HSB FACTS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW  (Part 1).

GROWTH – PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE.

A)  When HSB’s completed the build out of its basic infrastructure in 1985, it had more  

      world-class offerings than any other resort in America, as follows: a) three 4.5-Star

      or better golf course when no other had more than two; b) America’s largest private

      airport; c) a location within 3½ hours driving time of five of America’s 19 largest

      cities; d) situated in a world renown geological paradise; e) occupied the “sweet-

      spot” of the spectacular Texas Hill Country; f) positioned on the world’s largest

      constant-level lake, America’s lake of choice for those who know; g) exceptional

      water sports and fishing; h) an extraordinarily attractive year-around climate; i) and

      a pleasing laid-back and friendly lifestyle.

B)  Although there were four resorts that stood out at the end of 1985 as HSB’s major

     competitors (California’s Pebble Beach, Colorado Springs’ Broadmoor, Tampa’s

     Innisbrook and Myrtle Beach’s Grand National), neither they or any other could match

     these HSB attributes, meaning HSB stood out then as AMERICA’s BEST DESTINATION,

     whether for a weekend or a lifetime.

C)  HSB’s private airport opened in 1972 as America’s largest, and remains that today as

     the most country’s most complete private facility, though it no longer has the longest

     airstrip.

D) Although HSB had been in business for about 180 months and was at peak health  

     when impacted by the Oil Crash of 1986, it was overwhelmed and fell from the peak

     of the resort world to a boarded-up state in a period of mere months as almost

     everyone in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma found themselves severely hurt financially

     by the Crash and huge numbers abandoned the oil patch and fled to adjoining states

     in search of jobs, leaving high-end second-home communities and resorts like HSB’s

     practically abandoned.

E)  HSB’s comeback, which began in 1999 as the price of oil began to rise off a 14-year

     bottom, but was setback twice, first by the stock market crash in March of 2000

     followed by 9/11 in late 2001, did not begin its current up trend until the recovery

     from 9/11 that began in 2003.

F)  Many of the musicians that make Austin the “Live Music Capital of the World” live in

     the HSB-Marble Falls area, which nicely augments the two communities’ joint efforts

     toward becoming a regional cultural center -featuring live music, fine art, crafts, and

     theater (both community and Opry).

G) Close to $3 billion of new projects have been announced for the HSB triangle – that

     20 square mile area bounded by US 281, Texas 71, the Colorado River, and Sandy-

     Walnut creeks – since the market crash of March 2000 and more than half of that is

     now underway.

H) The HSB-Marble Falls area was recognized in 2005 as being one of the nation’s 100

     fastest growing Agurbs, yet fundamental investment in the area has increased

     substantially since then.

I)  Fortune Magazine predicted in late 2006 that real estate values would grow faster in

     Texas for the foreseeable future than in any other state.

J)  Considering that HSB is Texas’ principal draw, being blessed as it is with such

     extraordinary attractions and having such an advantageous location to five of

     America’s largest cities, it is on tract to regain its late 1985 spot as America’s most

     desirable destination by 2012 - whether for a weekend or a lifetime.

K)  Based on its prior history, HSB may be more sensitive to the price of crude oil than

     any other locale in the country, which bodes well for its future well being, considering

     that the country’s economy will likely remain principally oil-based for decades and oil

     prices will likely remain exceptionally strong throughout the period.

HSB’s GOLF

A)  America’s largest Robert Trent Jones Sr golfing complex is located at HSB.

B)  HSB’S Ramrock Golf Course has been widely recognized as the toughest in Texas 

     since it opened in 1981.

C)  The Slickrock course, completed in 1973, is built entirely on igneous (granite) terrain,

     whereas Ramrock is confined entirely to metamorphic terrain.

D)  “GOLF DIGEST” ranked HSB’s Applerock Golf Course as America’s Best New Resort

     Course in America for 1985.

E)  The Applerock course is built 75% over metamorphic terrain and 25% over granite

     (igneous) terrain.

F)  In 2006, “GOLF DIGEST” ranked the three-county region centered on HSB as its third

     highest among the Top-18 areas in America recognized as emerging retirement

     golfing meccas.

G)  The Dallas Morning News ranked Escondido’s Tom Fazio Signature Golf Course as the

      finest new course that opened in Texas during 2006.

H)  Eighty percent of the Escondido course is built over granite; 20% over metamorphics.

I)  With the completion of Skywater’s Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course in late 2008,

     HSB will have more 4.5-Star or better public-accessible golf than any other city of its

     size in the nation.

J)  The Nicklaus course will offer by far the most varied geology of the five courses,

     crossing the major HSB-Marble Falls Fault, an older and much smaller thrust fault, and

     being underlain by all three major categories of rock – igneous, metamorphic and

     sedimentary.

K)  The Nicklaus course is the only one of the five that traverses sedimentary rock, with

     more than half of it being underlain by the Ellenberger Limestone.

L)  The Nicklaus people think the Nicklaus course’s natural setting gives it a legitimate

      shot at ranking among Nicklaus’ best and talk of it possibly measuring up with the

      likes of his best - Muirfield.

M)  Today, even without the Nicklaus course, where construction got underway in

      February, 2007, HSB has more public accessible 4½-Star golf than any other city or

      resort in Texas.

N)  Only two other cities (Austin and San Antonio) and two other resorts (Barton Creek

      and La Cantera) have as many as two 4½-Star courses.

O)  By itself, our small community is home to 1/8th of the public-accessible 4½-Star

      courses in the entire state, which is huge considering that Texas is home to six of

      America’s 21 largest cities.

P)  Folks, by considering that HSB’s youngest public accessible course - Applerock – is 22

     years old and that we nevertheless still rank this strong 22 years later, one can better

     appreciate how much stronger we were then and how we could have led America’s

     entire resort golfing world at the end of 1985.

Q)  At the end of 1984, HSB had the only 4½-Star public accessible courses in the entire

     state – namely, Slickrock and Ramrock.

R)  At the end of 1985, there were five 4½-Stars in Texas; HSB had three of the five.

S)  When the Nicklaus course - certain to be at least a 4½-Star course - is completed in

     late 2008, HSB will rank as having more public accessible 4½-Star golf than any other

     city of its size in the country, save for one, that being Kiawah Island, South Carolina,

     which has five.

Next week, we’ll get into one-sentence facts that involve the following subjects: 1) Local Geology, 2) Lake LBJ & Texas’ six other Highland Lakes, and 3) Climate, comparing HSB’s with Scottsdale’s.

23)  HSB FACTS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW (Part 2).

   LOCAL GEOLOGY

A)    A 10-mile diameter area centered on the northwestern corner of HSB is a

          world-renown Geological Paradise that affords one of the world’s best and 

          most penetrating views into the Earth’s geologic past.

B)    Marble Falls’ five-mile long Canyon of the Colorado, which confines the downstream portion of Lake Marble Falls, is 50 times older than the Grand Canyon, which is a mere five million years old.

C)    The Canyon of the Colorado has had two lives:  it carried sediment off the    

 Llano Uplift for 130 million years (from 120 to 250 million years ago); was 

 buried and out of commission for the next 100 million years (from 20 to 

 120 million years ago), and re-emerged 20 million years ago to regain its 

 function as the principal conduit through which erosional detritus from

 the Llano Uplift was carried to the ancestral Gulf of Mexico.

D)    Some 200 million years ago, the downstream end of Canyon of the Colorado was probably home to a truly magnificent waterfall, its fall measuring around 400 feet when measured to the base of its underlying scour hole, which remains carved 125’ deep and 500’ wide into the base of the river’s channel – said depression known today as “Bluebonnet Hole.”

E)    The Marble Falls Limestone is the hardest rock in the Llano Uplift.

F)     The waterfalls on the Colorado at Marble Falls, on the Pedernales just east of Johnson City and on Cypress Creek at Cypress Mills are all produced by

          the same rock formation – the Marble Falls Limestone.

G)    The “marble” falls at Marble Falls are not marble; they’re the product of 

          hard limestone ledges that river-borne fine sand particles have polished

          over the eons.

H)    HSB is unique in that it and Kingsland are the only cities located within Texas’ Sweet-spot – the small area in the heart of Texas that encompasses central Texas’ four most favored regions:  The Texas Hill Country, The Llano Uplift, The Central Mineral Region, and The Highland Lakes.

I)     Texas’ Central Mineral Region is one of the most commercially barren potential mineral regions in America.

J)     Due to its porous granite gravel soils, HSB seldom has any standing water, which means mosquitoes seldom have places to breed, which makes HSB one of most mosquito-free lakeside communities in the eastern two-thirds of America.

K)    The Llano Uplift is one of the most earthquake-free areas in the world, having not experienced an significant earthquake in 200 million years.

L)     The HSB-Marble Falls Fault demonstrates more vertical movement - over 4,000 feet of displacement – than any fault other seen in Texas.

M)   About 250 million years ago, the site of today’s Austin was 30,000 feet above sea level – as high as today’s Himalayan Mountains, the world’s highest.

N)    Whereas the state of Louisiana has with rare exception no rocks at its surface, the HSB-Marble Falls area has a greater variety of rocks than practically anywhere else in America.

O)   Sixty million years ago, HSB and Marble Falls were buried under sediment about one-half mile deep.

P)    HSB’s geologic window offers America’s most complete look at a practically continuous 1.26 billion year period of time, dating back from 100 million years ago to 1.36 billion years ago.

Q)   The granite plutons of the Llano Uplift – the Enchanted Rock and Granite Mountain plutons being among the best known – are among the world’s finest examples of an underlying massive granite batholith fingering upward into so many distinctly separate plutonic cylinders.

R)    Compared to the 1,360,000,000 year old metamorphic rocks that make up much of the Llano Uplift’s core, the Texas Hill Country is a Johnny-come-lately, forming only 20,000,000 million years ago, after the Balcones Fault Zone developed along a trend extending from Waco through Austin to San Antonio before turning westward, giving rise to the Edwards Plateau and separating it from the Gulf Coastal Plain.

LAKE LBJ & TEXAS’ SIX OTHER “HIGHLAND LAKES”

A)  A GOOGLE search documents there’s no larger lake in the world that is maintained at a more constant level than Lake LBJ.

B)  Lake LBJ, where one can get exceptionally up close with the lake, is America’s choice for lakefront living for those who know of its unique, one-of-a-kind features.

C)  Lake LBJ makes HSB literally unmatchable – without the possibility of being duplicated!

D)  Texas’ Highland Lakes, a chain of seven lakes located on the Colorado River, one above another, beginning with lowermost Town Lake in Austin, extends up river to Lake Austin, Lake Travis, Lake Marble Falls, Lake LBJ, Ink Lakes to Lake Buchanan.

E)   All of the lakes are pass-through lakes except for Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan, which function as flood control lakes, with Lake Buchanan releasing water as needed to keep Lake LBJ constant in periods of drought and Lake Travis serving as a catch pool to dump water into when needed.

F)   Lake LBJ is maintained to not exceed 2.9 feet above its 825’ pool level (save for situations exceeding 100-year flood conditions) to satisfy the turbine cooling needs of a natural-gas driven power plant located on its shore, as well as to protect thousands of lakeside homes built as close as four feet above the 825’ pool level.

G)  All but Austin’s Town Lake are operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority (“LCRA”).

      CLIMATE (Comparing HSB’s with Scottsdale’s)

      A) Llano County has apparently had a semi-arid climate for the past 250

          million years.

      B) In semi-arid climates, physical erosion dominates over rain-induced   

           chemical erosion, meaning that many fine-grained sedimentary rocks like

           the limestone and sandstone formations present in the HSB-Marble Falls  

           area, are more resistant and weather more slowly, forming the local 

           topographic highs, than do the coarser grained rocks like granite, a

           weather to topographic lows, relatively speaking.

  C) The Resort's Prime Season runs for 8½ months, from mid-March through   

       November, featuring our warmer spring, summer and fall months and

       covering a majority of our school-age children's normal vacation time,  

       making HSB Resort a family-friendly destination.

   D) During HSB's coldest months - December, January and February - the 

       mean daily high and low temperatures are comfortable 61 and 41

       degrees, respectively. 

   E) On the other hand, HSB is also still reasonably comfortable at its hottest, 

       which occurs annually between June 10th and September 12th, when the

       average high temperature ranges between 90 and 96 degrees and

       average lows range from 66 to 71. 

   F) HSB's spring and fall months are nothing short of ideal, with HSB 

       receiving an ample 30 inches of average rainfall annually. 

   G) HSB's relative humidity averages a very comfortable, tough-to-beat 40% 

       (www.marblefalls.org/areainfo/demographics.html). 

   H) Many consider HSB's year-around climate better than that found at
        Scottsdale.       
    I) Between June 5th and September 10th, Scottsdale's average daily high            

        temperatures range between 100 and 107 degrees and average daily    

             lows range from 67 to 80.
         J) Scottsdale's coldest months also occur during December, January and              
             February, when its average daily highs and lows are a very comfortable 68
             and 47, respectively, and also like at HSB, the intervening spring and fall
             months are ideal. 
        K) Scottsdale's Prime Season features its eight coldest months, extending from 

             mid-September to mid-May, circumventing more than three months of 100+
             summer-time temperatures. 

         L) When Scottsdale is "In Season," children are in school, unavailable for
             vacations, limiting Scottsdale to more of an adult attraction than family 
             destination. 

These are all good talking points.  Try working a few into your conversations.  There’s so much of special interest about HSB that many don’t know about, understand or appreciate.  And have another great day in HSB!