Amazing Seafood

Sharky’s Waterfront Restaurant does fried shrimps, panko crusted shrimps, hush puppies with shrimps in ‘em, chilled spiced shrimps, salads with shrimps, boiled shrimps…

Well you get the message – see their new menu to see all the ways they do shrimps! Then there’s them oysters -don’t get me started! Better just go on by and try ‘em with a cold beer or other beverage.

At Sharky’s you can enjoy great food overlooking a fabulous view of the waterway. You can tie up your boat at Sharky’s dock. Thoroughly casual, Sharky’s is fun for the whole family.

Located by the bridge at nearby Ocean Isle Beach, Sharky’s is a great destination to go by boat (or by car).

The new menu at Sharky’s offers a wide selection from Lite Bites (Panko Crusted Shrimp, Calypso Ribs, Oyster & Corn Chowder, etc.), hand tossed pizza, a nice selection of hot and cold subs, soups and salads as well as daily specials such as Grouper, Mahi Mahi and more.

Come check out the new improved Sharky’s

Buying Real Estate At The Beach

By Martha Pope – Accredited Buyers Representative of the National Association of Realtors Read more

Online Beach Lovers Club

TheWindsBeachClub.com is an online Beach Lovers Club. It is a great way to keep up with what’s going on at Ocean Isle Beach!

Sign up to participate in online fun – as a Beach Club member you’ll receive special offers, discounts and be able to participate in special events, special savings and fun online contests to win valuable prizes – from Winds Beach Club T-Shirts to Dinners at local restaurants to Free Vacations at everyone’s favorite beach resort – The Winds. We will never share your information with anyone else! There’s absolutely no cost – to sign up just go online to: http://thewindsbeachclub.com.

When you sign up you will automatically be registered to win a free 3 day/2 night vacation at The Winds for Two!

The Venus Fly Trap – Green Swamp native

Known as a death trap for insects, the Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is ready to spring! Like other plants, Venus’ Flytraps gather nutrients from gases in the air and nutrients in the soil. However, they live in poor soil and are healthier if they get nutrients from insects. Carnivorous plants live all over the world but Venus’ Flytraps live only in select boggy areas in North and South Carolina.

Because of people’s fascination with these plants, they collected many of them and they became endangered. People in the Brunswick County area are lucky, in 2004, the Boiling Spring Lakes Nature Trail was completed, allowing visitors to walk through the trail and see the delicate plants first hand, while still protecting the Flytraps natural habitat. With over six thousand acres in size, The Boiling Spring Lakes Preserve is located in Brunswick County, NC in the city of Boiling Spring Lakes just off Highway 87. The trail begins at the Community Center. Visit the Nature Conservancy online at www.nature.org or calling the Nature Conservancy’s Wilmington Office at (910) 762-6277.

The leaves of Venus’ Flytrap open wide and on them are short, stiff hairs called trigger or sensitive hairs. When anything touches these hairs enough to bend them, the two lobes of the leaves snap shut trapping whatever is inside. The trap will shut in less than a second. The trap doesn’t close all of the way at first. It is thought that it stays open for a few seconds in order to allow very small insects to escape because they wouldn’t provide enough food. If the object isn’t food, e.g., a stone, or a nut, the trap will reopen in about twelve hours and ’spit’ it out.

When the trap closes over food, the cilia. finger-like projections, keep larger insects inside. Fold your hands together lacing your fingers to see what the trap looks like. In a few minutes the trap will shut tightly and form an air-tight seal in order to keep the digestive fluids inside and bacteria out.

Dionaea muscipula (Venus Flytrap) with the carcass of a partially digested insect. The exoskeleton of the insect can not be digested by the flytrap, so it remains when the leaf reopens.
If an insect is too large it will stick out of the trap. This allows bacteria and molds on the insect to thrive. Eventually the trap turns black, rots and falls off.

The trap constricts tightly around the insect and secretes digestive juices, much like those in your stomach. It dissolves the soft, inner parts of the insect, but not the tough, outer part called the exoskeleton. At the end of the digestive process, which takes from five to twelve days, the trap reabsorbs the digestive fluid and then reopens. The leftover parts of the insect, the exoskeleton, blow away in the wind or are washed away by rain. The time it takes for the trap to reopen depends on the size of the insect, temperature, the age of the trap, and the number of times it has gone through this process.

If you feed a Venus Flytrap something that doesn’t move, e.g., a dead insect, it will not close tightly over it. You need to squeeze the trap and move the food around so it imitates the action of a live insect.

The lobe manufactures digestive juices and an antiseptic juice. This keeps the insect from decaying over the few days it is in the trap and purifies prey that it captures.
carnivorous plants – Drosophyllum-4

People still do not understand fully how the trap closes. The Venus’ Flytrap does not have a nervous system or any muscles or tendons. Scientists theorize that it moves from some type of fluid pressure activated by an actual electrical current that runs through each lobe.

Vacation Fitness

Meet your new Personal Trainer Cindy Hoskins!

One of the many free amenities at The Winds is our Fitness Room. It offers a variety of exercise equipment to help you stay in shape while on vacation, but sometimes you need a little extra motivation and guidance.

That’s where the Fitness Studio comes in. Located over the bridge on the mainland just a mile or so west of the traffic light on Hwy. 179, this is a first rate facility. Brand new. clean and odor free with tip-top equipment, this place is first rate!

Owner /Personal Trainer Cindy Hoskins has a degree from UNC Wilmington in Physical Education with an emphasis on Exercise Science. She received national certification from AFAA (Aerobics & Fitness Association of America) while working at Gold’s Gym for six and a half years before opening the Fitness Studio in 2003.

Cindy’s passion to help others, coupled with her energetic encouragement, has enabled clients and members to reach their goals!

Click here to visit The Fitness Center at http://CindyHoskins.com

The Time is Now For Real Estate

A coach and speaker at the NAR (National Association of Realtors) Convention by the name of Rich Levin has absolutely hit the nail on the head! He says “THE TIME IS NOW FOR REAL ESTATE” and he is 100% correct. All of the factors are lining up for the next 6 to 12 months to be that year and here’s why:

Interest rates are dropping below 6% on residential mortgage loans – and this is nationally. The most likely scenario is that these mortgage loan rates will not stay this low for long so buyers would be wise to be actively looking to buy and take advantage very soon.

As buyers realize that it is a good time to buy (but not necessarily for sellers to sell) the demand will begin to absorb the foreclosures and short sales and then exceed supply. Over the next year or two the additional demand may very well lead to a seller’s market, however gradual it may be.

The signs of this shift are occurring now – the supply of new construction and foreclosure homes are being absorbed by first time buyers, investors, and secure homeowners who are taking advantage of their financial strength. “This Spring may be the tipping point when market activity flourishes,” Rich says, and I believe it will. After the first of the year mortgage money should be much more readily available from the banks.

He then refers to inflation as the “X factor” remembering a rapidly inflationary period. For instance, one day you could put a quarter into the vending machine and get a Coke. The next time it was forty cents and the next time it was fifty cents and within five years it was seventy-five cents and so on. Your money buys less and the cost of what you buy increases.

If you owned real estate during this same period you were probably very happy because the property you owned also doubled in price no matter where you lived. Who knows if we are on the verge of another inflationary surge – but if inflation does devalue our money…then real estate prices will increase (along with the price of almost all other hard goods) and this year’s buyers are going to benefit tremendously! Regardless, it is time for buyers to get in the market!

At your leisure I invite you to visit my website at pope-realestate.com and click on the local MLS logo to check out what’s for sale currently. I welcome any questions or requests at any time!

By Martha Pope – Accredited Buyers Representative of the National Association of Realtors.

On the Water

Jet Skis are a blast on vacation at Ocean Isle and there are two places on the island that rent them.

The Ocean Isle Fishing Center and Salty’s Surf Shop Rentals. Both are located on the Causeway. The Ocean Isle Fishing Center (next to Sharky’s Resaturant by the bridge) offer YAMAHA VX110 wave runners, They are 3-seater units, meaning they can accommodate up to 3 people. A user must be 16 years or older to operate a wave runner without adult supervision and a user may be 14 years of age to operate a wave runner so long as an adult of 18 years or more accompanies the 14 year old. They also offer several different style boats to rent for cruising or fishing. All boats are kept first class and in perfect working order. Boats can accommodate groups of up to 10 and are rented by the half day, full day or week.A Visa/Mastercard must be presented at time of rental for deposit purposes. Payment accepted in cash or Visa/Mastercard.Reservations are recommended in advance, but walk-ups will be accepted based on wave runner availability. Call (910) 616-4SKI to make a reservation or inquire. http://oifishingcenter.com/jetski.cfm

Salty’s Surf Shop Rentals, also located on the Causeway, Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Check out the rental section on their website for online reservations. Go by, browse their store and enjoy an awesome view of the surf. Salty’s Surf Shop offers Surf Board Rentals, Bicycle Rentals, Beach Chairs and Umbrella Rentals and Surf Lessons. 910-579-6223 http://www.saltyssurfshopoib.com

Golf Report

Come take advantage of the best golf value at the coast. Stay oceanfront at The Winds Resort Beach Club on nearby Ocean Isle Beach, NC, with a full hot Southern breakfast buffet each morning as you head out to some of Coastal Carolina’s best courses – all for as low as $49 per person per night!

The Winds’ Golf Sizzler is available from 1/11/2009 to 2/29/2009: $59.00* per person (*based on quad occupancy) – The package includes a daily 18-hole round of golf on selected courses, accommodations for four in a 2 bedroom/ 2 bath oceanfront Magnolia Double Suite or for eight in a four bedroom/ four bath Resort Cottage, with full hot breakfast buffet and housekeeping daily, and discounts to area restaurants and pro shops. Cart fees and tax are not included.

Courses: Carolina Shores, Lockwood Folly, Eagle Nest, Meadowlands, Farmstead, Sea Trail- Byrd, Sea Trail- Maples, Brunswick Plantation, Carolina National, Lions Paw, Panther’s Run, Heron Point and Brierwood.
Also for extra charge: Sea Trail- Jones – extra $20.00 per person, Bricklanding – extra $10.00 per person, Magnolia Greens – extra $30.00 per person.

Courses include: Carolina Shores, Lockwood Folly, Eagle Nest, Meadowlands, Farmstead, Sea Trail- Byrd, Sea Trail- Maples, Heron Point and Brierwood.
Also for an extra charge: Sea Trail- Jones – extra $20.00 per person, Bricklanding – extra $10.00 per person, Magnolia Greens – extra $30.00per person.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to play top courses while enjoying an oceanfront stay at The Winds Resort Beach Club! Call 800-334-3581 to book your Golf Sizzler package.

Calabash, NC

Calabash, NC