THE Ormond Beach Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!" It's been a while since I blogged about the Daytona Beach area cultural scene, and I think it's time I got back to it. This post is about the Surf Exhibit that is currently on display at the Ormond Beach Memorial Art Museum. (The link to the display will change with each exhibit) This exhibit's featured artists are... Marc Barrett Marlyn Catlow Christine Colby Chaz Daugherty Sandy Fraser Dave Hettel Kenny Miller Melissa Miller Nece John Peccio Paul Prewitt Albert Shelton Joulia Vitaliy Also on display in this exhibit, you'll find some rare photos, uncovered by the Volusia County Beach Services. These fascinating pieces of history depict the earliest decades of life guards on our beaches. During t... 07/08/2008

I have been trying to get out of doing this. I was tagged by Midori Miller and she keeps asking if I did my Super 8 MEME, so here it is... 1. Who is your favorite musical artist (post a YouTube Video): This is really a hard one for me. It really depends on the day and the mood. I have to say that I love the classics; The Beatles, Elton John, Pink Floyd, etc... but then I may feel a little mellow like James Taylor, Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlin but then I may feel more like the blues with ALO, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan or maybe even a little poppy with Jon McLaughlin, The Goo Goo Dolls, Sister Hazel, One Republic, Colbie Caillat. Obviously I am confused here. My favorite right now has to be John Mayer. 2. Who is your favorite artist? (Post a Flickr photo) I would have to say Salvad... 06/19/2008

Ormond Beach Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!" Hello Ormond Beach residents, and a warm welcome to all of you who are interested in buying real estate in Ormond Beach. We always welcome new residents as well! This Friday, May 30, come to the north lawn of The Casements and enjoy Irish folk songs from the group called "The Pickin' Kind". This sounds like great fun to me! Just don't forget your lawn chair! Unless of course, you feel like dancing a little jig all night... but if you do, can I have some pictures? I'm sure everyone reading this post would like to see your jig. LOL Visit the page on my real estate web site, about Ormond Beach to get more information about this fun-filled evening with tickets costing only $2.50! You can't beat that! If ... 05/29/2008

05/26/2008

Lets All Remember Those Who Gave Their All!!     The Arizona Memorial      My husband and I were very blessed to be able to go to Honolulu a few years ago, and while we were there we when to Pearl Harbor. I was raised to know what Memorial Day stands for, but after visiting the Arizona Memorial I have a whole new perspective about this day, this day that was intended for us to remember and honor those that gave their ALL for us. So we can live in a country were we have freedoms that we don't even think about, that we often abuse and don't appreciate, and almost always take for granted.                                                                          Arlington National Cemetery I think back to those who fought for our freedom from; England, France, Spain, and then the freedom for... 05/25/2008

My Uncle passed away in Ormond Beach in February.    I did a post on that earlier. My sister and I arrived there as soon as we could to say our good-bys and do the family thing of looking for photos, memories and papers. A month later we learned:  Much to our surprise, we inherited the house because my brothers & sisters & I are the closets living relatives.  This "forced" us to go to Ormond Beach again prepare the house. Those of you who follow my posts know that I specialize in Estate work here in Michigan.  The process usually takes a few weeks with my team to organize, have an estate sale or donate to charity and prepare the house by staging. This time, we had to look for all the items that a PR looks for, donate, clean and stage in ONE week. We intended to hire out the cleaning and... 05/24/2008

THE Ormond Beach Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!" If you're interested in buying real estate in Ormond Beach, please allow me to say "Welcome!" I hope I can help. But for now, please allow me to provide you with some information about this fabulous city, and even Volusia county! I'm a native and would love to help you with your real estate needs.For all you history buffs out there, here's a great way to spend your Saturday. If you're in or near Ormond Beach Florida this Saturday, April 26, 2008, you may be interested in a lecture at the Anderson-Price Memorial Building at 42 North Beach Street in Ormond Beach. The Anderson-Price Memorial Building is a piece of history itself, built in 1916 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ... 04/25/2008

 The Mickey Jones 2008 Bikes & Blues for St Jude Children's Research Hospital events last weekend were a huge success! We don't have a finally tally of the event totals yet, but I can tell you that we passed last years amount of $37,500! We could not have done this without the help of our all of the sponsors that stepped up to the plate to make our events as successful as they were and I would like to give them each a little recognition. Where better to that then right here on Active Rain and Localism? In no particular order, here are some very special people and companies from Volusia & Flagler Counties and even beyond that I am very proud to be associated with:Cancun Lagoon Bar & Grill  Ocean Waters LLC  Grand Seas Resorts  Daytona PennysaverAzinger Golf  The Iron Horse Saloon  WHTQ 9... 04/11/2008

If you're visiting Ormond Beach this weekend, or thinking about buying real estate in Ormond Beach, I have an excellent way for you to familiarize yourself with the city. The Ormond Beach Historical Trust will be hosting Trolley Tours this Sunday at 1:15. Just be sure to call first and make your reservation! The cost for the Trolley Tour is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors over 65, and $5 for children ages 5-12. The tour will be originating in the Casements parking lot. When you call for your Trolley reservation, you might want to ask about a tour of The Casements, which was at one time, the winter home of John D. Rockefeller. Just follow the link to read more about that. To make your reservation for the Trolley Tour, and to ask about The Casements tours, call 386-677-7005.And if you're ... 03/29/2008

Friday, March 7th arrived bright and beautiful ~ however we were under a tornado watch at 7AM and we had a strong weather front due to move through sometime in the afternoon. Our guests had gone back out the night before, we weren't going to wake them up, we'd let them play on their schedule.Our original plan was to go to a Motorcycle Swamp Meetat the Daytona Flea Market. As the morning wore on and we watched the front approach, we decided to keep it close to home. Our guests needed Iron Horse shirts so we'd run over there and see how things went. I checked the radar and the storms seemed a good two hours away as we left the house, well no sooner did we park our bikes at the Iron Horse then the heavens open up with lightning tearing across the sky...   Here ~ see for yourself! Oh, the I... 03/13/2008

Steve and I took a four day weekend this year instead of our normal 3 days. We had company from out of state and this way we could spend some time with them during the day. Thursday, March 6th was beautiful as far as the weather went. Once again we headed to the Broken Spoke to see Big Mike and Ms. Em and listened to a set of some fin Biker Blues.          Big Mike was celebrating the release of his new documentary, Iron City Blues. Its about a town in TN with "No Law" "No Order". He went to Iron City to find out more about it and brought a film crew with him. It's an award winner and a pretty good short film. I've watched it twice :) Go to Ironcityblues.com for more info                                             After we left the Broken Spoke we headed south to our local hangout with... 03/12/2008

Things are back to normal around Volusisa County after a semi decent Bike Week. Hotels didn't do so well I hear, they weren't booked to capacity this year. I heard stories that folks just couldn't afford to come down due to the cost of heating oil up north and high gas prices. Steve and aren't the type of people that like crowds so we stay away from Main Street, our out town guests did spend some time down there tho, and they had a great time.My first day of Bike Week I spent at the Broken Spoke with Big Mike Griffin, his lady Ms. Em and the band. I really enjoyed myself, the weather was great and it was neat watching his fans interact with him. Fun was had by all!          Big Mike with one of his long time fans                   You don't have to look far to find some Coyote Ugly Styl... 03/11/2008

Jeff Healey, self taught guitaist, singer, and blues icon was stricken with Retinoblastoma at the age of 1 and lost his eyesight.  He lost his fight to this cancer over the weekend. He is already missed by his fans and friends he has made around the music industry.The Jeff Healey Band had a huge hit back in the 80s with Angel Eyesand Jeff also appeard as Cody in the movie "Road House"with Patrick Swayze, Ben Gazzara and Sam Elliot. What does that have to do with a post on Localism or Active Rain? As some of you know I belong to the Mickey Jones Bikes And Blues Committe to benefit St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, Retinoblastoma is one of the many childhood cancers the good folks at St Jude are trying to cure. Retinoblastoma represents only about 2% of the malignant childhood cancers... 03/04/2008

THE Ormond Beach Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!" Daytona Beach real estate is finally going green! Well, actually, it’s Ormond Beach.ICI Homes has a “green” community on Granada Blvd., (aka Hwy 40) in Ormond Beach that is now in phase 2. It’s Chelsea Place. The sales staff was nice enough to take me on a tour and show me a video of how these homes are different than homes of the past. Yes, I’m saying “homes of the past” because it won’t be much longer, that buyer’s are willing to settle for the old way of doing things. And why should they buy real estate that doesn’t come with an Energy Star® Rating in one of these green, or as ICI is calling, “E Factor” homes, is coming with a guarantee from Florida Power and Light (FPL) that if their heating ... 03/03/2008

Some of you know that I am a committee member for the Bikes And Blues With Mickey Jones events that benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Big Mike Griffin is also one of our members!  Being on the Bikes and Blues committee is how I got to meet Big Mike and his lady Miss Emilie last year. I then got to spend a little time with them last Biketoberfest, but not near enough as I would have liked because they were in South Daytona. I'm so excited that they will be in the northern part of the county this year! This year we are trying something new with our bike event, we are pre-registering riders. I will be at Big Mike's merchandise table on Sunday, March 2nd pre-registering anyone that prefers to pay in person. (I will also be assisting with Big Mike's merchandise sales)The fir... 02/18/2008

My buddy Big Mike Griffin is headed back to the Volusia County area for Bike Week 2008 but will be playing at different venue this year. This year you will be able to find Big Mike at the Broken Spoke Saloon on US 1 in Ormond Beach on Sunday March 2nd 1PM-7PM, Wednesday March 5th 1PM -7PM, Thursday March 6th 7PM-12PM and Saturday March 8th 1PM-7PM. Big Mike and his band will also be playing at the Iron Horse Saloon on Monday, the 3rd from 11PM - 2AM. You will be able to purchase advanced copies of Big Mikes award-winning documentary, Iron City Blues at each of his shows. I know I'll be picking up an autographed copy!   Just a little tease about Iron City Blues:"Urban legends tell of an isolated Southern town where the residents ran-off their police department and outsiders fear to tread... 02/15/2008

I celebrated the Presidential Primary today by voting of course and then going to an Open House in Breakaway Trails, a very upscale gated community in Ormond Beach, Florida.  So, What can you buy in my Real Estate Stomping grounds for a cool million, give or take a several hundred thousand dollars?  Oh..........You can buy The Mayor of Ormond Beach's Home!  Here is the Daytona Beach Multiple Listing Description for this one of a kind Upscale Resale Estate Home. Elegant Estate Home in  GATED UPSCALE COMMUNITY. Very private setting on almost 1 acre parcel. Tremendous curb appeal with port-cochere and circular driveway. Heated screened pool area is set up like a resort with summer kitchen, jacuzzi, fountain & large covered patio area. Gourmet kitchen has everything, including granite count... 01/29/2008

Just completed in Oct 2007. This 4 bedroom, 2 bath home features cinder block construction with stucco cover, tilt in windows for easy cleaning, cathedral ceilings and laminate flooring in common areas. Split bedrooms are carpeted. Relax on the back deck and enjoy the view of this larger-sized lot. Great central location is close to schools, shopping and medical. Fully furnished. Total area does not include unfinished basement with dirt floor that buyer can later pump in concrete flooring for additional storage. Listing REALTOR has an interest in property.  $234,750 01/25/2008

New Construction - To be Built. Live on the Tomoka River and just step out to your boat and take a pleasant ride out to the Intracoastal Waterway and then to - who knows? Home will sit on a beautiful canal lot with canals on two sides. Room for boats up to 28` or possibly larger. Home set to include a workshop, exercise room, and a separate guest suite that opens to the lanai/pool area. Work with builder to determine your selections. A boat slip and boat lift will be included. This lot is also available as a vacant lot. See MLS#457760 for those details. $599,900 01/25/2008

Joy Mitchelldesigned this home  for Dan Stratton, a Self Made Builder who lived in Great Falls, Virginia and who had a deep love for Building Beautiful Homes. He actually became the contractor of his own home when the builder he had hired did not put the knee wall in correctly at the garage wing, making it impossible to have a large enough attic room. I'm very specific when detailing soffits and heights and locations of walls to get the look I want.  When Joe Gibbs previewed this home he called my Studio.  I answered the phone.........when he called.  He said "This Is Joe Gibbs, I just saw one of your homes can I come by to talk to you." "Yes of course you can" I said.  I hung up the phone and realized I had just spoken to the Redskins Coach.  Sorry Joe, I'm one of those girls who likes... 01/22/2008