Gulf Shores, AL – October 2006 – Southern Breeze magazine announced that a variety of boutique wines will be offered at its Grand Wine Tasting Event on Saturday, October 21st, in Rosemary Beach, Fla. Wine experts from around the world – led by Ted Egan, a renowned Napa Valley boutique winemaker from Bourassa Vineyards – will pour more than 150 boutique wines. As an exclusive to our guests, winemaker Robert Pecota will be pouring a small production of handcrafted wines from his family-owned vineyard near Calistoga, CA.
The setting for Saturday’s event will be Rosemary’s Long Green Park, an exquisite open-air space surrounded by the community’s rich architecture, just steps from white-sand beaches. Attendees can sample new vintages, learn from the experts and even purchase their favorites to take home.
State and local Alabama officials are doing more to promote Gulf Coast Alabama ecotourism activities. The latest is a free seminar to be held this Wednesday. An Ecotourism Summit is planned for local businesses to help them to better understand and promote the Gulf Shores and Alabama Gulf Coast areas.
Officials from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program and the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Reserve will attend the event and discuss their respective ecotourism programs. Attendees will get insight and updates on programs such as Coastal Cleanup, the state's Clean Marina program and Share the Beach - a program which monitors sea turtle nesting.
It's been a record breaking holiday weekend all along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Gulf Shores condos and hotels were holding at or near capacity as the last long weekend of summer '06 came and went.
Businesses enjoyed record levels of tourists and the revenue they bring. Retailers reported strong sales and restaurateurs saw some of the best days in their history.
Coming into the long labor day weekend, vacation rental operators were reporting reservation rates ranging from 80 to 100 percent.
Now's the time to start thinking about that fall vacation to the Gulf Coast. With the kids back at school the beaches will be less crowded and the shops and restaurants will be less full.
Earlier this morning air force reserve reconnaissance aircraft wind data showed that maximum sustained winds in Tropical Storm Ernesto have now increased to 75 mph. This makes Ernesto a Cat 1 hurricane.
Hurricane Ernesto has taken a slightly more northerly route than was forecast yesterday. Current storm track forecasts are significantly different and much more favorable for the Alabama Gulf Coast than they were yesterday.
Big changes in store for Gulf Shores condo owners. OK not really. Anyone who owns a condo in Gulf Shores already knows the price of insurance is skyrocketing.
What they might not know is how coverages may be changing and what new alternatives may become available. Read on for more information.
It's looking more and more like this will be an interesting week ahead for the gulf coast. Tropical Storm Ernesto continues to head towards the Gulf of Mexico.
As of 8am this morning Tropical Storm Ernesto's maximum sustained winds had increased to approximately 50 mph with higher gusts. Tropical Storm Ernesto is forecast to gain in strength during the next 24 hours.