It’s a high of 80 degrees today and my kids want Nancy’s  Italian Ice – blue Italian ice to be exact.

I do too!

If you haven’t been to this great little sweet shop in the Winn Dixie/Sturbridge shopping center on Vaughn Road, you need to go.  Nancy’s passes our test for 3 reasons:

1) It really tastes good (the kids will eat all of it).  The Italian ice comes in fruity flavors, plus, there’s gelato (like a dense ice cream), soft serve ice cream, and baked goods like cookies and cupcakes.  Someone under 6 at our table immediately ate the icing off the cupcake we bought (imagine that) so I didn’t get a lick of icing, but the cake was more like a pound cake than a regular cake = excellent!!  The baked goods are made in the store each morning.

2) It is reasonably priced.   We don’t like taking out a loan to go to the ice cream shop.  At Nancy’s, the kid’s “little owl” cup is $0.99.  The servings are huge. You get a lot of mileage out of a trip with prices like that.

3) It’s a locally owned, family business.  It’s fun to support them.  And from what we gathered on our last trip, a lot of Montgomery families are also having fun supporting them!  The after-school traffic was steady, and it was nice to gather and visit with friends.

Thanks, Nancy’s, for adding some more local flavor to east Montgomery!

If you’d like to find a home near great restaurants and shops like Nancy’s, give us a call.  We can show you any property in the Montgomery Area MLS, and it costs buyers nothing to have a Realtor on your side!

I took a fun tour of the new Wilson YMCA in the New Park neighborhood of East Montgomery today.  For those of you who have yet to see it, I’ve posted a few pics below.

Where I grew up, the YMCA wasn’t a huge program, but the YMCA in Montgomery is a big part of daily life.  There are 15 locations in the River Region offering facilities for group exercise, athletic fields, water parks,weight rooms, gymnasiums – and the list goes on.  A lot of youth sports (football, soccer, basketball, etc.) are played through the YMCA, and childcare (”Childwatch”) is offered at some locations.

So what’s the new Wilson facility like?  The first distinguishing factor is that it is part of the new development, New Park, off of Ray Thorington Road.  It is right behind the new Wilson Elementary School, and shares its gym with Wilson students during the morning hours.

Right now it has a gym, a weight room, a group exercise room (one class per day, M-F), and a Childwatch area.  It sits on 16.5 acres so there is room to expand – in the lobby are the site plans for other phases of development that include a pool and water park area.

Childwatch hours at the Wilson Y are 8:30-10:30 am and 4:30-7:00 am.  You can let your young children play in this area while you exercise. Y basketball teams are meeting in the gym on weeknights for practice.

One of the reasons the YMCA is such a big deal in Montgomery is the membership fee:  a family membership costs $59 a month ($100 sign up fee), and members can use all 15 facilities.  Members pay only 1/2 of the registration fee for sports programs, too.

For more information about a YMCA membership, go to ymcamontgomery.org.

In case you misplaced your flier, here are the Montgomery County, AL, monthly clean-up dates.  On the last Saturday of each month, you can dispose of that large stuff you’ve been wanting to get rid of, but won’t fit in your trash can for regular, weekly pick up.

Yes!  So long broken basketball goal that has been sitting behind my fence for a year and a half !  The flyer says there will even be workers at each site to help you unload the stuff you bring.  Won’t it feel great to kiss that pile of junk goodbye (in a legal and responsible way)!

(This service is REALLY helpful to those who move into a different house in 2010 – if you’ve moved recently you know the kinds of stuff you are left with . . .)

All locations will be open  from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.

Here are the DATES (again, these are the last Saturdays of each month of 2010):

January 30, February 27, March 27, April 24, May 29, June 26, July 31, August 28, and September 25.

Here are the LOCATIONS:

Hope Hull: Vacant grocery store at railroad tracks (Wasden Road)

Mount Meigs/Pike Road:  Belser Blvd. in Bridle Brook subdivision OR County Lot Office across from The Feed Lot

Pine Level:  Pine Level Park (across from Sikes and Kohn)

Pintlala: Pintlala Elementary School

Ramer:  Transfer Station (County Road 12, Hickory Grove Road)

For more details about exactly what can and cannot be unloaded (toxic waste, items with freon, etc.) click here or call (334) 832-1210.

For those who live within the Montgomery city limits, your bulk trash is collected every 1st and 3rd Saturday from 9:00 am – 2:30 pm at city Public Schools.  Call (334) 241-2750 or click here for more info.

One of my favorite things about having kids in Montgomery, AL, is the presence of kid’s clothing/toys/gear consignment sales like Kids Carousel. These sales are usually twice a year (spring/summer and fall/winter) and are HUGE: think hundreds of consignors and locations like Garrett Coliseum.

So what’s the deal?  Do people really buy other people’s used stuff? YES!  Do consignors really make money at these sales? YES!!

For those of you who have never been to one of these events, here’s how it works:

1) You can simply come and shop during public shopping days.

2) You can consign items and shop early.  There is usually a minimum number of items you must consign (15) in order to be a consignor.  Log onto the website, enter your gently used items, and print out tags.  Bring your tagged items during the “check in” days before the sale and get a priority shopping pass.  You are now part of a select group that gets to shop early AND make money from items you sell!

3) You can volunteer to work a few shifts during the sale and shop even earlier.  Workers must be consignors, and receive “payment” for their time by getting to shop before the consignors.  Volunteer requirements are varied, so check each sale’s website for specifics.

Again – these sales are huge (hundreds of consignors at each, with a minimum of 15 items to consign), and they don’t take junk.  You’d be hard pressed to find better deals on all sizes of kids’ clothing, baby gear, toys, shoes, furniture, etc, so check one out.

Kids Carousel has a spring/summer sale coming up next month at the old Sam’s Club building across from Best Buy on the Eastern Blvd. “Take-In” days are Feb.13-22, and the sale runs from Feb. 27 – March 6.  To consign, click here for the Kids Carousel website or call Stacie at (334) 286-4689.

When you get that check after the sale, you’ll be ready to start tagging for the next one!

One of the benefits of Pike Road living is its rural landscape.  Sure there are neighborhoods and the local CVS, but there are also fields and ponds, woods and creeks.

A future network of nature trails will showcase that beauty and connect the communities of Pike Road.  These trails will accommodate “walkers, joggers and bicyclists as well as horseback riders” (Town of Pike Road website). The Pike Road community encompasses a LOT of land, and the trail will be a way to begin to connect these areas.

A $700,000 grant has been approved to begin the project, and Pike Road has purchased property for the trail head and trail end. It’s an Alabama Department of Transportation grant program, and will take some time to complete.

According to the Town of Pike Road website, the first 14.7 miles of the trail will run from Highway 231 to Flowers Road. I don’t have specifics, but according to my google map, this is the general area below (Hwy 231 runs up the middle of the map, with Flowers Road at the red marker):

I can’t run all 14.7 miles at once (yet!), but since East Montgomery isn’t known for its mountainous terrain, at least I stand a chance with the first 5.  We’ll update you when the trail is ready for action.

To read more about the Town of Pike Road, see their official website, and see more posts from the Pike Road section of our blog.

The Town of Pike Road invites the public to its Candlelight Christmas service at 6:30 on Tuesday, December 22, 2009. The service is held annually at The Meeting House on Chapel Hill in The Waters.

If you’ve never been to The Waters, or are interested in the community life in Pike Road, this would be a great event to attend.  It’s a picturesque development year-round.  I can imagine it is beautiful during the holidays.

For more picture of The Waters development, click here

Santa is making a stop this Tuesday from 5:30-7:30 pm at the Deer Creek Clubhouse!   There will be cookies and face time with St. Nick, plus, the Deer Creek Women’s Association will be collecting unwrapped gifts for The Family Sunshine Center.

One catch:  it’s for residents of this east Montgomery, AL neighborhood only.  Since it’s a pretty big neighborhood, there are two “shifts.”  Check the homeowner’s website to see if your family goes at 5:30 or 6:30pm.

As a former Deer Creek resident, I can say that the homeowner’s association does a great job of  providing fun, family- friendly holiday entertainment – year round (Easter, Halloween, 4th of July).  So if you live in Deer Creek, take a minute and drop by.

If you’re looking for a home in the Deer Creek area, let us help you!  It costs buyers nothing to have a Realtor do the legwork for you!

Farmhouse Kitchen in the Town of Hampstead in Montgomery, AL, is a gem of a restaurant. We knew it had a good chance of being cool simply because it’s part of this unique East Montgomery development, but what about the food?

We ate dinner there last night and it exceeded our expectations.  Here are 4 reasons we love Farmhouse Kitchen:

1) Staff – This has to be #1 on our list because the service and hospitality were excellent.   We ate as part of a large group, but the servers and staff took care of our every need with ease.  I even got a hug when we left!  It’s not contrived hospitality – it’s the real deal.

2) Food – We tried the shrimp and grits, and it was fabulous.  Easily one of the best renditions of this dish we’ve had.  The skillet cornbread that’s brought to the table before the meal was fought over, and the homemade vanilla ice cream on top of our pecan pie was far better than any we’ve made in our own ice cream churn.

Fresh tomato, cucumber and onion with vinaigrette

Shrimp and Grits in a HUGE bowl

Chocolate cake

3)  Atmosphere – Open and casual, you would not mind bringing your kids for lunch or dinner.  The decor is simple and comfortable, but not hokey or contrived to be “country.”  It serves a purpose and does not get in the way of the experience (which is the food).

4)  Location – If you haven’t been to Hampstead, head south on Taylor Road and take a tour.  We had fun walking the main street and enjoying the architecture before the rest of our group arrived. It’s definitely an escape from the strip mall experience.  We both commented that it would be fun to live in Hampstead and have a great place to eat within walking distance.

Forget chain restaurant, greasy, “country” cooking.  Farmhouse Kitchen is more like eating at your grandmother’s. And the service is just as good!

For a menu and hours of operation, click here.

It’s already scorching in Montgomery, AL.

It’s the second day of summer.

How does a family survive?

Here are a few ideas for free (or very cheap) ways to keep your kids entertained this summer while NOT suffering a heatstroke.

Public Libraries: Where are they and what special events are going on?  Here’s a link to library summer events next week. Check back with local branches for more activities. Storytellers, singers, art – sounds fun.

Kids’ movies at The Capri: Every Thursday and Friday at 10 am and 1 pm, you can take your kids for just $1 a ticket.  Click here for their summer schedule, and get there a little early because it fills up quickly.

Kids’ movies at the Rave: Similar to the Capri, but FREE!  Click here for the summer roster.  They’re showing free kids’ movies every Tuesday and Wednesday at 10 am for eight weeks this summer.  Like The Capri, no reservations are taken, so show up early to get a seat.

Artworks Gallery at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts: Air conditioned, fun, room to wiggle – all good things in 100 degree weather.  There is a box for donations at the front door of the museum, but there is no entrance fee. It’s a large, interactive space for kids to explore art with their families.  You can spend hours . . . click here for more info.

Riverwalk Splashpad: Located in the Riverwalk amphitheater park in downtown Montgomery, the splashpad is (for lack of better terminology) a large play area with water shooting out of the ground.  Like a big fountain.  Although this is not an air conditioned venue, it’s wet and FREE, and anyone can use it (although sometimes it’s closed for private parties.  Open until 7 pm everyday.  Click here for address and phone number.

I’m sure there are some I have overlooked, so feel free to add to the list by commenting below.  Good luck staying cool and saving money this summer!

I have a great home for sale in Sturbridge.  I took my real estate assistant over there to put out some more flyers today and encountered my first lemonade stand of the summer:

I wasn’t surprised to see one here. Sturbridge is a great neighborhood in east Montgomery, one with an apple pie, American feel.  Kids ride their bikes around there.  Moms power walk. Teens play ultimate frisbee in the “green space.”

What I was surprised about was how good the lemonade was.  It was actually like a limonada – sort of a blended, Icee consistency, with just the right amount of sweet and sour.  Worth every bit of the 75 cents and 25 cent tip.  What’s up? Do the kids in Sturbridge have some sort of secret recipe? I will return to that one.

Even though I am one of the cheapest humans alive, I will always stop at a kids’ lemonade stand.  It is free enterprise in action. It fires me up that capitalism is alive and well, no bailouts in the lemonade stand industry, no sir.

While I’m on the subject, let me point out one more great reason to stop a lemonade stands: Make A Stand – Montgomery’s own Pat & Elizabeth Adams are involved with this effort to bring awareness and raise money to fight pediatric brain cancer.