The Lakeside Life Blog
Smith Lake Alabama | Lewis Smith Lake Alabama
2/20/2023 0 Comments Boating Etiquette on Smith LakeThe dawn of a new lake season arrives with an official kick-off around spring break each year. The fact that many schools start spring vacations annually at the end of March means the lake gets busy well before summer. Those of us who live on Smith Lake full time have the good fortune to be able to enjoy a very calm and serene lake during the many months off-season, but the inevitable long on-season period often lasts from late March well into October, sometimes later depending on weather in a given year. There are years when our family can remember waterskiing, kayaking or paddleboarding into early December, but it's not every year that happens. Early spring is a good time for all of us to reflect on how we’ll react to the rush of more people, boats and activity overall. The words we cherish most are TOLERANCE and RESPECT. Every single one of us has a different way that we experience lake life. But that is not to say that we cannot appreciate the ways that others enjoy their lake experience in their short summer season of primarily late May through early August. Everyone is doing their own thing, in their own way, and it’s all good. We like to think that collectively, we simply make a silent pact as a community to stay drama free and tolerant of one another. Having respect for others is the key to making sure we can keep that pact intact. It’s simple, and listed below are just a few ways to exhibit respect showing basic good boating etiquette, and therefore earning tolerance from others as we all enjoy lake days in our individual ways. Don’t be “that guy” - get your good boating etiquette hat ON well ahead of season!
Again, these are all just some favorite community ideas collected from our surveys in the Smith Lake Community Facebook group about how to have a wonderful time on Smith Lake while being conscious of community etiquette.
Written by The Lakeside LIfe Team Photography by Terry Turner Updated: 5/16/24 Original Article Date: 3/1/19
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12/15/2022 0 Comments Boat Show Season 2024A favorite time of year for all those who LAKE is Boat Show Season - occurring at the beginning of every year, usually in January, sometimes into March. For us, it means SPRING is just around the corner. The lake area begins to be in high gear for the next boating season as soon as the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve! It's certainly the case for us. Most of the folks in our area enjoy attending several boat shows each year. Favorite shows are within about a 3 hour driving range. Attending shows allows a fun reason to get out and go visit another city, reconnect with other boating friends aka "your lake people," and getting excited for a new season by checking out the vendors - favorite boat brands, marinas, lake life brands and lake-oriented businesses. Attached is the list of 2024 boat shows you might like to attend - in order by date. All shows are a short drive from the lake area. (we'll try to update this listing each year as soon as we get confirmed info, but also keep the contact information at hand so that you know how to reach out annually for additional information, vendor apps, vendor lists, floorplans/maps and tickets.)
For information on more boat shows further away like the Nashville, Atlanta, and Orlando, FL areas, just Google 'boat show' info for the states you're visiting.
Now, just grab your favorite lake folks, pack up the car and head out to the boat shows of your choice. ENJOY! 12/1/2022 0 Comments Things to Do at Smith LakeAccess: First of all you have to get here. Traveling to the lake is quick and easy:
Once you have an address of where you want to go, everything is accessible via GPS, but keep in mind that most of the lake is still very rural, so traveling around can be tricky. There are still some dirt/gravel roads in the area, as well as some hard pack roads. If you're veering off main highways and don't have a 4-wheel-drive, just be mindful of road conditions in inclement weather. Activities: there are so many activities to enjoy on Smith Lake. We'll list a few of our favorites below.
Also, check out the bottom of our blog on Lewis Smith Dam and Powerhouse for information about visiting the Alabama Power Company Powerhouse. If you would like more information about our area, we encourage you to check with the local Chamber of Commerce for each city/county you plan to visit and/or the tourism boards in those areas. In true southern style and hospitality, they will all graciously provide even more detailed and factual information about their specific areas.
We have gathered these facts from numerous sources for the benefit of our community, so please feel free to offer any edits. Call/text us at 256-708-7679 or email us at [email protected]
INSTRUCTIONS
6/1/2022 0 Comments RECIPE - Huli Huli ChickenBelow find the article photo from the magazine for one of our favorite lakeside dishes, Huli Huli Chicken. Just message us if you need a copy of the .pdf recipe card for this dish or any that we've printed in the magazine.
1/20/2022 0 Comments Social Media Tip - using @ vs #Proper use of "@" vs "#" for Smith Lake AL AdvertisersThis tip is primarily for all our advertising businesses in the Smith Lake Alabama area, but is a good tutorial for anyone who is not aware of how the "@" and "#" features work on social media and particularly as it concerns your advertising/marketing perks - FREE advertising for those who utilize. Quick descriptions of what each feature does: "@" (mention) feature - this activates a live link for Facebook/Instagram users to click and go directly to the "@" mentioned business page, and additionally (which is most important for our advertisers) produces a notification to the "@" linked page/user (our marketing team) that you want them to see a post and/or act on a post. "#" (hashtag) feature - does not link or send a notification to anyone or any page - but is simply a "search" feature for both Facebook and Instagram (& Twitter), and honestly this feature is getting less and less important. We encourage our Smith Lake advertising businesses to join our main page The Lakeside Life - Smith Lake Alabama, and our Facebook Groups, Smith Lake Community and Smith Lake Small Businesses @smithlakebiz as your company page(s), not just as an individual person; otherwise your company cannot be properly linked/tagged, and your company is not being auto-notified by Facebook (or Instagram) when recommendations for you are being made by our team through our pages, or by members or customers who try to "@" mention/link your company for others to find you quickly. Not joining as your company page causes others to not easily discover your company with a simple click. Again, if you are not a member of a page as your company page, when an "@" tag for you is attempted, it will show as simply grayed-out/not highlighted indicating Facebook (or Instagram) is not auto-notifying you, so you never know that you were recommended or mentioned in a post or comment and readers of the comment were unable to connect quickly to your business. In short, if you are one of our print advertising businesses who wish to take advantage of FREE reposts on our social media, please use the "@" (mention) feature - again it activates the link and produces a notification to the linked page/user (i.e our marketing team) so we know to check out your post and repost it on our social media. Remember, the "#" (hashtag) feature does not notify our marketing team; therefore you will miss out on free reposts. It's so important for businesses not to miss out on FREE social media help - so please simply use "@" mention - it only takes a nanosecond. If you have any questions or need help with social media, please connect with us, we're here for you and ready to help. Remember, for certain levels of advertising, reposting is a complimentary feature of your print package (provided you use the "@" mention feature properly, so use in a caption, comment, or on a photo OR simply send the post to us either via social media or email. Please do not miss out on our help and assistance. If you need additional social media services, we can connect you with a great team of reputable LOCAL resources for every level - all very affordable. We caution businesses to be very careful of any person(s) who represent themselves as social media or marketing representatives but are actually only targeting your accounts to gain access to and capture your database of followers/customers/connections for personal gain. This can be very damaging to your business. Sadly this type of parasitic behavior has been going on, and it is unfortunate that we have seen local businesses fall prey to being used and targeted this way. It is not wise to give out passwords to your businesses social media and email accounts too easily without proper research and recommendations. Just reach out and ask when you have questions, we're here to help by phone or email. Thank you! Mai Tai recipe submitted by readers Tamara & Michael SansburyToday was an off and on rainy day on the lake, so a perfect one to kick back on the covered deck with a cocktail and relax with a good book or just enjoy the scenery and the sounds of the refreshing summer rain! We were so glad to see this fun photo pop up in our Instagram DMs at just the right time, so we requested the recipe. It just so happens we borrowed 2 ingredients from a neighbor with a well-stocked bar, and now it’s evening and here we are making our own, thanks to readers Tamara & Michael Sansbury. INGREDIENTS 1 oz Jamaican rum 1 oz rhum Agricole 1/2 oz dry curaçao 1/2 oz orgeat syrup (an almond cocktail syrup that you can buy at most fine liquor stores or if you are super fancy, make your own at home - see recipe below) 1 oz fresh lime fresh mint sprigs to garnish INSTRUCTIONS Shake, strain, drink, repeat! 🍹🍹 Drink responsibly and enjoy! CHEERS! ~~~~~~~~~~~ ORGEAT SYRUP from liquor.com INGREDIENTS 2 cups blanched almonds 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/4 cups water 1 oz brandy 1/2 t orange flower water (or rose water) INSTRUCTIONS • Pulse almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Set aside. • Combine the sugar and water in a pot over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Boil the syrup for 3 minutes, then add the ground almonds. • Turn the heat to low and simmer for another 3 minutes, then slowly increase the temp to medium-high. Just before it starts to boil, remove it from the heat and cover. • Let covered nut mixture infuse for 3-8 hours. Strain it through about 2 layers of cheesecloth, discarding the ground almonds for another use. • Stir brandy & orange flower water into syrup • Use a cocktail funnel to pour orgeat into a jar. Seal and store in the fridge for about 2 weeks. |
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June 2024
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The Lakeside Life
767 County Road 437 Cullman, AL 35055 [email protected] www.thelakesidelife.com (256) 708-7679 Main (205) 470-8250 Marketing Pinterest: @thelakesidelife Instagram: @thelakesidelife_smithlake Facebook: @thelakesidelife Facebook Group: Smith Lake Community Also check out our stores: The Lakeside Life Store Lakeside Gear MasterPro Audio Amazon Store |
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