Lake Norman Real Estate & Living

No matter if you are craving down-home southern food with your family or upscale, contemporary cuisine for a special night out or anything in between, you'll find a diverse array of restaurants in the Lake Norman area.

Casual or dressy it's your choice. To find a smorgasbord of dining out options in one location, head to Birkdale Village in Huntersville. A walk throgh the pedestrian-friendly open air retail and restaurant destination will tempt your taste buds. You will feel like you have hit the jackpot with casual restaurants offering Asian fusion, Southern classics of fried chicken and macaroni and cheese, wood-fired pizzas, pub fare and traditional favorites and an upscale restaurant specializing in steaks and seafood.  Ready to dress up a bit for dinner?  Fine dining options around the lake are limited, but those that do set a dressed-up table with white tablecloths and candles offer stellar menus. Whether tucked in a shopping center or occupying a restored downtown building, you can expect the atmosphere to be cozy and intimate, the service to be efficient and the food to be well prepared. The waters of the lake inspire relaxing and fun-filled times and the mood carries over into many of the restaurants.

Local and international flavors. Barbecue is king in North Carolina and the lake area is home to several 'cue joints that have legendary followings. Slow smoked pork with sauce served in squeeze bottles on the side is the way to go. Don't forget to try a side of Brunswick stew or a serving of banana pudding for dessert. For taste buds yearning more international flavors, Asian fusion, sushi and Thai cuisie are well represented. Watch as your meal is prepared on a hibachi grill with great flair at a Japanese restaurant, see how high your spice tolerance is, or be adventurous and try a new sushi roll.

A day of waterskiing or just cruising the waters of the lake can leave one hungry. Fortunately, there are nearly a dozen lakeside restaurants that can ease those hunger pains with menus offering everything from oysters and ribs to Italian and contemporary fare. Most are ultra casual with a laid back atmosphere where live music fills the air. There is no better way to end the day than by grabbing a seat at at table on the deck and enjoying a fantastic sunset with a cold beverage and a sandwich or burger.

Dining out around Lake Norman can be a memorable experience and delicious food awaits you wherever you go.

Some suggestions:

By Boat ... on the lake

Armin's Sunshine Cafe ... Mile Market R4 ... 704-947-1670
Dockside Deli ... Mile Marker 17A ... 704-663-5252
Jack's Lakeside Grill ... Milel Marker 17A ... 704-662-9048
The Landing Restaurant and Bar ... Marker M4 ... 828-478-5944
Midtown Sundries .... Marker R5 ...704-896-9013
North Harbor Club ... Marker T4 ... 704-896-5559
Rusty Rudder ... Marker D6 ... 704-892-9195
Vinnies Sardine Grill and Raw Bar ... Market D11 ... 704-660-9517

By land

Positano ...704-896-2979 ... Italian
The Creole House ... 704-896-1049 ... www.thecreolehouseonmainstreet.net
The Prickly Pear ... 704-799-0875 ... www.prickleypear.net ... Mexican
Sabi Asian Bistro ... 704-895-5707 ... www.ilovesabi.com  
Galway Hooker Pub ... www.galwayhookerpub.com 
Caruso's ... 704-658-1000 ... www.carusosfinedining.com

And, there are many more  .... Go to our website, www.luxurylakenormanhomes.com, click on "lifestyle", then click on www.lakenorman.org for a full list of places to dine around the lake.

Happy eating and drinking!!

 

 

Taste of Charlotte Festival - June 11-13. You can get a taste of some of the city's street suitable tidbits uptpwn this weekend. About 100 menu items will be offered by Charlotte area resaurants at the festival, now in its 12th year. Some of the items offered are; Guinness barbecue wings, barbecue chicken pizza, banana pudding, brownie with ice cream. There is also a Tavern at the taste offering samples of brews plus wines and soft drinks and live entertainment. Jack and i are going to attend later today.

Music at the Lake - The Charlotte Symphony will be giving a pop concert the evening of June 12th on the Shores of Lake Norman at Baily Road Park. Great time to gather friends put a picnic together and relax to the wonderful music of our smphony orchestra. Always a big hit of the summer.

 

The NASCAR Hall of Fame opened it doors May 11, 2010 in Uptown Charlotte. The 150,000 square foot building is an interactive, entertainment attraction honoring the history and heritage of NASCAR. The high-tech venue, designed to educate and entertain race fans and non-fans alike includes; artifacts,interactive exhitits, a 275 person state-of-the-art theater, Hall of Honor, Buffalo Wild Wings Restaurant, Sports Avenue retail outlet and NASCAR Media Group operated broadcast studio. The five-acre site also includes a privately developed 19 story office tower and 102,000 square foot expansion to the Charlotte Convention Center highlighted by a 40,000 square foot ballroom.

All Star week will end on May 23rd, with the induction of the five men who have been instrumental in the creation and success of the sport. This will take place in the Charlotte Convention Center's new Crown Ballroom beginning at 1:00pm which is connected to the Hall of Fame. The first class consists of Dale Earnhardt, Bill France, Bill France Jr., Junior Johnson and Richard Petty. More on Race Week and the engery filled schedule go to: http://www.nascar.com

Three years into the housing bust, steep discounts are emerging in the market for high-end homes which had been the real estate industry's last redoubt until now. Despite the optimistic economic recovery, demand for pricey properties is falling as potential buyers struggle to come up with money for big down payments and find it difficult to qualify for large mortgages. With buyers dropping out and homes languishing on the market, sellers are beginning to capitualte, cutting prices to move their properties. The result: Buyers with lots of cash or access to it can find great deals. The million-plus market seems ripe for falling prices according to the S&P Case Shiller indexes. Prices for the top third of the market ... currently homes above $510,000 ... have fallen by 27.3% from the peak, to March 2004 levels. But, the mismatch of supply and demand is now widest in the seven figure market. Despite the risks, the mortgage market might be suggesting that shoppers buy sooner rather than later. Many forcasters predict that interest rates will rise from  today's unusually low levels. Even if waiting another year might bring lower prices, at least some of that advantage could be wiped out by an interest rate spike.Interest rates play a huge role in affordability, and even more so in high end markets. a $1.2 million home today might require a 25% down payment. At today's rate of about 5.75% for a 30 year "jumbo" mortgage that would mean a monthly payment of $5,252, but if rates were to rise to 6.5% the monthly payment would rise to$5,688. The home's price would have to fall to $1.1million to keep the monthly payment at a comparable $5,215. The shrinking pool of potential buyers is giving people of means unusual bargaining power. The inventory of all listed homes in February was enouoghg to last 8.6 months at the current sales rate, according to the National Association of Realtors. For those priced above $1 million the supply was enough to last nearly 32 months.  For those reasons, "this is the perfect time to buy". In this still troubled real estate market success favors buyers who don't have to sell first.

The Wall Street Journal - March 27-28, 2010

                                    The Peninsula First Quarter Property Report

The following report is all the evidence you need to buy that dream home in The Peninsula on Lake Norman or in the surrounding area. Prices have fallen. There are so many golden opportunites. Go to our website to see all that is still available. Many, many homes on the water. Also, remember interest rates are still so low and we all know that won't stay that way for too much longer. You don't want to be the person who someday says, "I wish I would have bought that lake or golf course home in 2010." www.LuxuuryLakeNormanHomes.com.

Address	Original Price	Sold Price	Days on Market	Golf, Water, Interior	% of List Price
18706 Peninsula Cove	744,400	510,000	213	Golf	69
18720 Harbor Light Blvd.	629,000	595,000	65	Interior	95
17001 Jibsail	969,000	575,000	392	Interior	60
16712 Yardarm	779,000	694,000	360	Interior	89
17116 Jetton Road	930,000	745,000	311	Golf	80
17210 Jetton Road	1,099,000	740,000	493	Golf	68
18920 Peninsula Club	1,125,000	905,000	553	Golf	80
19033 Double Eagle	1,100,000	975,000	29	Golf	89
18121 Harbor Light Blvd.	2,299,000	1,300,000	641	Water	57

While shopping at our local Lake Norman Harris Teeter Grocery store, I ran into acqaintance who was giving out samples of this great all natural homemade cheese spread. The story behind the product I found interesting, and I always like to hear about "home town" success stories.

Suize Augusta Lowe from Shelby, NC (not far from the Lake Norman area) had always made her grandmother's cheese spread when entertaining. After many years of getting compliments on it, she decided to market and sell the cheese spread. And she has done exactly that. Augusta's Original and Jalepeno Cheese is in all 192 Harris Teeter grocery stores.  Visit Suzie's website for more information and other homemade products. www.augustascreations.com.

                                 

 

Dragon Boats: Shaped like a canoe, they are 40 feet long and 3.5 feet at their widest point. Boats are crewed by a team of 22, with 20 paddlers, a drummer and someone who steers. The Fouth Annual Charlotte Dragon Boat and the Annual Asian Festival is a way for the Asian community to thank the country that has welcomed them over the years, says Dr. John Chen, founder of the event. Set for Saturday, May 15th at Ramsey Creek Park,  Lake Norman, the festival and Dragon Boat races draw between 7000 and 10000 people. Dragon Boat racing is one of the most popular sports in the world. Festival races are sprint events usually on the order of 500 meters. The sport is big: Major festivals are held in New York City, Philadelphia and Portland, Or. The Cornelius festival actually began in Charlotte at Marshall Park. It features stage performances of traditional dances from various Asian Countries, the Miss Asian Festival Scholarship talent competition, regional exhibits to ethnic foods and merchandise. Admission is free. For the first time, Charlotte is fielding its own teams, including four cancer survivors. More details at www.charlottedragonboat.com.

By October, 2010, Charlotte will have completed their culture campus in up-town, Charlotte. The cultural campus consists of four new venues.... The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Knight Theater of Performing Arts, the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture and the Minr Musuem of Art, Craft and Design. WOW! We have hit the jackpot. And, a few blocks away the finishing touches are being added to the Nascar Hall of Fame.

The Harvey B. Gantt Center opened in October. This center exists to present, preserve and promote African American art, culture and history for the education and enlightment of all. The new building is 46,500 square feet and is located in an area once occuped by the historic Brooklyn neighborhood, the once thriving center of the Black community which was razed in the 1960's. The Gantt Center takes design inspiration from the Myers Street School which was located in the heart of the old Brooklyn neighborhood. The bibical term, "Jacob's Ladder" was used to identify the school and referred to it's prominent exterior stair configuration. The stairs signified pride and importance of education in the advancement of African-Americans. Stairs and escalators carry visitors up to the main second floor lobby from both ends of the building while framing the central glass atrium. The striking visual effect is a direct allusion to the original Jacob's Ladder and perpetuates the ideals of enlightment and advancement through education. The center has scheduled a variety of events for Black History month including "Passage to Freedom," a four week exploration of the Underground Railroad which includes music, dance and exhibitions. Go to www.ganttcenter.org for more information.

The second to open was The Bechtler Musuem of Modern Art. The private art collection of nearly 1500 pieces has been donated to the city by Andreas Bechtler who inherited much of it from his parents Hans and Bessie Bechtler.About 100 pieces are on display at this time. Visitors will see some of the biggest names in 20th century modern art such as, Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder,Edgar Degas, Max Ernst, Joan Miro, Le Corbusier and Jean Tinguely. The thing that makes this collection so charming is that family members lived amoung the artists in Switzerland and collected their work because they knew them. "I enjoyed the the time with them as friends," says Anreas Becthler. It was not just art. It was life, from shopping to just gathereing and chatting. The term "modern art" refers to art from the 1860's to the 1970's. Much of what visitors will see is abstract. To behold it is to see how shapes, colors, textures and materieals can excite the senses without being realistic. A four-story atrium provides vistas across the museum.A lobby cafe features light lunch and pastries and their is also a gift shop adjacent to the cafe. Jack and I spent several hours wandering around the enjoying the art in a very relaxed atmosphere. And, our lunch was excellent. Go to; www.charlotteobserver.com/bechtler and walk through the museum and learn about the Bechtlers and their art.

On January 8, 2010 Jack and I had the privilege with 600 other people of attending the Dance Theater Gala Grand Opening of the Knight Theater. It is an intimte feeling with a contemporary flair. The 1200 seat Knight Theater will be Dance Theatre's primary performance venue for all productions except the Nutcracker. "With the Knight Theater, the feeling is that the audience can really recognize and see each individual dancer," says Dance Theatre President and Artistic Director, John-Pierre Bonnefoux. "I think that is really going to help people identify with the artists in our company." Four a tour of the Knight Theater go to; www.blumenthalcenter.org .

The fourth piece of the cultural campus is the new Mint Musuem which will be finished in the fall of 2010.The Mint Museum of Art initially served the region as the first branch of the United States Mint, coining 5 million in gold from 1826 to the outbreak of the Cvil War. A grassroots community effort during the Depression saved the original Federal style building from demolition and moved it to its present Randolph Road site. The museum formally opened to the public on October 22, 1936 as North Carolina's first art museum. Today it is a rich and diverse resource with noted collections of American art, pre-Columbian art, American and European ceramics, American decorative arts, historic costumes and accessories, African art, Asian art, historic maps, contemporary art and photography. For more information about the Mint Museum, go to; www.mintmuseum.org.

It is very exciting to be a part of such a vibrant city that still has so much warmth and charm and wonderful people.

 

As I was walking to our brand new workout facility, I thought, "living in the Peninsula is like living at a resort" ... how lucky I am. It is like being on vacation every day. Let me tell you why I think this ....

1. We have a brand new Workout Facility with state of the art equipment, arobics room, beautiful locker rooms with saunas and steam showers and childcare facilities.

                                                                           

2.  Eight lighted tennis courts for all levels of play. We have a very active men's, women's and children's tennis program and always there are holiday events. For hit and giggle tennis there is a monthly couples group that play on the second Friday night.  We have a very professional staff for teaching and just being there to help you with your game and cute clothes in the pro shop.

                                                                                    

3. A Swimming Pool that is home to many children during the summer. The biggest attraction is the huge water slide. There is a very active and competitive swim team that has just finished their season and are about to have their swim banquet. The snack bar adds to the fun for children and mothers. Great sandwiches and for mom and dad they serve great margaritas.

                                                           

4. A 18 hole beautifully manicured Golf Course for all levels of play six sets of tee boxes. Again, the golf program is very active with men's groups, women's groups and a fantastic children-young people's program. If you like to practice our practice range and facilitiy is one of the best. Great instructors to help you with your game.

                                                                      

5. A Club House that has great food and wonderful socialbility. There is Sunday Brunch, Saturday night steak night, Wednesday, half price wine night, Thursday, pasta night, Friday, prime rib night.  Three restaurants and a ball room for large parties as well as weddings or other social gatherings. Once a month ... first Friday there is happy hour. People just arrive have some appetizers provided by the club and just get to know one another.

      

6. One of the most fun activities for the women is Ladies Night Out.  A resident hosts this event each month and all women are invited to come and chat and get to know each other and all the activities while enjoying a glass of wine, salads and desserts. There you find out about Bunco (which I had never heard of before I moved here ... it is a dice game), book clubs, garden club, volunteer groups,etc.

7.  Jetton Park is right in the middle of our community. A beautiful park with walking trails, picnic areas, beach, bike rentals and tennis courts.

   

  

8. Peninsula Yacht Club. If you are a boater, this may be the club for you, situated in the Peninsula there is a marina for motor boats and sail boats, a boating store and a wonderful dining room inside and out. There is also a swimming pool on the grounds.

If you are thinking of living in this wonderful state of North Carolina or do live here, but want to live a "vacation" life style, please call us to help you and go to our website to see more of The Peninsula and the surrounding area, luxurylakenormanhomes.com. Another plus for The Peninsula, we are only 25 minutes from up-town Charlotte with it's culture and casual and fine dining as well as the same distance to the interntional airport ....  one and one-half hours to the mountains and four hours to Charleston or Hilton Head and the ocean.  Come and visit!

The Preserve at Robbins Park brings to the fore an idea with deep historical roots. Namely, the concept of a preferred neighborhood bordering a capacious public park, first posed in the 19th Century by the pioneers of classic American urban design. The result is a study in elegant contrasts which combines the luxury of in-town living with a Lake Norman address. Which commingles the possibility of more meaningful neighborly connection with the demands of personal privacy. All in the context of an unforgettable natural setting with woodlands, public fields and natural habitats which will give the Preserve at Robbins Park lasting stature, as well as the opportunity for families at all life stages to be part of something heartfelt and permanent.  

Seven years in the planning, The Preserve at Robbins Park compelling even by Lake Norman standards. The last large tract of open land in the heart of the lake section of Cornelius now marries luxury living to an adjacent nature preserve. Streets will intertwine with preserved woodlands while also tying together planned parks and public fields. Children and adults alike will enjoy the extensive standing groves and delightful creekside habitats. Contiguous greenway trails will offer miles of hiking and biking and Lake Norman itself is directly across the street. The Preserve will also offer connectivity with Birkdale Village, Lake Norman’s favorite destination for shopping, dining and entertainment.

 

The T

The entrance will be completed with landscaping as soon as the roads are in, which they will start pouring next week. Sidewalks will be poured in three weeks, then people can start meandering through the property which makes it easier  to pick out their home site. The first model home will be completed in June of 2010, but new home construction will begin in August and September of 2009. When the project is completed there will be 140 homes ranging from $550,000 and up.

 

This up-scale community right in the heart of the Lake Norman community is a great edition to Cornelius. Go to simonini.com for additional information or call Jack Ziegler @ 704-575-4788. We look forward to hearing from you soon if you are looking for new construction in our great area.