My New Blog

Do you have an annual family holiday tradition? Do you find that the holiday season brings your family a little bit closer?

There are a lot of family oriented things you can do to celebrate the holidays in Jacksonville NC. It’s the perfect time to start a new tradition or carry on with an old one.

You could start with an old fashioned Christmas tree cutting at Justice Christmas Tree Farm. They will be open on Thanksgiving Day and every day until Christmas Eve, you can pick from precut trees or cut your own.

Then you can head over to Mike’s Farm and visit the farm, gift shop, or bakery or maybe have a wonderful meal at the resturaunt and finish it up with their Festival of Lights that starts at 6pm nightly (weather permitting)and includes a live Nativity!

Marine Corp Community Services has several events planned for the holiday season including their annual Flotilla and Tree Lighting on December 6^th.

Toys for Tots has drop off locations throughout the city, for you to donate new boxed toys.

And if you are looking for Santa he will be at the Jacksonville Commons on Saturday morning, December 5th.

I hope to see you and your family at one or all of these great functions!

Our agents in Jacksonville, NC and Hampstead, NC are having a great week because the EXIT of the Carolinas regional rankings are in and they place in the number 1 and number 2 spots for the state.

EXIT Homeplace Realty is also happy to announce. Three of our agents made TOP TEN in the state #2 Christina Asbury, #3 Stephanie Gasparovic and #8 Alexis Pierson.

EXIT Homeplace agents’ value production and success in business and in life. We attribute that success to an attitude of “get by giving”. We train to be the most effective Realtors® in the business and care about the needs of our clients.

Congratulations to our agents and staff for this achievement!

Are looking for that perfect gift for the person that has everything?

With the holidays coming up it’s time to start thinking ahead. I have found that when I cannot find the perfect gift for that hard to buy for person on my list that it’s time to start thinking outside the box.

But where do I start? Well if you’re like me, then you are juggling work, kids, and holiday baking. I just don’t have time to run around looking for something or want to settle on a generic gift card, but I do want to put a little bit of effort into finding something memorable.

So, I have done a little pre-season research and found several local businesses that offer great gifts for those of us that don’t want to pull our hair out this holiday season.

If you are looking for something to send a family or someone that already has everything, try a gift basket.

You can try Finders Keepers thrift store on Hargett Street. They make wonderful themed baskets for very reasonable prices and ALL the proceeds go to the women’s shelter here in Jacksonville, NC.

Carolina Basket Case on Bishops Gate has a wonderful selection of gift baskets and you can shop online.

And if you haven’t had the pleasure, Edible Arrangements on Henderson Drive has chocolate dipped fruit that you can get in a beautiful arrangement.

If a basket is not what you’re looking for, then how about trying a gift card to one of our local day spas?

Or what about one of the local golf shops or sporting good stores right here in town?

If none of these ideas fit, then as a last resort just buy yourself something nice and tell that hard-to-buy for person that you saved them a trip and bought your own gift this year!

Happy Holidays!

 Northwoods United Methodist Church is sponsoring its annual Pumpkin Patch Fundraiser during the month of October. 

The pumpkin patch will be open on Wednesday, September 30th from 9am-7pm weekdays and noon-7pm on Sundays, until Oct. 31st. 

For more information, please call 910-347-9727. 

OKTOBERFEST COMES TO DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE!

National Volkswagen presents the Onslow Oktoberfest in Jacksonville NC

It’s that time of year again and Oktoberfest is happening Saturday October 24th at Riverwalk Crossing Park, in Downtown Jacksonville!  A 5K run/walk is scheduled to start at 8am and there will be a polka band, maypole dancers, Celtic Music and Contra dancing among the entertainment that will last from 10am to 7 pm. 

What a great way to spend an autumn day with your family!

  OR WHAT BETTER WAY TO SPEND FAMILY TIME THAN AT THE PARK?

Did you know that Jacksonvhttp://www.ci.jacksonville.nc.us/ille NC has over a dozen parks?  Several have playgrounds for the kids, picnic areas, ball fields, outdoor basketball courts and nature trails.

  Sherwood Forest Park and Brook Valley Park even have tennis courts. There are even skateboard parks for the daring. And there are disc golf courses too.  You can even Adopt-A-Park! 

For more information about the parks in Jacksonville, please call 910.938.5200

Jacksonville, NC is a wonderful place to raise children with tons of fun things to do.

What is a corn maze?

It’s like a huge puzzle … tall and ripe with fun surprises around any corner. It’s a tribute to old-fashioned family fun!

30 Acres and a Mule Farm
Jacksonville, NC
(910) 324-4499

Not scared enough?

A Haunted Forest might be more your style. It’s held at Marston pavilion on Camp Lejeune. The Haunted Forest offers two paths, the Trail of Terror and the Purgatory Path. This hike it sure to get you heart racing.

Marston Pavilion Haunted Forest

Jacksonville, NC
(910) 451-2785

Still have your whits about you?

The Nightmare Factory is not recommended for the faint of heart. Offering on of the scariest haunted houses in NC and a blackout maze you will be sure to scream.

The Nightmare Factory

Havelock, NC
(252) 444-FEAR

Want to be really scared?

Camp Geiger, Jacksonville – Is said to be haunted by the young mistress of a married, military officer and was hanged because it was believed she planned to tell the wife of the officer about the affair. It is said the loop in the noose was too wide for her small neck and she died days later from either asphyxiation or hunger. Other say she is a body that was found in the swamp in the back woods.

Footsteps and screaming in the land navigation woods on the base right outside of Camp Devil Dog have been heard by some local Marines. They relate that sometimes, a young girl will come out to the road. If she encounters a female, she stands and twirls her hair while looking at the ground. But males have said when she sees them, she screams. She is very beautiful, with wide, bright eyes that seem to stare in the distance.

JACKSONVILLE NC – EXIT HOMEPLACE REALTY - AGENTS OF THE MONTH.

Congratulations to brokers Tina Kmetz as "Listing Agent of the Month of September 2009" and Christina Asbury "Sales Agent of the Month of September 2009".

At EXIT Realty we recognize the accomplishments of our Great Real Estate Agents. With 3 EXIT offices in the Cape Fear Region we are ready to welcome you as one of our Dedicated Realtors...

Tina Kmetz has been a Jacksonville resident for close to ten years and comes to the area from Pennsylvania. She and her husband love the warm temperatures and southern hospitality that are synonymous with living in the south. She is strives to provide her clients with the best service she can give. And often goes above and beyond what you would expect in a realtor! And she has been a Million Dollar Club winner since 2007. Call Tina at 910 265-8860 or visit her website at www.jacksonvillehomelocator.com for more information.

Christina Asbury is a dedicated realtor that serves Pender, Onslow, Brunswick, and New Hanover counties and is known as The Land Realtor. She has lived in the area for 13 years and has been a real estate agent for 6 of those years. She specializes in working with builders, investors and developers, and is the first Eco-Broker in eastern NC. And she is knowledgeable in energy efficient and environmentally friendly homes and building practices. Christina has also been a winner of the Million Dollar Club since 2007! Call Christina at 910 262-3948 or visit her website www.TheLandRealtor.com for more information.

Would you like to Join us? Call (910) 538-5397 and ask for Dana Scalici; she is there to help you prosper in your career.

Hampstead Realtors - Jacksonville Realtors - Burgaw Realtors

EXIT Homeplace Realty recently welcomed back four representatives from this years EXIT convention in Washington DC. The focus of this year’s convention really seemed to be geared toward being ready for a recovery. Alexis Pierson, Ellen Hough, Christina Asbury and Dana Scalici headed off last Tuesday from their office in Jacksonville, NC for the 6 hour trek to DC and were glad they did.

Speakers like Bob Proctor, featured on “The Secret”, John Miller (Flipping the Switch) and Stedman Graham (You Can Make It Happen) graced the stage along with some of EXIT Head Office’s finest, Steve Morris, Tami Bonnell and Joyce Paron. The overwhelming theme was that our attitude truly determines our altitude!

We learned about new free tools (PromoShoplite) that our company is providing to help us do our jobs better and introducing new initiatives (Teal is the New Green) to help make the world better.

We were inspired by breakout speakers who are a testament to EXIT’s mission of learning from each other and mentoring.

We got the chance to see old friends and make new ones who live all over North America and rub elbows with some of the kindest most down to earth “big wigs” we’ve ever met. It was a truly inspiring week but we’re glad to be back to share what we have learned with our colleagues and use to better serve our clients.

Have you heard the buzz around Jacksonville? The Onslow County Fair is coming to Jacksonville for its 54th year! It will be at the Onslow County Fairgrounds on Broadhurst Road from Monday Oct. 5th thru Saturday the 10th!

Vendors may contact Gerald Griffin at 910-330-0723 for more information.