Gary and Mary's Blog

Private Setting in Street Maryland

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:10:57 -0600

Gary and Mary Nelson | Long and Foster Bel Air North | 410-459-4158 O: 410-879-8080

1331 Macton Road, Street, MD

PRIVATE SETTING, LOTS OF SCENERY, LOTS OF ROOM!

5 Bdrm Single Family House

offered at $979,000

Year Built	1987
Sq Footage	3,800
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	4 full, 0 partial
Floors	3
Parking	4+ Car garage
Lot Size	11.12 acres
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

Walk in your large living room from an enclosed porch, where you will find hardwood floors, built in bookcases, and large window with a view. Of to the right is the large country kitchen and family room w/ fireplace and another sun room. The wrap around deck has a lovely view of the 11+ acres of rolling hills and beautiful scenic view. This is a must see home for someone who will love the privacy.

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Central A/C	Central heat	Fireplace
Walk-in closet	Hardwood floor	Family room
Living room	Bonus/Rec room	Dishwasher
Refrigerator	Stove/Oven	Basement
Washer	Dryer	Balcony, Deck, or Patio
Yard	Swimming pool

COMMUNITY FEATURES

Garage parking

Storage space(s)

OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES

Private setting

Scenic View

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Gary and Mary Nelson

Long and Foster Bel Air North

410-459-4158 O: 410-879-8080

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Nov 27, 2007, 5:38am PST

Joppa Maryand Market Report - September 8, 2007

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:09:55 -0500

The following is the market report for Joppa Maryland in the last 7 days of activity:

Total Active Properties: 124

Total properties under contract: 20

Total Properties sold in last 30 days: 4

This small community is showing lots of activity, inventory is low and we noticed a decrease in active homes from the beginning of August. Lets hope that this continues in September.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR

Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc.

Direct Line: 410-459-6920 Office: 410-879-8080 ext: 6026

http://www.harfordcountyhomes.net/

Abingdon Market Report - September 8, 2007

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:03:47 -0500

The following is the market report for Abingdon Maryland in the last 7 days of activity:

Total Active Properties: 260

Total properties under contract: 45

Total Properties sold in last 30 days: 10

The first week in September shows Abingdon with lots of active properties. Being that this is a townhome community, a majority of these will take some time to sell. It is hoped that now that the holidays are past, that buyers will begin to be serious in searching for the home of their dreams.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR

Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc.

Direct Line: 410-459-6920 Office: 410-879-8080 ext: 6026

http://www.harfordcountyhomes.net/

Edgewood Market Report - September 8, 2007

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 15:58:35 -0500

The following is the market report for Edgewood Maryland in the last 7 days of activity:

Total Active Properties: 219

Total properties under contract: 39

Total Properties sold in last 30 days: 11

The first week in September looked good in Edgewood, with 11 properties closing the last week. Active properties remain constant and total under contract changed very little. With the holiday past, I am forcasting that Edgewood will start seeing an increase in closing for the rest of the month.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR

Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc.

Direct Line: 410-459-6920 Office: 410-879-8080 ext: 6026

http://www.harfordcountyhomes.net/

Dive Report - Washingtonian

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:44:50 -0500

A little off the subject, but thought that some of you might like to hear about something other than mortgage company's, real estate, or what is usually talked about here. This is a dive report for a wreck dive we did on Sunday.

Myself and 5 others made the trip to Indian River, DE. to catch the dive boat "To Dive For". We had chartered the boat and decided to dive on the Washingtonian. This ship was sunk in a collision with the Elizabeth Palmer back in 1915 and is laying in 90 feet of water off Ocean City Maryland about 15 miles of the coast. It took us a hour and 15 minutes to make it to the site, the ocean was with us by being smooth with very little wave action. We anchored in without any problems and made it down to our first dive. Things might have been good on the surface, but at depth; it was pretty lousy. Visibility was at around 10 feet if we were lucky and there was a slight current on the bottom. My first dive was a collection of things not to do on a dive. Within a few minutes, I lost my dive buddy on the wreck and so did most of the dive without anyone around me. DUMB. Then when it was time to surface, I got turned around and found myself at the wrong end of the wreck and had to do a free accent without the anchor line. Suffice it to say that I am kind of embarrassed with my actions...

The above are two photos I took on my first dive. As I said before, visibility was really bad so I didnt get to many good photos. The left side was some star fish I had seen, the right was a fuzz ball I thought was interesting.

So, on the second dive of the day; I took the lessons from the first dive and did a text book dive, down the anchor line, used wreck reel to keep from getting lost again, stayed with buddy, up anchor chain and did deco stops. Both dives were enjoyable even with the issues. Maybe next time, I can get some decent photos of the wreck itself.

Hope you enjoyed the dive report.

Gary Nelson

Long and Foster Real Estate

Direct: 410-459-6920 Office: 410-879-8080

www.HarfordCountyHomes.net

Harford County Market Report - August 2007

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:14:03 -0500

The following are the housing statistics for the month of August 2007 in Harford County:

Total Active: 1884 (Holding steady compared to July 2007)

Total under contract: 131

Total Sold: 273

Total Withdrawn/Expired: 260

The total under contract drastically reduced in numbers for August compared to July, probably due to the fact that folks are getting that last little vacation in and getting the kids ready for school. The total active is holding fairly steady, total sold was slightly up from 254 for July and withdrawn/expired is pretty much the same as July. I would expect things to start picking back up in mid-September.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTORS

Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc. http://www.harfordcountyhomes.net/ 410-515-6026 o: 410-879-8080

501 Catalpa Lane, Edgewood MD. 21040 $224,900

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:38:45 -0500

Gary and Mary Nelson | Long and Foster Bel Air North | D:410-459-4158 O: 410-879-8080

501 Catalpa Lane, Edgewood, MD

Needs some updating, but a great price!

3 Bdrm Single Family House

offered at $224,900

Year Built	1962
Sq Footage	1,001
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	1 full, 1 partial
Floors	2
Parking	Unspecified
Lot Size	10,112 sqft
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

Your Chance to own a SFH for the price of a townhome! Features 3 BR, 1.5 BA, hardwood floors throughout, large rear yard, 1 car garage, located at the end of the cul de sac. Kitchen/bathrooms with recently installed flooring, windows, hot water heater also recently installed. This home is close to all major highways leading to Baltimore and Delaware and close to Flying Point Park where you can enjoy a day with the family. Don't wait to see this gem with a history, call today to get your private showing.

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Central A/C	Central heat	Hardwood floor
Living room	Dining room	Stove/Oven
Basement	Washer	Dryer
Yard

OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES

Lovely older neighborhood

Close to shopping

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Gary and Mary Nelson

Long and Foster Bel Air North

D:410-459-4158 O: 410-879-8080

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Aug 30, 2007, 8:42am PDT

Edgewood Maryland Market Report

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 10:23:07 -0500

The following is the market report for Edgewood Maryland in the last 7 days of activity:

Total Active Properties: 221

Total properties under contract: 41

Total Properties sold in last 30 days: 2

August continues to be slow, which historically; normal for this time of the year. We are hoping that after the holiday, things will be back to a steady pace.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR

Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc.

Direct Line: 410-459-6920 Office: 410-879-8080 ext: 6026

http://www.harfordcountyhomes.net/

4406 Greenwich Ct. Belcamp Maryland 21017 Harford County

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:21:40 -0500

Gary and Mary Nelson | Long and Foster Bel Air North | 410-459-4158 O: 410-879-8080

4406 Greenwich Ct., Belcamp, MD

You have to see this to believe it! Well maintained...

4 Bdrm Townhouse

offered at $243,900

Year Built	1996
Sq Footage	1,508
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3 full, 0 partial
Floors	3
Parking	None
Lot Size	2,000 sqft
HOA/Maint	$45 per month

DESCRIPTION

This home has had some remarkable updates, you will need to see it in order to appreciate the fine landscaping in the rear yard, the additional bedroom located in the basement, the full bath rooms that were completely remodeled, just to much to continue. The Kitchen is amazing. A quiet area, yet close to shopping and entrance to I-95, this home has more living space than many single family homes.

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Central A/C	Family room	Living room
Dining room	Dishwasher	Stove/Oven
Attic	Basement

COMMUNITY FEATURES

Playground

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Gary and Mary Nelson

Long and Foster Bel Air North

410-459-4158 O: 410-879-8080

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Aug 24, 2007, 10:16am PDT

420 Oakton Way, Abingdon Maryland, Harford County Real Estate

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:06:25 -0500

Gary and Mary Nelson | Long and Foster Bel Air North | 410-459-4158

420 Oakton Way, Abingdon, MD

Immaculant is the only words that come to mind when I think of this home

3 Bdrm Townhouse

offered at $234,900

Year Built	1993
Sq Footage	1,294
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	3 full, 0 partial
Floors	3
Parking	None
Lot Size	2,000 sqft
HOA/Maint	$40 per month

DESCRIPTION

This very well maintained home is ready for the new owners. Close to the major transportation routes, shopping, and public transportation, you will find all the amenities that you could ask for. With 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, a family room with fireplace, and large living room/dining room with country kitchen, this could be your home for years to come. Call for a showing today!

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Central A/C	Central heat	Fireplace
Family room	Living room	Stove/Oven
Basement	Yard

OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES

Close to shopping center

Close to Highways and MARC train

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Gary and Mary Nelson

Long and Foster Bel Air North

410-459-4158 Office: 410-879-8080

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Aug 24, 2007, 10:04am PDT

Harford County Public Schools Open August 27th

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 10:21:22 -0500

On August 27th, the Harford County Public School System will open its doors for the 2007-2008 school year. Please keep this date in mind and drive accordingly to keep our kids safe. Keep the following in mind when driving around the neighborhoods starting next week:

Watch out for school buses, it is state law to stop when they are picking up or discharging students.
Drive slower around school zones, this makes it safer for students and cheaper on your wallet.
Watch out for kids crossing the streets, lots of times, they fail to pay attention.
Watch out around public library's, kids will be using them now for research.

Remember, the kids are our future.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTORS

Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc.

Direct: 410-459-6920 Office: 410-879-8080

www.HarfordCountyHomes.net

Mariner Point Park-Joppa (Harford County) Maryland

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:17:22 -0500

I recently wrote a blog on Flying Point Park, for this article; I want to tell you about Mariner Point Park. Mariner Point Park is located in Joppa, Maryland in beutiful Harford County near the Baltimore County Line. It's address is 100 Kearney Drive and the entrance is guarded by the "Old man of the Sea". As you can see from this photo, the Old Man of the Sea is very vigulant in making sure your safe in Mariner Point Park. In front of the statue you will find an old anchor laying on its side.

As you enter the park, you will see on the right a boat launch capable of launching 3 boats at one time. On weekends, you can imagine that this is a very crowded place. I found that if I did not make it here by 7:00 am, I would not have a parking place and would have to wait until someone came back before launching. On the left is where we would park after launching the boat. Again, my biggest complaint here is there is not that many parking spaces.

Continuing past the boat launch area, you will find another area where you can launch your canoes or kayaks. When you launch here, you are entering a channel that will lead out to the Gunpowder River and eventually out to the Chesapeake Bay. Boaters have to be real careful, some areas don't have that much depth which could cause you to bottom out the boat or engine.

Another prominent market you will see at the entrance is this welcome sign to the park. It is located of to the right of the Old Man of the Sea.

The Park is 37.7 acres of waterfront land that is found on the penninsula of the Taylors and Fosters Branch Creek. You will find lots of woodland, and what I like most; lots of places to relax and fish at.

People living in the area are lucky that such a place exists in such a short distance, and I hope that family's take advantage of what our parks have to offer.

This is a sign that is presently at the park as of this blog, showing what the recreation council is doing to improve the park itself. There seems to be a lot of dredging going on that will allowing deeper draft boats to use the channel that leads to the Chesapeake.

They say that this project will take 2-4 years, but as with any government organization, we should probably double that. What they do seem to be doing is minimizing the interuption of use of the park.

The above photos show the pavillion and a relaxing bench near the channel where I will occassionally fish at. There are also about 2 miles of nature trails inside the park where you can get some excercise or just take the kids on an easy stroll.

420 Oakton Way, Abingdon Maryland

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:33:05 -0500

Located in Harford County Maryland

This very well maintained home is ready for the new owners. Close to the major transportation routes, shopping, and public transportation, you will find all the amenities that you could ask for. With 3 bedrooms including a master bath and 3 full baths, a family room with fireplace, and large living room/dining room with country kitchen, this could be your home for years to come. Call for a showing today!

With a brick front, this townhome is ready for the new owners to move right into. With barely the minimum of customization, you won't be sorry that you took the time to view this lovely home.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTORS

Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc.

Direct: 410-459-4158 Office: 410-879-8080

www.HarfordCountyHomes.net

Edgewood Maryland Market Report

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:27:21 -0500

The following is the market report for Edgewood Maryland in the last 30 days of activity:

Total Active Properties: 216

Total properties under contract: 49

Total Properties sold in last 30 days: 23

As you can see with the above numbers, Edgewood Maryland has a wide variety of homes available to the home buyer. If your interested in buying a home in Edgewood Maryland, please don't hesitate to contact Gary and Mary Nelson of Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc. for your home buying needs.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR

Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc.

Direct Line: 410-459-6920 Office: 410-879-8080 ext: 6026

www.HarfordCountyHomes.net

Cecil County Maryland Market Report

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 07:38:24 -0500

Cecil County continues this month with a steady supply of homes, below are the report for the month of July 2007:

Total Active: 958

Total under contract: 167

Total Sold: 69

Total Withdrawn/Expired: 112

The numbers has not changed all that much in Cecil County, there are less homes available today than there were in June; but the amount is not even noticable. We still see some movement, though as with other places in the state; it is still slow. Lets hope the economic reports for this week will help out with interest rates, which in turn might help out with buyers getting of the fence and make a move.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR

Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc. www.HarfordCountyHomes.net

Harford County Market Report

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 06:38:36 -0500

The following are the housing statistics for the month of July 2007 in Harford County:

Total Active: 1877 (Down from over 1900 in June)

Total under contract: 383

Total Sold: 254

Total Withdrawn/Expired: 276

Things had been slow during June, but have picked up considerably in July. Buyers are starting to make a move, and sellers are understanding that to sell, they might have to give a little. The decrease in active housing available is the first I have seen since January. Lets hope that it continues.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTORS

Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc. www.HarfordCountyHomes.net 410-515-6026 o: 410-879-8080

BGE Rate Hikes arrives June 1st in Maryland

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Wed, 23 May 2007 08:51:34 -0500

BGE increase starts June 1!

On Friday, the Aegis reported that the rate hike for utilities charged by BGE will arrive on June 1. This hike is expected to increase our utility bill to about 50% of your average bill and will affect approxmately 90% of the residents of Harford County. This could be one of the reasons that Harford County home buyers are not out as expected for the usual spring push. I remember back a little over a year ago during our elections when this BGE rate hike first came to our attention. Back then, the legislators enacted a bill that capped the rate hike to 15% for 12 months. Now, the 12 months have elapsed and BGE is preparing to raise the utility bill for the citizens of Maryland.

Gas prices in our area have now topped the $3.00 per gallon mark and rising. Where does this continous increasing of essentials stop? What is the cause of the increases? More to the point, what affect will this have overall to your family's stability? I think now is the time to start thinking about what steps should be taken to save money. Lets just review some:

When your running errands, make one trip do it all.

You need to make a trip to the store, one thing you can do is decide if there is any other things needing to be accomplished for the day while your out. A public speaker I listen to told a story of how his mom would always tell him "Don't waste a trip" meaning if your going to make a trip to the store, also plan out any other things needing done and make only one trip do it all. This was primarily for a time managment talk, but it would also save you money by saving you gas.

Use energy saving light bulbs.

You can now buy energy saving light bulbs that are suppose to save up to 23% on your energy bill. They are floresent, and can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowes. They are also suppose to last much longer than the conventional light bulbs. These light bulbs can save a ton of money.

Let nature take care of drying your clothes.

The dryer is one of the biggest energy eaters you have in your home, the weather is now changing; why not let mother nature take care of drying your clothes.

Bottom line here is that prices are not going down, and probably will not go down in the foreseable future. We all need to do our part in saving energy, and there are tons of things that can be done.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®

Long and Foster, Harford County Maryland

A live a board like no other! Part 2

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Tue, 22 May 2007 20:57:17 -0500

This is the continuation of my previous post: Part 2

That afternoon, we moved to a spot called "Lurking Head" where we would do the afternoon dive and the first night dive of the trip. The afternoon dive is where we will get familiarized with the dive sight, and then at around 8:30 in the evening; we would make a night dive. Many folks ask me why I would want to dive at a time where visibility is at its lowest, my answer is that there are many nocturnal creatures that come out at night. We dove during the afternoon and then I took a nap in anticipation for our night dive. At around 8:30 pm, we splashed in and this was one magnificent dive. We dropped down to the bottom at around 55 feet and the first thing you will notice is all the other divers with their lights on will pretty much light up the area. We had one diver who had the grand deluxe in video equipment including two lights that would light up the night. We were swimming around and I finally found the one thing I was looking for, an octopus. An octopus by its very nature is a nocturnal creature. We found one sitting on the coral and watched him for quite a while. It was amazing when the octopus would move; he would change colors to match the coral that he was moving to. In my photo, you are able to see where he is changing colors from an orange to a blue color. I met another fish creature called a "Tiger Tail". Al and I was swimming along and I looked down and seen this odd looking shape lying on the bottom. Al decides to swim over and grab it, except as he was about to grab it, the "Tiger Tail" decided to move off. Just goes to show you that you need to watch what you grab down in the depths of the ocean.

Here are some more photos of the night dive:

Our days seem to blur thru, we wake up, eat breakfast, and then dive. Once back on the boat, we have a snack, move to another spot, and then make another dive. We have lunch, take a nap, during the afternoon we awake then dive. As if that wasn't enough, we also had the option to make a night dive if we so desired. The trip was nothing short of spectacular. On Tuesday afternoon, we stopped of at the famous Biminis Road, where some people believe the road to Atlantis is located. This spot is only 20 feet deep, so we did a snorkel here instead of diving. It was amazing to visit a place that is talked about so much on the History Channel. We then went into port for the night at North Biminis. This allowed us to take a long shower, have some local beverages, and enjoy some time on dry land. I visited the "End of the World" bar, which was made famous on the movie Silence of the Lambs. This was the back drop where Hannibal was speaking to Charisa and he made the comment that "He was going to have a friend for Dinner". Interesting place, the floor was all sand; the ceiling had wall to wall undergarments hanging from it.

We left North Biminis and headed North toward the Grand Bahamas, our next dive was what was called the "Shark Dive". This was the most unique dive of the trip, we all descended to the bottom and placed our backs close to some coral heads. The crew then dropped a basket full of food down to the sharks and we were able to watch them feed. I got this great photo of two sharks swimming by, but you had to be there to get the full excitement out of it. Once the sharks were fed, we then proceeded to swim around where we seen many other sea creatures, including a big old Barracuda.

On Thursday, we did three dives and then headed back to what the crew would refer to as the "House". It literally was a house located in the channel at Port Lucaya, the home base for Blackbeard's charter. This ended our week of exciting dives and we all prepared to make the trip back to the US and home. As trips go, this was one of the best dive trips I have been on thus far in my short diving life. If you ever get a chance to take a trip on a live a board, I highly recommend you take it, it is like no other. I hope that you enjoyed my report on our fabulous week in the South Atlantic.

Below are just some other photos that I took on the trip, again; I hope you enjoyed my story of this adventure.

A live a board like no other!

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Tue, 22 May 2007 18:43:43 -0500

Part 1 of 2

Recently, I was fortunate enough to go on a cruise like none other with Blackbeard's Charter. I have decided to write about the trip, I hope some of you might be interested in a trip like no other. When people think of a cruise, they think of a large ship with casinos, comfortable staterooms, games, swimming and all other kinds of amenities. The cruise I was lucky enough to be on was three square meals a day, a bunk shared in a dormitory style setting with 8 other guys, a bathroom that was smaller than most shower stalls, and a boat that would only cruise at about 8 knots per hour. Why would someone want to take a cruise on a boat like this? One word, DIVING! We dove in the morning, afternoon, and evening and seen things that many people will never see in their lives.

The boat was the Morning Star, one of three sailboats measuring 63 foot long and about 18 foot wide that was located in Port Lucaya Grand Bahamas. Under sail, she could muster about 3-4 knots depending on wind, and 6-8 knots when using the engine. She can make her own water, has a galley, can carry up to 22 passengers, a crew of 6, and has three heads (bathrooms) and one shower facility. On this trip, we had 18 passengers, 17 men and 1 lady. We arrived at the Morning Star on Saturday at around 2:00pm and begin stowing our gear for a week long voyage around the Grand Bahamas and Biminis Island chain. I was assigned to the most forward compartment that slept 8; we each had a bunk with a privacy curtain. I first stowed my clothes for the week, consisting mainly of bathing suits, and such, and then prepared my dive gear in my assigned area. The folks at Blackbeard's had grilled up some burgers and hot dogs for us, so I took advantage of some food prior to departure. Who knows how the food was going to be once we left port.

At about 2:30, the captain gathered us all around to give us our departure briefing. He discussed safety items such as man overboard, shipboard routines, abandon ship, and other necessary need to know things. He then introduced the crew. First was the co-captain, Ryan; who was 28 years old, and managed the crew during the trip. Ryan was from Virginia and has a degree in hotel management. Next we have Steph, the dive master who would be in charge of giving our dive briefings before we dive. She was from North Carolina, but lived in England for 10 years giving her a slight British accent. An important part of the crew was Katie, the cook. What would we do without Katie? Katie hails from Ohio and would do all the cooking during the cruise. We found out fast that she was really good at her job. Scott is the engineer in charge of making sure the engines work and that any mechanical problems get fixed while on the cruise. Scott was quiet so not really sure where he came from. Ken was the newest member of the Blackbeard's family this being his first cruise. Ken would handle all the nasty stuff that no one else would want to handle. Think sea sick here and who gets to clean up the mess. Fortunately, for Ken; it was nice weather the whole week and no one got sick. Lastly, we had the Captain, get this; Captain Ron. Captain Ron is from Florida, has been sailing for years, was a scuba diver instructor, a technical diver and of course is the person to make sure the boat gets back with all the passengers it left with.

After the briefing, we set sail at about 3:00pm and went a little off the coast of Port Lucaya for our first dive at a sunken tug called "Tiny T". This dive is designed to allow us to make sure our weight is right and that the gear is working, though many of us had already did two dives this morning prior to showing up at Blackbeard's. We dropped down to about 50 feet and swam around the tugboat, seen lots of coral, and generally made a good first dive. I seen a squirrelfish, which is something we will see plenty of in the in week to come. This dive overall was a great dive, the thing I loved about this trip is that each successive dive seemed to always be better than the last dive. After this dive, we hauled in the anchor and started our transit across the straits toward the Biminis Island chain. Our plans were to go to the southern most part of the chain and work our way back north to eventually have a port of call in Biminis on Tuesday evening. Our first meal aboard the Morning Star was excellent; we found that Katie was going to keep us with full stomachs for the week we were going to be here.

The next morning, we awoke to a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and hot coffee, and then prepared for our first dive of the day. Our first dive on this day was called the Little Cayman. This was one of two dives where the current was somewhat strong; we needed to use the anchor line to descend or take a chance of being carried away with the current. Once we got to the bottom at around 78 feet, the current did let up some allowing us to enjoy this dive. When we arrived at the bottom, we saw our first shark of the trip, which we found to be one of many to come. This old boy was just sitting there relaxing and so we just snapped our photo and swam off so as not to disturb him. Here we also found a ton of beautiful coral all around us. The water was around 80 degrees so was pretty comfortable for the dive. We spent about 25 minutes down there before surfacing for a surface interval and relaxing with some fruit as we moved to our second spot for the morning dives which was called Eagles Nest. During the second dive, we found that the current had eased up a lot and was able to drop strait down to the coral. This was another place where there was lots of coral, swim thru, and lots of creatures. We were greeted by a sting ray that was just relaxing some on the bottom. You would see a lot of white sand dotted with large coral heads sticking up. There was lots of coral and sea creatures to view and many swim thru's that allowed us to enjoy the dive and have lots to talk about when we surfaced. When we made our ascent, we found two barracudas there to keep us company and give us something to do while making our safety stop at 15 feet.

Below are some coral photos and fish we seen swimming by. I will post Part 2 shortly when I finish processing the photos.

Coming up next will be some shark photos.

Harford County Market Report

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 12:52:24 -0500

For those wishing to buy real estate in Harford County, the prospects are still looking excellent. Lots of homes on the market and low interest rates for mortgages make home buying at this time the smart thing to do. The home market snap shot for March in Harford County is as follows:

Total Active Properties: 1651

Total under contract: 160

Total sold in March: 261

Keep in mind that we are now in the time of the year where buyers are coming out to find their homes. Sellers are willing to make more concessions in selling so right now is the time to jump if your thinking on buying a home in the Harford County Area.

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTORS® www.HarfordCountyHomes.net

School Board! Elected or Appointed?

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 18:41:54 -0600

Harford County Letter to the Editor

The Aegis, March 7, 2007

An article from a Harford County School student concerning the school board, and whether this group should be elected or appointed. Currently, the Harford County School Board is appointed, but many counties in Maryland are discussing/already have school boards that are elected by the constituents.

My opinion! Let the people in the community elect the school board so that those it affects most can have a say in how the schools are managed. School boards that are appointed may not necessarily get quality people, ever hear of the "Good Old Boys Club"? It seems that the reason the above article was written is due to a school board that is not in touch with what is needed in the county's schools. The teachers and principals give their opinions on a policy and the school board flagrantly disregards those opinions. If the school board had constituents to answer to, then they might sing a different tune. I think it is time to change the process and let the community decide who will manage the schools of Harford County.

Gary Nelson www.HarfordCountyHomes.net

Flying Point Park, Harford County Maryland

Gary and Mary Nelson, REALTOR®, ABR, e-Pro, GRI (Long and Foster) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 16:46:37 -0600

Flying Point Park, located in Edgewood Maryland is where I launch my boat at a majority of the time. Located on the Bush River with easy access to the Chesapeake Bay, Flying Point has excellent boat launch facilities. Next to the park is Flying Point Yacht Club for fuel if needed. Flying Point Park also has an area for picnics and fishing.

Next time your looking for something to do, keep in mind that we have some great parks in Harford County.

Gary and Mary Nelson, www.HarfordCountyHomes.net