Our next issue of the HomeOnTheCourse advisory newsletter will feature the communities north of Jacksonville, FL, including those at the Amelia Island Plantation resort.  During our recent visit, we played three of the four courses at the resort, including the Pete Dye Oak Marsh, the Dye/Bobby Weed Ocean Links and Tom Fazio's sleek Long Point. (We passed on Royal Amelia, a Tom Jackson layout, because it will be undergoing renovation soon.)

    Despite some thinly grassed putting surfaces on the Oak Marsh course, too many unrepaired fairway and green divot marks on Oak Marsh and the Ocean Links, services at the bag drop that left something to be desired and a practice area no better than Joe's Driving Range, we enjoyed the courses, especially the eight holes along the Plantation's 31/2 mile stretch of beach.  We will have much more to say in HomeOnTheCourse, which will be available in two weeks.  In the meantime, if you are considering a stay at the resort to explore real estate options, or just for a vacation, you would do well to read the latest offering from our friends at Golf Vacation Insider with their hints about the best options for lodging.  Click here for the article.

    As always, if you have a question about Amelia Island or any of the places we have visited, please drop us a line and we will be happy to answer promptly.  And if you are considering a visit to look for property, please let us know and we will connect you with a qualified broker/agent in the area, at no obligation whatsoever to you. 

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Eyes right:  Ocean winds bouncing off the homes and seven-story buildings across the fairways from the Atlantic at Amelia Island Plantation can play havoc with ball flight, but beauty outweighs the occasionally beastly conditions. 

    I have heard it time and again in the last year.  People who have retired to Florida and other warm climates have decided they can't stand the heat.  These bounce backs, or half backs as they are known because they started north, went all the way south and now are bouncing halfway back, say they have just tired of year-round heat.  "We want a four-season climate," most say, typically adding "but not severe winters."
    It can't just be the weather; average summer temperatures in Florida are just a few degrees higher than in interior Virginia.  Probe a little and you find that the driving forces behind the moves north are a little more complicated.  In many cases, the stifling traffic in Florida got to them, making them virtual prisoners in their gated communities, unwilling to fight the traffic to get to dinner or a show.  For others, especially those along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean coasts, insurance rates - if they can get insurance after Katrina - have driven them north.     

    Another reason, perhaps the most compelling and one you hear from people you meet on Virigina and North Carolina golf courses, is that they chose areas where their family and friends can get to in an easy day's drive.  For those we met in the Williamsburg, VA, area this past week, being a few hours from their former homes in Washington, D.C., and a less than day's trip from the New York metro area were strong considerations in their decision on a place to call their retirement home.     

    It is no wonder that areas like Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill and Charlotte in North Carolina are among the strongest housing markets in the southeast.  They are home to airport hubs, with non-stop flights to most major cities in the nation and to many smaller markets up and down the east coast (e.g. Hartford, CT).  With a little planning, some flights won't cost much more than the costs of gasoline, tolls and wear and tear on both auto and body for a six-hour car drive.  That is something to consider when contemplating your big move.

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Average temperatures in cities like Charlottesville, VA, range from 43 degrees Fahrenheit in January to 79 in August, only three degrees less than the same month average in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  Courses in communities like Glenmore, just east of Charlottesville, are open for play year round.