It’s been 30 years this fall since the first edition of Downtown Alive! in Lafayette (DTA!), now an Acadiana tradition. This new season begin September 7th with some New Orleans Jazz and Swing by Kirmit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers. The following week will feature great Zydeco music by Horace Trahan and the Ossun Express. Here the full schedule also found on the official Downtown Alive page (click on image, you can then zoom in).

Downtown Alive! in Lafayette is a free, smoke-free, family-friendly, outdoor concert series. Doors open at 5:30 and the music starts at 6pm (unless otherwise noted). They ask that you leave your pets and your ice chests at home; there are food and beverages concession stands on site.

For more information, visit the Downtown Alive! page here.

See you there!

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

My daughter and I went driving around yesterday in search of a couple of lighthouses near Shédiac in New Brunswick. This one is in Grande Digue, a small community along the coast just north of Shédiac.

This particular lighthouse is not open to the public and is a working lighthouse. The road leading to it is a gravel/grass right of way. It made me feel like I was driving on someone’s property.

After a few minutes there, we met Jody. She owns the little house seen here and lives right next to it. She told me that when the owner of this home died, she purchased it because she didn’t want someone buying the property to build a large home on the coast and block her view. I say good thinking. Buying property around yours is indeed the best way to pick your neighbors.

Jody rents the little cottage to tourists between June and September and she always keeps an eye on the lighthouse.

We can hardly see it in the picture but there is a clothes’ line hanging from the house to the lighthouse, which I thought was pretty cool. I don’t know about you but the thought of hanging my clothes on a lighthouse by the sea for a few days is very appealing to me. Send me an email if you want to get in touch with Jody.

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

Something needs to be said about looking for holes in the sand on a deserted beach at low tide and then digging clams for your supper. I’m not sure what, though, except perhaps that I love digging them just about as much as I love eating them.

Clam digging in Shemogue New Brunswick is a family tradition for us. When I was growing up, we would come to Shédiac every summer to visit with my mother’s parents and siblings and clam digging is one of the things we always did. Back then, we had 3 generations of Richard folks on the beach because my grand father always came and there were usually a few of us kids mostly fooling around on the beach, playing in the mud.

Our family has been going to the same beach in Shemogue (New Brunswick) for 60+ years now; my mother remembers going there with her parents and siblings when she was growing up. No telling how far back the tradition actually goes.

These pictures were taken yesterday. These are my parents with the yellow bucket and some friends from Quebec who joined us on the campground this week. While our crowd is much smaller when we go clam digging these days, the meal we have later is just as good. And we still had 3 generations of Richard descendents on the beach with my daughter mostly playing in the mud while we dig.

We had a great meal last night and enough leftovers to cook a clam chowder today. Yummy and free. It hardly gets any better than this. Today, we may go for oysters and mussels in the same fashion just on a different beach. Care to join us?

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

Pending home sales remain high in Lafayette parish and Acadiana. In our entire MLS, pending sales in Acadiana are still way above 700 at 762, while in Lafayette parish, they are at 511. Last year at this time, there were 464 sales pending in Acadiana and 280 in Lafayette parish.

Meanwhile, inventory has remained fairly stable in Acadiana and Lafayette parish. There are currently 2181 homes for sale in Acadiana and 1149 in Lafayette parish.

If you have any questions about real estate, send me an email. It will be my pleasure to help!

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

I was going to write about pending sales in Lafayette, days on the market average, and inventory but today is Acadian Day and I’m in New Brunswick where this is a big deal. If you want to experience something different, visit what we call l’Acadie around August 15th in the Maritimes and you are in for a treat!

Today, Acadians celebrate their heritage and their culture in many different ways. It’s like a 4th of July around here. This is a picture I took last year at the Tintamarre in Shédiac. A tintamarre is people taking over the streets, making noise with improvised instrument (a pot and a wooden spoon, for example) or other noise makers. They also waive flags and wear the colors and most of all, have some fun.

This is a very family friendly kind of celebration. There are activities for the little ones in several communities throughout the day. I’m not sure what we will do today, yet, but I’m off to figure it out!

Bonne fête des Acadiens tout le monde!

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News