeling projects for the new year.  For many Rocket City women, a new kitchen remodel is one of the top remodeling projects on the list. Here is a quick guide to the top trends for kitchen remodeling.

Under Cabinet lighting

If your kitchen seems a little dark, or if you like to be able to better control your lighting for candlelight dinners, under cabinet lighting might be a great addition to your kitchen.   This sounds like such a small change but can give you so much more control over your lighting.  When we moved to Huntsville, the kitchen in our log home was very dark.   We had under cabinet lighting installed, and it is by far my favorite feature of my…

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