Summerdale, AL

If you are considering a trip to Orange Beach, you need to allow time to visit Alligator Alley located a short distance away in Summerdale. Alligator Alley has a very famous resident named "Captain Crunch", who would love to meet you. Captain Crunch is the largest gator ever recorded at 13'2" long and over 800 lbs!

All of the gators living in Alligator Alley have been rescued from places that they were unable to survive in. Alligator Ally transports the animals from unnatural areas to the farm which is designed to give them a natural environment. Feeding time is 11AM, 1PM & 4 PM. Captain Crunch will be waiting for you.

Following are a few facts about Captain Crunch:

Age: About 38 years old

Length: 13' 2"

Weight: over 800 lbs.

Records: World-Record Holding Bite of 2,982 lbs.

Birth Place: Tallahassee, FL

Current Residence: Summerdale, AL

Favorite Foods: Chicken, Turtles, Dogs, Deer, Slow Swimmers

You also can take a walking tour on an elevated pier through the cypress swamp. Or if you wish, you will be able to see live Alligators, feed the fish, turtles, bull frogs & more!

Whether you are looking for a beach home for your retirement, investment property, vacation home or second home, I can help you find the perfect real estate in Orange Beach. Don't waste any more time, let's get started today! Contact Lance Steffek at (251) 981-2225.

Sold to a lovely couple who had been searching for a new home since last summer. This beautiful 2541 square foot home is in Sonora Place, in Summerdale, Alabama and will be loved for years to come. It was truly a delight working for them. I think this is one of my favorite parts of this profession: seeing the utter delight of home buyers when they receive their keys.

In this subdivision, the lots are nearly one acre or just over an acre. The quiet and serenity here is unmeasurable. It is located adjacent to the Christmas Tree Farm, and very close to Fish River, with all the recreational opportunities there.

If you know me, you know there isn't a strange road that I won't turn onto and drive down, if I haven't been there before. That's why I claim to know this count like the back of my hand. In my many, many - okay, 32 years - of driving this county (and most of Mobile County, too), I just know where things are.

So, if someone I run into can point me in the direction of a road I've never been on, I'm going! Especially, if there is the possibility of seeing something that needs to be explored, researched and verified.

Last week, on Thursday, this very thing happened. Christi and I were on a listing appointment, and we were told of a 4-wheeler trail, an old dirt road that led to an abandoned schoolhouse and and old lodge. What? Where? I've never heard of any thing remotely like this. So off we go. And here is what we found:

In the lower left of the window, to the left of the door, appears to be an old chalkboard. Since we are paralyzed by the thought of snakes, further exploration must wait till Winter, when even if there are snakes, they are then slower than we are.

Then at a curve in the dirt road ahead, this building, which the locals call The Old Lodge. It is built, I can see, from Clay City tiles, an old Fairhope Brick making company, located on Fish River. There is a potter who lives there now, but you can find these old Fairhope bricks, or clay city tiles, here and there around town in very old structures.

Want an adventure? Go to the country and explore the backroads!

There's a place down near Fish River where a lovely subdivision has sprung up off the beaten path. Sonora Place offers a rare opportunity to own a new home, built so beautifully well by Darrell Gooden, in Baldwin County, on at least an acre of land. All the expected amenities are here: underground utilities, city sewer, total electric; and the unexpected amenities: the peace and serenity of a rural landscape, where peace and quiet reign, the unexpected appearance of deer in the fading twilight, the whispered scent of evergreen from the christmas tree farm next door.

Darrell Gooden has been building quality homes and developing lovely new home communities in Northwest Florida and Southeast Alabama, including Pensacola, Fairhope, Daphne, Lillian, Milton, Pace and Navarre for better than twenty years. He has built hundreds of homes ranging in size from 1500 to 3200 square feet of living space, with either a 2 or 3 car garage. The four homes available in Sonora Place are 2541 to 3000 square feet of living space. This home for example, is 2700 square feet of living space, has a three car garage and sits on a one acre lot:

The best part of this one is the most recent price reduction. Some of the interior shots that follow will give you an idea what the inside is like, but if you really want to know this home, come visit us!

Just look at this kitchen! Roomy beyond belief, gorgeous countertops, classy white cabinets... Who wouldn't want to spend some time here preparing delights for family and guests?

This great room is ample enough for any style furniture you choose, a huge television (or not!), daydreaming, visiting and holiday decorations. Bonus? Just inside those ledges are located electrical outlets, just in case your dreams include lighted decor!

AHA! The secret passage to the super secret master bedroom. Well maybe not super secret, but tucked away just enough to feel like a secret room. It truly lends itself to additional privacy, and that archway on the left of the picture is the entryway to the kitchen. Midnight kitchen raid anyone?

This is the interior of the gorgeous entry door. See that heavy glass design?

The master bath. Shower, tub, long vanity, double closets. It is a haven from the rest of the world.

Next to the subdivision is one of Baldwin County's best little secrets: Fish River Trees, where you can go cut your own holiday tree, dig up your tree or buy a tree. They already have the holoiday train out and ready to roll for the tree farm tour. I wonder if they will have the reindeer this year? Whatever they add, it will surely be as delightful as always.

Sonora Place is a magical, serene community just East of Fish River, right next to fish river trees and some of the most beautiful land you'll ever see. It is one of the lovely parts of Baldwin County that might be your next home.