Marian Goetzinger Crystal Coast Real Estate NC

About 1 hour drive from the island of Bogue Banks where I live, is a tiny little community called Cedar Island, North Carolina. That's where we go to catch the ferry for the 2hour 15 minute ride over to Ocracoke, another wonderful little North Carolina island. (But that's another blog.) Cedar Island is a nosebleed height of 3 feet above sea level.

Cedar Island is about as far east as you can go without a boat and continues to be small and quaint. Just before you get to the ferry stop there are stables where you can rent a horse and ride. My husband and I manage to squeeze out one day each summer for this wonderfully exuberant fun day, usually with at least one of our 14 grandchildren along.

This picture is one of my favorites. It is my husband Ted, my 13 year old granddaughter, Alyson, and me riding from one little island to the next. I usually get one of the most spirited horses because I'm one of the few semi-experienced riders in any group. Often there are tourists who have never been atop a horse. Not to worry, the woman who runs the stables is always right there and puts the newbies on the oldest, slowest horses.

Next time you visit the Crystal Coast of North Carolina you should put both Cedar Island and Ocracoke on your list of places to see. And you Eastern North Carolinians who have never been there, this is the year you should. These small, quaint places are disappearing and we are so lucky to still have them around. For Ferry schedules call 1-800-293-3779 or visit www.coastalguide-ncwaterways.com.

Call me anytime at 252-422-9000 and by all means visit my website at www.pineknollshoresrealty.com

I live in Paradise!

If you're looking for a community that has it all, check out Beacon's Reach. We are a neighborhood of about 460 units consisting of single family homes, condos and a few vacant lots still waiting for the perfect house to be built. I live in Westport Woods, which is one street that ends in a cul-de-sac and has five houses and 1 vacant lot. We are just about half a block from one of the three pools on our side of the street, the marina, a playground for the children, the ocean and the sound. A little further you can find lighted tennis courts, walkways through the entire complex, sittums, (ask me about those, if you're not a local.) and neighbors that don't know how to be unfriendly.

In the summertime we have pig pickings at the marina at least once a month and it's just a great time to get together for some old fashioned family fun. (Ask me about pig pickings too if you're not local.) Many of our owners are part-time owners so we especially enjoy the picnics where we get to catch up with them.

2008 has not been a good time for sales in Beacon's Reach. According to the MLS there have been only three single family homes sold and three condos. It took an average of 534 days for the single family homes to sell while it only took an average of 189 days for the condos to sell. No lots have sold. Today there are 25 single family homes and condos listed with the MLS and 5 lots. It has never been a better time to buy. There is much to choose from here in paradise.

For more information about Beacon's Reach, call me at 252-422-9000 or visit my web-site at www.pineknollshoresrealty.com where you will find a link to Beacon's Reach.

A beautiful private Marina

Lagoons and protected areas to enjoy.

Pools for family Fun.

I want to challenge each of you to find 1/2 day between now and New Year's and volunteer at a local charity. You may serve food at the soup kitchen, read to the children at the battered women's shelter, ring the bell for Salvation Army, or serve after school snacks at the Boys and Girls club. Hurry. Right now, make the call. Call your local charity, the one that tugs most at your own heart. Tell them you want to help and you'll do whatever they need most. Then just do it. Maybe it will feel right enough that you'll want to add it to your list of things to do regularly in the new year.

STOP! No fair writing a check. You can do that too, but if you can afford to give financially, that's wonderful and you're blessed, but I'm talking about getting your hands dirty. I'm talking about giving of yourself. I'm talking about immersing yourself in the pain and trouble that other people are suffering. Help a cause that you feel passionate about. If you can't think of a charity that you can feel passionate about, shame on you.

This week-end one of my daughter's friends was severely battered by her husband. It was not the first time, but as is always true in that vicious cycle, it was the worst. He came very close to killing her but she was able to escape and run to my daughter's home. The battered wife and her child are now safe, although the wife is in surgery as I write this and the child is suffering what I know to be post traumatic stress syndrome. The batterer is out on bail but will almost surely spend several years in prison due to the severity of his assault and the fact that a weapon was used and a minor was present.

The domestic violence program is the charity nearest and dearest to my heart for reasons I'll explain someday in a different blog. After the week-ends' events I am committed to doing more for that program. I think it's time I stepped back into that world and offered my assistance. It's been too easy to write those checks. I think it's time for my hands to get dirty again.

In Carteret County, North Carolina, if you need help from abuse or if you'd like to volunteer at the Domestic Violence Shelter call: 252-393-6361.

God bless you all and have a safe and happy holiday.

I've been working on my Christmas letter for days and I just can't make it work. I really don't want to tell everybody where we've gone this year and what cute things the grandchildren have done. I'm not sure anybody really wants to hear about the myriad of health issues that we've each experienced this year and I for one am sick of answering "How's the real estate market these days?" Don't these people watch TV or read papers?

Should I write about the renovation from Hell (another blog) or perhaps my family and friends would like to know that my golf handicap has dropped by three strokes? NAH. You know what, I think I'll send this picture that shows just how happy we are to live on a little island all year long.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ACTIVE RAIN!

OK, stop!

Please don't send me anymore emails that say, do this in the next ___minutes or terrible things will happen to you. If I could figure out how to eliminate those without reading them I would, but they're coming from good friends and family members as well as strangers. Many of the ones I get are from a dear sweet little old lady from church. They start out innocuous enough and I don't know until I've already wasted my time what they are. If you really think about it, these emails are threatening. Please everybody, think about what you're sending before you forward that junk.

Oh, and I'm a Christian. I love Jesus. I show that by trying to live Christian principals and attending worship services. I pray and I read religious, inspirational things often. So if you send me an email that says "If you're not ashamed of Jesus, forward this in the next ten minutes." I won't. I will delete it and feel less than Christian about the whole thing. So STOP!