Memorial Day weekend 2010 will go down in the books as one of the best if not the best 3 days of weather you could ask for. Many people came to enjoy the lake and fun they had. Eating establishments were packed and C-Stores did thriving business. Marinas were selling gasoline for boats and lodging was full around the lake. You could not tell the economy was soft being here over the holiday.

Saturday, I had lunch at the new Aqua Grill on Monkey Island. This new marina with grill on the marina deck was booming with business. My Angus Burger and fries were excellent, just like a gourmet burger should be. Watching the boats on the lake and coming in/out of the marina was fun and the cool breeze off the lake made it a very enjoyable lunch.

Last Thursday I had lunch at the new resturant at Honey Creek Landing in Grove, The Lazy Parrot. My fish sandwich and fries were very good. We ate inside but enjoyed the lake view at the Honey Creek Marina in Grove.

Soon Grove will have another new eating establishment at the North end of town, just South of Sailboat Bridge. Broklee’s Grill will soon open. The owner is a former manager at the local Rib Crib. I would be that Brok will do well in his new venture as well.

Millie’s Gifts and an RX Shop will be opening soon on Grove’s Main Street. Millie has been a fixture for years in Grove and we are all anxious to see what she will be offering in her latest venue.

Come enjoy your part of your summer with us on Grand Lake. You will not be disappointed. You may even catch the real estate bug. If so, we have the cure! Call the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake. Aaron Hughes and Joe Neill, for Aaron call 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net. For Joe call 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net. We have mighty nice waterfront homes on Grand Lake to offer as well as lakeview homes, or golf course homes. You can dream alittle by going to our Grand Lake MLS button above. We hope to see you soon.

Friday March 19, 2010 Mr. Eddie Gibbs, the new owner of the now named Shangri La Country Club held an informational meeting regarding the club at the Vista Towers on Monkey Island at Grand Lake. About 200 people were in attendance and all were thrilled at the new ownership of the jewel of Monkey Island. The Peninsula Resort and Mr. Pete Boylan is gone and from the crowd’s reaction last night, no one seems to be missing them. In fairness to Mr. Boylan, many of his plans were great but timing was awful. He also needed a PR person as he managed to make all the old members feel unwanted. Mr. Gibbs wants the old members back as well as new ones.

Mr. Gibbs reported the following:

New 8000 square foot 2 story clubhouse will be built just north of the water tower on holes 2/3 of the golf course. The two displaced holes will be moved to the now practice range. This is on the premier Blue Course.

The old pro shop that was formerly home to Shangri La Realty will be torn down.

A grill, bar, and fittness center will be on the second level of the club house with the grill open about 2/3 of the year from 7-3. Club house should be finished by end of 2010 with Mike Long in charge of construction.

Mr. Gibbs does not want to be in hotel business but did not rule out a future lease or sale of the old hotel site or perhaps giving in and doing a 110 room hotel himself.

Future plans would be to have a second 9 holes along highway on west side of road coming in on the old Gold Course.

The old west  or Gold  Course that was shut down last year will be mowed at a 4-5″ height. The area in front of Shangri La Place and The Villas will also be maintained this way. He will honor the no build easement in front of these last two subdivisions.

He will keep the marina permit in place by the Shangri La Marina but has no plans at this time to build a marina but if need is there will work with Shangril La Marina’s owner, Mike to put in more slips. He will not develope the Davis Cove Marina as previously purposed by the Boylan group.

They have about 110 members now and need minimum of 220 to break even. Mr. Gibbs says project will be debt free and he expects to lose money first 3 years but after that if not paying he will dump it. At one time the club had over 300 members and he feels it can again. It will be an open course unless membership gets to 400+. You can get nightly rental lodging at World Mark-Trend West time share lodging at the south end of the course. They can be reached at 800 867-2095.

The new owners expect to have 7.5-8 million invested in property purchase, new club house, practice facility, new golf holes, and course renovations.

Membership can be purchased at no cost for a short window of time. Before club house is finished he will go to a fee of $5-7000 to join and will not announce the cut off date of no fee. Monthly dues will be $299 for Executive Membership, $246 month for Senior Membership over 70 years of age, and $239 per month for Junior Membership.

Jason Sheffield will be the General Manager. Dale Forest of United Golf will be in charge of renovations of golf course. Mark Thomas of Architects Collective will be the designer of the new Club House. A golf pro will not be hired until early next year. The grand opening celebration will be in March 2011.

There will be a social membership announced later. At this time there are no plans for a swimming pool. They do plan to provide a family atmosphere.

They welcome comments and will soon have a new comment email address but for now you can send comments to Stephanie Gragg, customer relations at 918 257-4204 or email her at stephanie.gragg@shangrilaok.com

Not one bad comment was heard from the huge crowd last night. The Monkey Island and Grand Lake home owners and guest to the area are very grateful for Mr. Gibbs investment in the Shangri La Country Club.

Now for my comment, if you have been thinking about a lake home, now offers many positive reasons to buy including

1. Prices are at the lowest in 3 years due to the economy problems we have had. With strength showing in the economy and national real estate we expect the 5-10% loss of home value to be gained back soon.

2. Interest rates will not stay this low very long.

3. The new Shangri La Country Club will enhance real estate values on Monkey Island and in particular the subdivisions closest to golf course including The Chateaus, The Shangri La Estates, Shangri La Place, Point Marin, The Villas, Vista Towers, St Andrews, and again all other communities on Monkey Island.

To search for property on Grand Lake and the entire Grand Lake MLS go to the search button above. In the featured listings you will find many of our favorite listings including MLS number 10-441, a condo in Shangri La Esates which is along the golf course and this waterfront  home has an ocean like view. You can own it now for $335,000,

Call the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake for information on Grand Lake real estate. Aaron Hughes at 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net or Joe Neill at 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net We hope to hear from you soon.

The Shangri La Resort last known as The Peninsula on Monkey Island at Grand Lake has a new owner and new very viable plans to restore the resort to a great attraction once again. This time the economics will not permit a new hotel but a new club house with dining room, fittness area, and social area will be built and the course will be restored to A-1 condition. Work is scheduled to start soon. There is also a narrow window to join or rejoin the Club without an entrance fee.  Monkey Island and all of the Grand Lake area residents are extremely grateful for Mr. Eddie Gibbs taking the helm of this fine Club. Mr. Gibbs almost had it bought once before but a last minute contract hangup stopped the sale. This time the ownership has passed to Mr. Gibbs.

Dale Forrest with United Golf Unlimited, a club member, and lake resident will be in charge of course improvements. Joe Wilkenson will be the Architect in charge of designing the new clubhouse. They hope to use native rock from the old hotel in the new building to make it feel like an old friend. Mike Long of Mike Long Construction will build the clubhouse.

A meeting has been set for Friday March 19 at 6:00 pm at the Top of the Towers for club members, former members, and others interested in joining. Plans, cost of membership, and details for the club will be talked about at the meeting. For a short window of time, memberships will be available with “no initiation fee”. Once construction is fully underway, there will be a fee to join. To attend this meeting call the Shangri La at 918 257-4204 or email stephanie.gragg@shangrilaok.com and make a reservation.

Here’s your chance, let’s support the Shangri La Country Club. It makes Monkey Island on Grand Lake the great place it is for a weekend lake home or full time retirement home.

For information on homes in the Monkey Island area or anywhere on Grand Lake contact the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake in Grove, OK. For Aaron Hughes call 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net or Joe Neill at 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net We hope to hear from you soon. Search the Grand Lake MLS at the button above.

The weatherman has been kind to the Grand Lake area of NE Oklahoma this week. Today is Tuesday November 3, 2009 and the third day in a row of beautiful fall weather. It is forecast to be great thru this weekend. You should plan a trip to the Grand Lake area and enjoy it’s pretty fall beauty. You can get in some special and unique Christmas shopping, enjoy some different fine dining, and just unwind in the slow paced area of lake time.

If you have been thinking about a second home on the lake or a retirement home at the lake, now is the time to be looking. We have not seen wholesale price changes on homes, but many times in the fall you can make a bid that gets that special home in your price range bought right. Sellers hate to carry over homes until the spring and will play “lets make a deal” many times.

We can help you find that special place that fits your needs and desires whether it be a waterfront home, golf course home, or lakeview home. We also have many nice homes in gated communities available. Call Aaron Hughes at 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net or Joe Neill at 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net for that special service in finding just the right place in the Grand Lake area. We are the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake in Grove, OK.

We all know that Grand Lake is a great place to have fun, relax, make memories, and do all kinds of water sports but we also have several unique dining spots for both lunch and dinner.

In Grove for lunch we enjoy The Backporch Cafe at the gate to the Harber Village musuem. Here you won’t find fine china but you will enjoy gormet sandwiches for all tastes and nothing like a fast food joint will offer.

Another day you might enjoy Raggedy’s located on Hwy 25/10 as you go east out of Grove. Raggedy’s will have sandwiches, salads, soups, and deserts for all tastes and like no other place you have been.

For a great lake view while dining for lunch or dinner try Light House Grill at The Landing Shopping Center at the foot of the Honey Creek Bridge on Hwy 10 going south out of Grove. The Light House Grill has food for all tastes you will enjoy. I like the pecan crusted chicken salad. The mashed potatoes and chicken fried steak are another favorite of many.

For Mexican food, I would go downtown to La Casita De Hoovers just west of 3rd and main street. Here you will find authentic Mexican food that will really hit the spot. Shrimp and fish tacos are a favorite here. I don’t think you will go wrong with any entry on this menu.

The Rib Crib on main street is the favorite place for good barbeque with a chopped barbeque beef topped with hot links a wonderful choice. Of course, if you like ribs, this is the place to be also.

Royal Bay, at the base of Sailboat Bridge at the north entrance to Grove is a dinner spot you will enjoy. Steaks, seafood, and chicken will be found to delight you.

My Place at the intersection of hwys 59/125 is rustic looking but the food is out of this world with great barbeque, hamburgers, steak, fish or about anything you might want.

On Monkey Island, I would go to Shebangs for food and fun with fish, pasta, or pizza items on the menu and selections from casual to elegant, this is a great place to enjoy the evening dining with family or friends.

The Roadhouse is my favorite for steak on the entire Grand Lake area. The salad with blue cheese crumbles and french dressing is great and a just right baked potatoe to go with the meal. You might also enjoy the cocunut shrimp or one of their nightly specials here also.

Teramiranda Resort cafe is nice to dine in or on the deck if the day is pretty and look at the water. You can enjoy burgers, sandwiches, breakfast all day, or I like their grilled shrimp on a stick over rice with the salad bar.

The Artichoke on hwy 82 just north of Langley is a favorite on South Grand Lake for steaks and seafood or chicken for nightly dining.

Pensacola Pizza and Pasta just before the Grand Lake dam in Langley is a nice spot for lunch or dinner. They have pasta and pizza out of this world along with a good sampling of all kinds of good food. They also will deliver to the boat docks by the dam if you wish to pick up by boat.

 There are more great places to eat including for members the Cherokee and Arrowhead Yacht Clubs. So the next time you think Grand Lake especially for fall and winter think Grand Dining and visit one of the above choices. I don’t think you will be disappointed.