With the holidays upon us, we all know the temptation to splurge is in high season. Is there any way around those extra pounds, feeling better about ourselves, or even improving our health and wellness this time of year? Do we really need to wait to get on a better track?

Now that the peak tourist season of Summer has passed, many beachgoers look forward to Fall for quiet, leisurely, and more peaceful vacations at their favorite beach community. Come Winter, things will pick up as snowbirds seeking a respite from the frigid northern climates descend on beach towns. The migration from season to season is predictable, but it does change, and, kind of like the weather, especially as economic conditions fluctuate. 

Joey Mason of Mason Hills Farm in Grand Bay, Alabama, has done a lot in his 40 years. He’s the kind of man who doesn’t let the moss grow under his feet. He’s not afraid to take a risk, hard work doesn’t scare him, and he always sees a bigger vision for what things can become.

I was recently invited to sit in on a roundtable discussion with the principals of Portside Advertising and three of their long-term clients. The occasion was Portside’s 20th year of being in business, providing clients with advertising counsel and marketing execution. The subjects were how methodology has changed and progressed over the years, and what subsequently, the future holds.

In 1965, Kelley Wolff’s grandmother, Betty Joe Wolff, opened Page & Palette, the renowned fourth-generation bookstore in Fairhope. She opened a second store location in Perdido Key’s Coquina Village shopping center in 1985, and Kelley worked at this store. Her identical twin, Karin, took a break from the family business and worked in the Orange Beach location of Coastal Video.

With the Ryder Cup Golf Competition this weekend, it seemed like a good time to check in on one of the PGA Tour’s preeminent golf legends, Jerry Pate. As he is always on the go, we managed to meet at his office at Jerry Pate Turf & Irrigation in Pensacola. We reminisced about life, his company, his golf playing days, the people he has encountered, and his role in helping build Pensacola into the city it’s become.

Cam Marston is a man of many talents. His latest creation, Alabama Writers Showcase, is on Alabama Public Radio and features writers like John Nielson, telling his fictional story set in John’s hometown of Evergreen, Alabama.

George Fuller III is one of Fairhope's true creative spirits, but you can't tell his story without heading up the road to Spanish Fort.