Sportsman Open 252 Guide in Orange Beach AL | Boat Slips, Fishing, Real Estate | Meredith Folger Amon

Sportsman Open 252 in Orange Beach, Alabama: A Practical Gulf Coast Guide That Also Thinks About Real Estate

When I’m helping buyers compare Orange Beach waterfront options, one question shows up fast: “Where will the boat live, and how do I want to use it.” The boat in this photo is a classic example of what works well here, a Sportsman Open-style center console with the glass-windshield enclosure that’s become a signature look on many Sportsman Open models.

I’m going to use the Sportsman Open 252 as the reference point because the proportions and enclosure in your image closely match this configuration, and it’s one of the most common “sweet spot” sizes I see across the Gulf Coast for boaters who want inshore flexibility with…

2478 Views, 0 Comments

Orange Beach, Ono Island and Gulf Shores Market Update

ORANGE BEACH, ONO ISLAND AND GULF SHORES MARKET UPDATE

Single-Family Market Update (Baldwin MLS): Ono Island, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores | Through November 2025

November Market Snapshot (Single Family Homes)

• Inventory tightened year-over-year in most segments, especially previously owned homes on Ono Island and Gulf Shores.
• Closed sales increased in November 2025 across the board for previously owned homes, and Gulf Shores new construction also showed a noticeable jump.
• Prices are telling a “mix” story: averages moved sharply in a few places because luxury…

3502 Views, 0 Comments

Federal Red Snapper Season Reopens for Charter Boats: What It Means for Gulf Coast Anglers

Federal Red Snapper Season Reopens for Charter Boats: What It Means for Gulf Coast Anglers

Along the Alabama Gulf Coast, red snapper season is a big part of our rhythm on the water. Friends who run charter boats out of Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and Dauphin Island often tell me that the snapper opener feels like another holiday on the calendar. This year, that “holiday” is getting a quiet but important encore.

NOAA Fisheries has announced that the federal red snapper season for federally permitted for-hire vessels (charter and headboats) in the Gulf of Mexico is reopening to close out 2025. After reviewing updated landings data, scientists determined that anglers did not catch the full federal for-hire allocation during the primary season, so…

3340 Views, 0 Comments

An Afternoon on Ono Island

An Afternoon on Ono Island

This afternoon, I am sitting on Ono Island, feeling overwhelmingly grateful to call this island home. The world feels quiet in the best way, and as I look out over Old River, the view pulls me into one of those rare moments where everything slows down.

The December light is softer this time of year. The sun drifts through the clouds and sends rays from every direction, almost like the sky is putting on a quiet, private show for anyone taking the time to notice. Right in the middle of that light are two pelicans in flight.

They are flying together so beautifully that it…

923 Views, 0 Comments

Vista Bella & Legacy Key Condos on Ole River | Orange Beach Waterfront Guide

Vista Bella & Legacy Key: Ole River and Ono Island Condo Living in Orange Beach, Alabama

Along this stretch of Orange Beach, two riverfront buildings sit quietly side by side on the north side of Perdido Beach Boulevard, watching boats move along Ole River and looking across to Ono Island. Vista Bella sits to the west; Legacy Key sits immediately to the east.

When I walk this corridor with neighbors and future neighbors, the conversation almost always turns to these two communities. Both offer deeded Gulf beach access across the street, both are beautifully sited on Old River, and both are designed for people who want a more residential, low-density feel rather than a high-turnover vacation environment.

Where Vista Bella…

241 Views, 0 Comments

How Builders Use String Lines To Start New Home Construction In Orange Beach, Alabama

How Builders Use String Lines To Start New Home Construction In Orange Beach, Alabama

When I walk a new-construction lot in Orange Beach, Alabama, or over the bridge onto Ono Island, one of the first things I look for is the web of bright nylon lines stretched across the sand. Those simple strings tell me a builder is being intentional about layout, level, and long-term performance on the lot.

New home construction on the Gulf Coast is very visual for me. I love standing on a cleared site and imagining where the front porch will face, how the primary bedroom will catch the morning light, and how high the floor system will sit above the water or street. Before any of that becomes reality, the crew does something very old-school and very…

4105 Views, 0 Comments

Babs’ Homemade Southern Mac and Cheese – Gulf Coast Comfort Food

BABS’ HOMEMADE SOUTHERN MAC AND CHEESE

Every family on the Gulf Coast has a dish that shows up at every holiday, funeral spread, and baby shower. For my family, this is it. My mom, Babs, has been making this homemade Southern mac and cheese for as long as I can remember, and it has become my go-to soul food dish when I need something warm and steady at the end of a long real estate day.

The recipe is simple, comforting, and forgiving, with a creamy onion-and-garlic cheese sauce, a whisper of Worcestershire for depth, and a buttery breadcrumb and Parmesan crust that bakes up beautifully golden. When I pull this out of the oven, it smells like my childhood kitchen and every holiday table we ever gathered around.

Why I Love This…

4037 Views, 0 Comments

The Perfect Grilled Mahi Fish Sandwich on the Gulf Coast

THE PERFECT GULF COAST GRILLED MAHI FISH SANDWICH

Some recipes are less about impressing a crowd and more about capturing a moment. For me, a grilled mahi mahi sandwich tastes like late afternoon light over Orange Beach, boats sliding back into their slips, and that quiet exhale after a full day along the water. It is simple on purpose, the way the best coastal food tends to be.

Friends and neighbors will tell you I am particular about seafood. When you live between places like Gulf Shores and Ono Island, you learn quickly that the magic is in the quality of the catch and the restraint of the…

4230 Views, 0 Comments

Brazilian Onyx Coffee Table at Melanie Martin Interiors in Orange Beach

Brazilian Onyx, Gulf Light, and a Showroom Moment in Orange Beach

A Coastal Showroom Visit That Stopped Me in My Tracks

I spent time recently in Orange Beach at Melanie Martin Interiors, and one piece in particular made me slow down in the best way. Tucked into a beautiful vignette was a Brazilian onyx coffee table, low and sculptural, with a soft oval top resting on a cylindrical base wrapped in vertical panels of stone. The shape is clean and modern, but the onyx brings that natural depth that only the earth can create.

The color story is what grabbed me first. Creamy alabaster tones, whispery honey-gray shadows, and faint warm veining move through the surface like coastal clouds at daybreak. Nothing shouts. Everything speaks. The…

5246 Views, 0 Comments

Ono Island Bridge & Waterfront Homes on Ole River | Orange Beach, Alabama

One Way Onto Ono Island – The Bridge, The Water, and The Waterfront Homes Along Ole River

I took this photograph in the middle of November, drifting along the calm water at the entrance to Ono Island. The sky had that soft, layered blue that often settles over Orange Beach this time of year, and the bridge rose in a clean arc across Ole River, carrying neighbors back and forth to their homes.

In the distance, you can see the roofs of waterfront homes lined up along Ole River, each one with its own dock, boat lift, and way of embracing Gulf Coast living. When I look at this image, I see more than a bridge. I see a threshold – the single road that connects Ono Island to the rest of the world.

Is There More Than One Bridge…

766 Views, 0 Comments