The Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts is the premier center in Brevard County for viewing plays, shows and concerts. The center is attached to Melbourne's Brevard Community College campus on Wickham Rd south of Pineda. We always have a wonderful group of shows scheduled. Upcoming events include the musical Oklahoma, Menopause the Musical, the classic album series (which has the Beatles Rubber Soul and Revolver album) and the band Creed. I have seen top acts like Tony Bennett, Bill Cosby, Gregg Allman and much more taking there turn at the King Center Stage. Parking is easy and the King Center is centrally located within Brevard County so it is a fairly easy drive from anyplace. Obviously if you are looking to see Lady Gaga...a trip to Orlando, Tampa, Miami or Jacksonville ... 06/26/2012

Are you visiting or live in the Melbourne, FL area...do need something to do with kids? Try the Andretti Thrill Park! From amazing attractions like the Super Speedway, the F1 Track, the JR. Indy Track, the Andretti Challenge, the Wave Rave, Mini Golf, Laser Tag, Arcade, Batting Cages, Mini-Bowling and more. FYI...some of the rides do have height restrictions so go to the website and make sure your kids fit the criteria...http://www.andrettithrillpark.com They charge by the hour or day to use the attractions (you can also ride the individual Andretti Challenge for $14.95) and they often run specials. Here is a link to the specials they have online: http://www.andrettithrillpark.com/specials.html They offer some food options that are not totally awful (Pizza, subs, chicken, etc...). We l... 06/18/2012

The Brevard Zoo is hosting it's annual Summer Saturday Nights now through July 28. The zoo is extending hours of operation to 9 p.m. Admission is $5 per person from 5 to 9 p.m.  Gates close at 8 p.m. Zoo members will get in free. Each Saturday, most, but not all of the zoo animals are out on exhibit until dusk. Guests can also go kayaking, ride the train, and feed giraffe at an additional charge. There will be live music from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The music will include: June 23: Honey Miller June 30: Brevard Symphony Orchestra Woodwind Trio July   7: Bee & Boo July 14: Sax on the Beach July 21: Highway 1 July 28: Brevard Symphony Orchestra String Trio The Brevard Zoo is located at 8225 North Wickham Road, Melbourne, FL 32940 See you at the Zoo!   Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL Broker-Associate M ... 06/17/2012

Thank you to Diane for hiring me to professionally market and sell your father's home in Parkway Meadows. There was a lot of work to prepare this house for sale. I appreciate all of the hard work that you did before the house even went on the market. The sale would not have been possible without all of your efforts.   Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL Broker-Associate M & M Real Estate, Inc. Residential, Investment and Relocations We have a team of professionals to facilitate your Short Sale. Melbourne Real Estate / Palm Bay Real Estate 321-253-4545 or 321-733-6080 SandyShoresMelbourne@hotmail.com ____________________________________________ Serving Brevard County Florida for 16 Years Brevard County Resident for 37 Years Melbourne, Palm Bay, Suntree, Viera, Rockledge, Cocoa, Canaveral Groves,... 05/11/2012

Congratulations to Bob and Gail on the purchase of their new home in Greystone in Melbourne, Florida!  I know they are going to really enjoy it. My favorite part of working in Real Estate is the new people that I get to meet.  So many wonderful people have come into my life.  And as the years progress we become great friends!   I love it!    Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL Broker-Associate M & M Real Estate, Inc. Residential, Investment and Relocations We have a team of professionals to facilitate your Short Sale. Melbourne Real Estate / Palm Bay Real Estate 321-253-4545 or 321-733-6080 SandyShoresMelbourne@hotmail.com ____________________________________________ Serving Brevard County Florida for 16 Years Brevard County Resident for 37 Years Melbourne, Palm Bay, Suntree, Viera, Rockledge, C... 05/07/2012

The Melbourne Arts Festival is in full swing and tonight is the that the bands come out to play! The headliners are the Georgia Satellites and they will be hitting the stage at 7:30pm. Many other local bands will be playing from 1pm until around 11pm. Do not forget to also check out the art, food and kidsworld! This is the top festival of the year and you will have plenty of options for parking...if you are beachside a park and ride is set up in Indialantic at the Indialantic Plaza (with Longdoggers). Here is a link to the festival: http://melbournearts.org/entertainment.asp 04/28/2012

Carolyn Smith, Realtor – Things to do in Brevard County, Florida: Mark Your Calendar for This Year’s Melbourne Art Festival, April 28 & 29, 2012! The Melbourne Art Show is held annually in Historic Downtown Melbourne, Florida, and this year’s show will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 28 & 29. Festival hours will be from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm on both days. The Melbourne Art Festival is a nationally recognized event featuring over 250 of the finest artists in the country. There will be a huge variety of high quality, handmade art that will appeal to many different tastes and budgets. The Melbourne Art Festival will be set up along New Haven Avenue in Historic Downtown Melbourne. During the two days of the Art Show, New Haven Avenue is closed to vehicular traffic, so patrons can comforta... 04/16/2012

Carolyn Smith, Realtor – Things to do in Brevard County, Florida: Check out the Welcome Home Veterans Parade and Concert in Melbourne, Florida This Weekend! Hey Melbourne, Florida… Let’s salute our troops and veterans this weekend at the Welcome Home Veterans Parade and Concert! This patriotic event will be held on Saturday, April 14th in beautiful Historic Downtown Melbourne. This will be an awesome evening of lots of great music and events to honor our local soldiers, and let them know how much we appreciate their hard work, dedication, and service to our country. The parade portion of the event will take place from 4 pm – 5 pm, with the parade route following New Haven Avenue in Downtown Melbourne. The parade will feature the famous Wells Fargo stagecoach, Rescue 4 fire truck from Qu... 04/10/2012

On the Central Atlantic Coast of Florida is the Indian River Colony Club. This golf course community offers Florida retirees a fantastic lifestyle in a beautiful scenic location. Located in the town of Melbourne, this completed 55+ community is made up of 770 homes, all of which overlook the community golf course or lakes and many of which include their own swimming pool. The homes at this country club community are available in a wide price range starting from the high $100’s and going up to the mid $800’s. The homes were built between 1986 and 2006. Today’s offering of resale homes will typically include most of the 16 different floor plans ranging in size from 1,019 to 2,098 square feet. Many of the homes include popular features such as Florida rooms, covered lanais, vaulted ceiling... 04/03/2012

        Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL Broker-Associate  M & M Real Estate, Inc.  Residential, Investment and Relocations  We have a team of professionals to facilitate your Short Sale.  Melbourne Real Estate / Palm Bay Real Estate  321-253-4545 or 321-733-6080  SandyShoresMelbourne@hotmail.com  ____________________________________________  Serving Brevard County Florida for 16 Years   Brevard County Resident for 36 Years  Melbourne, Palm Bay, Suntree, Viera, Rockledge,   Cocoa, Canaveral Groves, Merritt Island, Titusville, Mims,  Melbourne Beach, Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach,   Satellite Beach, Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral  ______________________________________________  I buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.  Visit me on my Google Profile Page  Visit Melbourne FL Real... 04/03/2012

Space Coast Association of Realtor's Government Affairs Committee in Action, Brevard County, FL Space Coast Association of Realtor's Government Affairs Committee, in conjunction with the Melbourne Association of Realtor, of Brevard County, FL are planning a joint Candidates Forum in June, 2012. The purpose is to interview candidates from local, state and federal levels on issues that are pertinent to Realtors. On Monday, April 2, the members of the Candidates Forum Committee met to discuss guidelines and the process for this 3 day event. Jack Greacen from the Florida Realtor gave us a two hour training for those who will be participating to ensure a fair and professional process. As Realtors, we are very concern with laws and policies that govern our everyday lives and and effect how we... 04/02/2012

Carolyn Smith, Realtor – Local Dining in Brevard County, Florida: Easter Brunch in Melbourne, FL Easter is almost here, so hop to it… it’s time to make your reservations for Easter Brunch! To help you out, I have compiled a list of some of my “top picks” for Easter Brunch in the Melbourne, Florida area. Hope this helps you find the perfect place to enjoy a relaxing Easter Brunch  Beachside Hotels offering Easter Brunch: Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront - Located on A1A in Indialantic, the Hilton will be offering an Easter Brunch buffet from 10:30 am – 3:00 pm. The Hilton’s dining room offers views of the beach and Atlantic Ocean, so it is the perfect spot to enjoy Sunday morning brunch. Call for reservations, because I believe they will be offering seating in the ballroom as well, so i... 04/01/2012

  Kristi Ballard is a Melbourne, Florida area residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Melbourne, Melbourne Beach, Satellite Beach, Cocoa Beach, Indialantic, Indian Harbor Beach, Viera, Suntree, Cape Canaveral, Palm Bay, Titusville, Cocoa, Port St. John, Rockledge, Central Florida or any place in the country. Kristi has created a team of professionals throughout Brevard County, Central Florida and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit http://www.BrevardShortSaleExpert.com to Avoid Foreclosure / Short Sale Help, or http://BrevardForeclosureRescue.com Our Websites http://www.CastlesByKris.com or http://www.CastlesByKrisTeam.com. If you’re a Buyer looking for Great Deals –  Please g... 03/31/2012

A+ Plus School of Real Estate - Melbourne, FL  After spending the last 10 days in my post licensing class with A+ Plus School of Real Estate in Melbourne, FL, I now can get back to blogging. No, the class was not ten days long, but from beginning to end, I was focus on passing the class. In Florida, a new licensee has to take a 45 hour/3 hour test before renewing their Real Estate license. A new licensee is on a probationary license until taking the class and renewing the license. The purpose of the class is to help new licensees learn business management and attain skills to build their business. Don DeLucas is the owner/instructor of A+ School of Real Estate in Melbourne, FL. He makes the class interesting and focuses on what we need to learn to be better agents. He divides the class ... 03/26/2012

Let me start by saying the Chart House is one of my favorite places to eat on the Space Coast. I say this because the Chart House is a chain restaurant...and I rarely write about....or even like Chains. They tend to be sanitized versions of places we all grew up with...and these sanitized versions tend to pale in comparison to the originals. The Chart Hose decided to chart (no pun intended) a different course. I have been to five Chart House restaurants throughout the U.S. and they all have certain things in common: 1. Amazing Views 2. An awesome salad bar 3. Steaks and seafood that seems to always be very well cooked. To me they are sort of the McDonald's of chain restaurants...no surprises when it comes to your meal, good food, friendly service...and a memorable view that will have y... 03/26/2012

More great economic news is coming to the Space Coast! Embraer...a leading Brazilian Jet Manufacturer is set to begin construction on a 24 million dollar Engineering and Technology center at Melbourne International Airport. The center will be built on 13.2 acres and the building itself will be about 67k sqft. Embraer intends to hire as many Space Coast employees who formally worked for NASA or supporting companies as possible. They claim an average annual income of hired employees to be in the 70k range. Officials from Embraer are saying that when they reach full capacity they will employ about 200 people. In a Florida Today interview Frank DiBello who is the president of Space Florida claimed the engineering center will put the Space Coast on par with places like Wichita Kansas and Sa... 03/22/2012

Carolyn Smith, Realtor – Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Melbourne FL! What a gorgeous St. Patrick’s Day in Melbourne, Florida! On this 17th day of March, it is 77 degrees, with beautiful bright blue skies and a perfect slight, cool breeze. Absolute paradise! The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade took place in Historic Downtown Melbourne at 11 am this morning, and it was jam-packed with festive families out enjoying the day and celebrating the luck of the Irish! The parade was a definite hit, and everyone seemed to enjoy the music, dancing, costumes, marching bands, antique cars, floats, and more. Downtown Melbourne’s Irish restaurant / pub,Meg O’Malley’s, was already bursting at the seams with a long line of folks waiting to get in to enjoy some lunchtime Corned Beef and Cabbage… and maybe a Gu... 03/17/2012

Florida has the largest Cuban population in the U.S. The Miami and Tampa areas are rich with Cuban heritage, culture and restaurants...on the Space Coast we have yet to have a large Cuban influx...but thankfully we have a few really good Cuban restaurants and El Ambia Cubano is one of the best! El Ambia Cubano is a small restaurant built in an old Historic Melbourne home that overlooks a river and park. The restaurant has tables inside as well as a sizable outdoor porch and some stools up at the counter facing the kitchen. Although the parking lot for the restaurant is small...you can always find parking in the near by City parking lot. The issue you may have here is the food is so good and authentic you may find yourself waiting on a long line to enjoy the wonderful Cuban options offe... 03/11/2012

Along the south side of the Melbourne Causeway as the bridge begins to head to the beach and Indialantic...a small park exists that is one of my absolute favorite spots in the Harbor City. The park is called Kiwanis Park at Geiger Point...and it is a perfect place to have a picnic, begin your run over the bridge and back...or just view the beautiful picturesque setting from this cool little park that seems to jut out into the middle of the Indian River. This park has very limited amenities that include parking, a 1/4 mile walkway, benches, a pavilion, BBQ area, fishing and taking some beautiful pictures. Many local runners and walkers use Kiwanis Park as a starting point for their run to the beach...or just over the bridge and back (challenging because of the steep incline and decline ... 03/09/2012

Last week I was out showing houses to out of town buyers. We looked at houses for three days, and I'm pretty sure we saw about 25 properties by the time the last day rolled around. The buyers had narrowed the selection down to their final three. They were trying to make a decision on which house they wanted to buy: the house that suited their wants and their needs. I recommended we go back and look at all three of them again.   It's good for a buyer to look at houses a second time, on a different day, at a different time of day (if possible, in our market of multiple offers).   Houses can look different the second time around. The buyer had seen numerous properties, so their perception has changed. The way they look at houses has changed, as they get a better idea of what's on the marke... 03/07/2012