Gulf Shore Getaway

In time, Compass Point will be built

There is money to be made in LNG importing, gassifying and distribution. Prices are only going up and like it or not, winter's coming. As long as there is money to be made - however far in the future - they will find a way to build this plant.

In a statement Friday, the company said, "Compass Port remains an attractive location and the decision on whether or not to proceed with the re-filing of the application will be made after consideration of all the economic factors." If ConocoPhillips decides not to go on with the project, another energy company may well seize the opportunity.

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Buyer's market for condos

It's a buyer's market on Gulf beach condos

Looking for beach front property along the gulf? If you are, local realtors say the market is ripe for the pickings. Prices on condos and gulf-front homes in areas like Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan are dropping, and some of the savings can add up to more than $100-thousand. NBC 15's Baldwin County Reporter Leon Petite has details in this report.

Remember what the real estate market was like just before and just after Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina? Beach front homes were selling like hot cakes. You heard a lot of terms like "condo flipping" being talked about up and down the beach. Property owners were selling condos before they were even built. In some cases, they were selling for more than what they were actually worth, but a lot has changed at the beach. Real Estate officials say prices are coming back down to earth.

Coastal Wine Tour Brings Visitors to Orange Beach and Deemed the Biggest Tour Yet

Wednesday June 7, 8:00 am ET
Next Stop: Rosemary Beach, FL

ORANGE BEACH, Ala., June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Corks popped, wine flowed, and gourmet food was enjoyed at the third annual Southern Breeze Coastal Wine Tour. The festivities began on Friday, May 19, with two Winemaker Dinners. Chef Phillippe Parola was paired with Winemaker Mac McDonald of Vision Cellars at the Gulf Coast Culinary Institute, and Chef Tim Creehan was paired with Cathy Preston-Mouncer of Preston Premium Wines at the Gulf Shores Bistro and Bakery. Both Winemaker dinners were sold out. The event continued on Saturday, May 20 at the Grand Wine Tasting, which was held at the Orange Beach Waterfront Park. Over 200 boutique wines were poured and guests enjoyed complimentary cooking seminars by Chef Philippe Parola and Chef Matt Smith. Michael Bryan, Executive Director of the Atlanta Wine School, hosted seminars on the "language of wine" while the crowd engaged in their wine tasting.

"A perfect combination of gorgeous weather, engaging venue and our location of Orange Beach made this an unprecedented success," said Gary Ellis, publisher of Southern Breeze. "Our host, the City of Orange Beach, and our event sponsors and participants made this the best event we have sponsored hands down."

Memorial Day weekend visitors pack Alabama beaches

There is a shortage of space on the beaches of Alabama this weekend. From Gulf Shores to Orange Beach finding a place to call your own might be kind of tough today and tomorrow.

The weather this weekend simply could not be better. Highs are forecast to be in the 80's under partly cloudy skies. With much of the rest of the US sweltering in the 90's in an early summer heat wave, Alabama looks like the place to be this weekend.

GULF SHORES -- Along Alabama's coast, only the clouds seemed to stay away Saturday.

Under a scorching midday sun and a crystal blue sky, Tommy Dallas leaned back in a lounge chair and observed the heavy crowd around him at Gulf Shores' public beach.

In each direction, umbrellas, beach mats and sunbathers packed the soft white sands.

"I think the beach is finally coming back," Dallas said. "This is the busiest I've seen it in three years."

Nearby, Dan Wentz of Ardmore, Ala., about six hours north, popped open a beach umbrella.

"We just wanted to do a little vacationing," said Wentz, who was joined by his wife, Melissa, and their daughter, Kelsi Anne.

It was the family's first visit to Gulf Shores, he said, and likely not their last.

They were among the thousands of vacationers Saturday who swarmed Baldwin's coastline. And in Mobile County, Dauphin Island's beaches, rental houses and stores were thick with Memorial Day weekend tourists.

Coastal Wine Tour Wine and Culinary Weekend

Just a reminder of this weekend's Southern Breeze Coastal Wine Tour this weekend. The following press release is just out this morning.

City of Orange Beach and Southern Breeze Ready for Coastal Wine Tour Wine and Culinary Weekend
City of Orange Beach, AL and Southern Breeze Magazine put final touches on the Coastal Wine Tour, a premier wine and culinary weekend, for its next stop May 19-21, 2006 in Orange Beach, Alabama. The tour produced by Southern Breeze Magazine, a publication exploring, covering and celebrating the "good life" on the Gulf Coast, will be kicking off this event Friday evening, May 19 with the gourmet five-course Winemaker Dinners. This portion of the event is followed by Saturday's Sierra Development's Rio Antigua Grand Wine Tasting and Sunday's Walkabout Brunch at Orange Beach Waterfront Park.
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Red Snapper World Championship

Serious red snapper fishing swings into full gear next Friday along the Gulf Coast. For only a $5 entry fee Gulf Coast anglers can enter to win up to $25,000 in the Orange Beach Fishing Association's Red Snapper World Championship.

This year marks the third annual installment of the tournament, which begins Friday, April 21st and runs through May 21st. The tournament is hosted by the Orange Beach Fishing Association, a not-for-profit corporation whose objectives are promoting Red Snapper research, deploying artificial fishing reefs in the Gulf of Mexico and supporting organizations dedicated to saving the recreational fishing industry along Alabama's Gulf Coast. The Alabama Marine Resources Division, for instance, gets $50,000 from the tournament. They will use the money, along with $150,000 in matching funds from various federal programs to undertake various habitat enrichment projects along the Gulf Coast.

If you're in the Alabama Gulf Coast area on vacation take a day or two and go fishing. Your fishing excursion might win you a nice payoff. Gulf Coast charter fishing boats all know the GPS coordinates for the reefs which hold the big red snappers, so the best way to find one of these artificial reefs is simply to hire a charter boat. Just pay your $5 to enter the contest and have them take you to the ones they think are the best for finding the big ones. The more enterprising fisherman with his or her own boat and GPS will want to download and print out a map and the all the GPS coordinates of the artificial reef locations for himself.

Either way, be sure not to forget to enter the contest. According to the Mobile Register story the biggest red snapper caught last year was by a fellow who had not entered the contest. I guess you could say that fish cost him $25,000 - about $600 per pound. Ouch.