SiP Magazine 2016

SiP magazine

SULLIVAN’S ISLAND ISLE OF PALMS

Volume 2 | 2016

Looking for a pool that’s beautiful, fun and affordable?

The decision should be crystal clear.

new pool/spa construction maintenance service outdoor kitchens patios driveways

843-881-9595 • www.charlestonpoolsc.com

SEALAND SPORTS

KITE | PADDLE | SURF | SKATE

lessons • tours • rentals • demos • sales 2120 MIDDLE ST. SULLIVAN’S ISLAND | SEALANDSPORTS.COM | 843.330.8156

Phillip W. Smith General Contractor, Inc.

office 843.881.9828 | www.phillipsmithcontractor.com 465 W Coleman Blvd, Suite 301 | Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

View our Portfolio of work

Call/Text 843.834.5000

ISellDigs.com DIGSVacationRentals.com

Discover Your New Island Dream Home Buy | List | Vacation Rentals

Once you set foot on these historical islands, you’ll immediately be welcomed by mannerly people and natural beauty that seem frozen in time. You’ll feel a million miles from anywhere yet just be twenty minutes from everywhere.

Dotting the low country coastline southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, “D.I.G.S.” represents a collection of four barrier islands: Dewees, Isle of Palms, Goat, and Sullivan’s Islands. Each island is as unique as the next; each full of treasures yet to be discovered.

Dewees Island | Isle of Palms | Goat Island | Sullivan’s Island

Island Real Estate Happens Here

66 | | 50

56 |

62 |

72 | 10 | SiP

| 94

INSIDE SiP FEATURES

66 | SUN, SWIM, SAVE, REPEAT A small stretch of beach boasts a lifeguard crew big on heart and always on their toes

By Jessie Hazard 72 | LIVING THE GOOD LIFE ON GOAT ISLAND A group of residents enjoy a special, slightly solitary life swapping modern comforts for goats

By Stratton Lawrence 80 | CREATING A COMMUNITY: HOW J.C. LONG BUILT ISLE OF PALMS The story behind the birth of a special city, now hidden in the shadows of million-dollar homes

By Susan Hill Smith

| 80

88 | DOG DAYS OF SUMMER Furry four-legged friends of all sizes at play and on parade at the beach

By Margaret Pilarski 94 | DELIGHTS OF DOCK LIFE The magical slice of worn wood between home and sea that changes lives

By Margaret Pilarski 98 | RETURN TRIP How The Windjammer has weathered the years and rocked its crowds

By Susan Hill Smith

98 |

SiP SALUTES

Dive into the local personalities that make our islands so unique 50 | TWO CHIEFS, TWO ISLANDS, ONE FRIENDSHIP The bond between the fire chiefs of IOP and Sullivan’s Island strengthens our safety

By Jennifer Tuohy 56 | JIM’S IMPRESSIONS OF REALITY Sullivan’s Island-based artist Jim Darlington’s inspired landscapes and faces set the scene

By Sarah Kirk

| 88

62 | BLOOD AND SAND INSPIRE MYSTERY WRITER Leonard Goldberg’s medical mystery novels come to life from his seaside perch

By Marci Shore WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 11

FIELD GUIDE 18 | DO YOU SEE SHOREBIRDS ON THE SEASHORE? The precarious plight of the seabirds living on our beaches

By Judy Drew Fairchild 22 | THE HORSESHOE CRAB: A LIVING FOSSIL The stunning history of a creepy-looking, slow-moving megastar

By Jessie Hazard

32 |

26 | ISLE OF PALMS’ FISHING IS OFF THE HOOK Catch enough tips and tricks from a local expert so you can cast off on your own

By Stratton Lawrence

HISTORY SNAPSHOTS

| 48

32 | MOULTRIE MEMORIALIZED A historic moment in Sullivan’s Island’s past gets a unique moment in the spotlight

By Sarah Nolan 34 | FINDING O’SULLIVAN The Sullivan’s Island’s namesake’s salty history makes for an unorthodox antihero

By Marci Shore

44 |

36 | THE BOYS OF SULLIVAN’S When the neighborhood kids grow up, they meet for coffee and eggs, not mud pies

By Delores Schweitzer

ISLAND LIFE

Explore what makes our islands such spectacular places to visit and a special place to live 42 | A CHANGE OF PACE The secrets that beach runners keep, and why you should hit your stride in the sand

By Laurie Volkmann

42 |

44 | STORIED STRUCTURES Island homes with unique names have stories that span the ages

By Margaret Pilarski 48 | PLAN A CULTURE-FILLED STAYCATION Literature, art, history and food bring local culture to life on the islands every day

By Carol Antman

12 | SiP

34 |

| 36

SiP SCENE

After you’ve soaked up the sun, explore activities islanders enjoy in their downtime 106 | BRUNCH, ISLAND STYLE The brunch gospel for weekend eaters who want to stay island-side 112 | CULTURED AFFAIRS OF ISLAND OYSTER ROASTS A how-to, where-to and when-to guide for all things oyster roast 116 | 1 DAY, 2 BIKES, 6 STOPS Spend a day hitting the high notes of Sullivan’s Island—from historic sights to natural beauty 120 | VIBES & VOCALS Who, what and where of live music venues, there’s more than enough to go around 122 | PEOPLE & PLACES Re-live the sights and scenes of the last 12 months with SiP’s photographic round-up 124 | SIP CALENDAR Your essential guide to island events 126 | LAST LOOK A grove of bamboo inspires kids of all ages to get zen

When choosing a senior community, where do you begin?

We suggest starting with lunch.

We can’t think of a better way than lunch with some new friends to introduce you to life at Somerby. After a delicious meal, let us show you around. You will get to see how the people who live here enjoy the spark of happiness that comes from living with purpose. Experience our inviting accommodations, our spirited lifestyle and come meet our Associates who are devoted to making each day a surprise and delight. We look forward to meeting you and sharing why Somerby is

Full of Life.

Let’s do lunch. Call 800.610.9605 to plan your visit.

INDEPENDENT LIVING ASSISTED LIVING

800.610.9605

•

•

MEMORY CARE

w w w. So me r by Spa r k . co m

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 13

“I

f you don’t like change, go live in a museum.” This quote from Leonard Goldberg, profiled in our SiP Salutes section (Page 62), is one of my favorites from this issue. It reflects one of the biggest struggles facing these island communities, indeed facing the whole country: How to deal with change.

When you read the stories within this, our second issue of SiP magazine, you’ll see how change brings many challenges to island life, and why some might wish things would simply stay the same.

From the horseshoe crab who visits our beaches each spring and has adapted to over 420 million years of change (“A Living Fossil” Page 22), to the newly hatched Least Tern struggling for survival in the dunes (“Do You See Shorebirds on the Seashore?”

Page 18); from the birth of a community on Isle of Palms in 1949 (“Creating a Community” Page 80), to the triumphs and struggles of those isolated on a tiny strip of land (“Living the Good Life on Goat Island” Page 72), we are all trying to find our way here on these glorious barrier islands. If nothing changed, wouldn’t it be so much easier? But each step we take brings change, be it the tiny footprints of a fledgling bird or the tracks of a bulldozer. If there’s one thing Sullivan’s and Isle of Palms know a lot about, it’s change.

The stories told in these pages by those who grew up here— our “Boys of Sullivan’s” (Page 36) and the distinguished fire chiefs Anthony Stith and Ann Graham (Page 50)—illustrate perfectly how both islands have never had a status quo, how things change so quickly, that if you blink you’ll miss it. But the one constant is community; community built on the backs and shoulders of character. Residents of these islands have faced adversity—hurricanes, invasions, skyrocketing property prices—and survived. And as change brings new people to the islands, they too contribute to that character and strengthen the community.

When you learn about the man who built the original Isle of Palms’ community, J.C. Long, in the excellent article by IOP

resident Susan Hill Smith (Page 80), I think you’ll agree that his vision of a thriving community on what was once a barren strip of sand has been fulfilled beyond even his wildest dreams. If he hadn’t taken what was essentially an amusement park and built a town on it, the Isle of Palms might still be home only to the largest Ferris Wheel on the East Coast.

Similarly, if a gentleman named Florence O’Sulllivan (Page 34) hadn’t been kicked out of his community and forced to serve as lookout on a remote barrier island, Sullivan’s Island would never have been born. His was the first military base on the island, but it wasn’t until the military moved out of Sullivan’s permanently in 1947, that the space was made for a stable, yearround community to grow.

“Sullivan’s Island is a great town,” Fire Chief Anthony Stith said in my interview with him (Page 50). He was among the first generation to grow up here without that military presence and, as he points out, the island has “changed completely several times.”

As the world changes around us, the only constant is community, something the people of these barrier islands know very well. Learn what it was like to grow up on Sullivan’s Island in “The Boys of Sullivan’s” (Page 36), discover how docks create and foster a community in “Delights of Dock Life,” (Page 94), and visit a unique musical community behind the doors of The Windjammer in “Return Trip,” (Page 98).

With our second issue, SiP is excited and honored to continue to celebrate these communities. We are grateful to our talented writers, photographers, designers and generous advertisers for helping us bring together this magazine and celebrate island life in all its changing forms.

Jennifer Tuohy, Editor-in-Chief

Photo by Steve Rosamilia

EDITOR’S LETTER

CHANGE IS CONSTANT IT’S CHARACTER THAT BUILDS COMMUNITY

14 | SiP

Lynn Pierotti Publisher Jennifer Tuohy Editor-in-Chief Margaret Pilarski Deputy Editor Steve Rosamilia Photographer Alejandro Ferreyros Art Director Carol Rice, Lori McGee, Marci Shore Advertising Executives Contributors Stratton Lawrence Hunter McRae Jessie Hazard Minette Hand Mic Smith Susan Hill Smith Sarah Nolan Carol Antman Delores Schweitzer Judy Drew Fairchild Laurie Volkmann Marci Shore Brent Paape www.sipmagazinesc.com About SiP SiP magazine is published annually by Lucky Dog Publishing, LLC., 2205 Middle St., Sullivan’s Island, SC. SiP is mailed to all property owners on Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms and Dewee’s Island, and distributed free at select locations.

Contact SiP tel. 843.886.6397 mailing address: po box 837, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482 for editorial inquiries jennifer@luckydognews.com for advertising inquiries lynn@luckydognews.com www.luckydognews.com Cover Photo by Steve Rosamilia Copyright 2016 WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 15

CONTRIBUTORS

Margaret Pilarski came to Charleston for college and forgot to move away. She grew up around the country, learning to drive on the open plains of the Midwest and learning to sneak beers in the mountains out West, but has finally acquiesced to calling the Lowcountry home. A writer and editor, Margaret works at a communications consulting firm, while her freelance projects have highlighted local entrepreneurs and artists as well as education and recreation. This summer she’s planning to spend time in England, Spain and Iceland. She’ll remember to come home, though.

Mic Smith and Susan Hill Smith met as college graduates covering mayhem for The Herald newspaper in Rock Hill. They started their married lives in the Lowcountry while working at The Post and Courier, and for two decades have made their home on Isle of Palms, where they fell in love with the landscape and the community.

Mic, a freelance photographer, and Susan, the writer, have teamed up on many newspaper and magazine stories through the years and have found themselves in some challenging spots, including the eye of a hurricane. But their most rewarding collaboration has been in raising their three island children—still a lovely work in progress. For this issue of SiP, they enjoyed digging into the history of Isle of Palms homes and the rock-n-roll escapades of The Windjammer, which their down-the-street neighbor, Bobby Ross, has run for decades.

Jessie Hazard is a journalist for several Charleston area publications; most of her work focuses on food writing. She enjoys long walks on the Sully’s beach with her devastatingly handsome dog, Berkeley, (while sidestepping jellyfish and slightly on guard for coyotes), watching romantic sunsets from the top deck of The Boathouse at Breach Inlet (with a martini or two, of course—or three), and catching blue crabs off the Pitt Street Land Bridge (which she then cooks and eats in a most unladylike manner). Jessie is amazed every time she comes to the SiP islands—Mother Nature offers a constantly changing tableau that unfailingly compliments the food of the islands. She and Berkeley take a drive to the islands as frequently as possible.

Marci Shore lives on Sullivan’s Island and is a real estate agent for Sand Dollar Real Estate. She’s writing a fiction novel and also writes songs and performs, playing fiddle, guitar and singing with a variety of musicians in the area.

She wrote a song about Captain Florence O’Sullivan, the subject of one of her SiP feature stories. Marci is originally from the foothills of North Carolina near Winston-Salem and she graduated from Wake Forest University.

16 | SiP

Stratton Lawrence is a freelance writer and editor who lives on Folly Beach, but he’s often on Isle of Palms visiting his wife’s family. Last July, they spent three sweltering weeks housesitting on Goat Island and fell in love with the community and the slow summer pace of life.

Hunter McRae is a freelance photojournalist and portrait and wedding photographer based in Charleston. She is a 2004 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and spent six years as a photographer at Colorado Springs Gazette and at the Savannah Morning News. In 2010, she returned home to launch her wedding photography business. Hunter lives on Folly Beach with her husband and still travels wide and far for magazine, newspaper and corporate event assignments.

Steve Rosamilia always had a goal to live by the water.

Having relocated to Sullivan’s Island from New Jersey five years ago, Steve is the staff photographer for The Island Eye News, a position that has provided countless opportunities to meet his fellow residents. His images have appeared in numerous periodicals, trade publications and advertisements. When not taking photos, Steve can often be found with his wife Diane, vivaciously cheering for their alma mater, the University of Notre Dame. Additional examples of Steve’s work can be found on his website, rosamilia.net.

Carol Antman has had a life of adventure driven by wanderlust, intellectual curiosity and a passionate interest in cultures. She met her husband while living on a kibbutz in Israel. They spent a year hitchhiking the Pan American highway, vagabonding for months in Europe and traveling the trails of Jamaica, Italy, Guatemala and many states searching for their home port on Sullivan’s Island. Her artistic life also includes being a lifelong classical pianist and founding an art center, Creative Spark. She writes about adventures near and far in magazines, websites and newspapers and on her blog, peaksandpotholes. blogspot.com.

Delores Schweitzer was lucky enough to grow up on Sullivan's Island and wise enough to return in her mid-30s, where she currently manages the Edgar Allan Poe Branch Library. Delores loves that, like the military remnants we all find in our backyards, Sullivan's Island still has many secrets left to reveal. She enjoys a good story, especially if it involves local history, travel or cunning canines, and her faith rests in big pictures, small details and the experiences that encompass both.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 17

FIELD GUIDE

DO YOU SEE SHOREBIRDS ON THE SEASHORE?

Many species of shorebirds lay their eggs and raise their young in plain sight, right on the beach. Learn how to help these fragile fledglings who share our island homes.

Photos and story by Judy Drew Fairchild

18 | SiP

There are at least 11 baby and adult Least Terns in this picture. Can you spot them all?

T

ucked into the dunes and swales of South Carolina’s beaches, there are several species of nesting birds that hide their nests in plain sight. Least Terns, Wilson’s Plovers, American Oystercatchers and willets are just a handful of shorebirds that make their nests right on the sand.

On Dewees Island, a private residential island north of Isle of Palms accessible only by boat, the community has set aside protected areas for these fragile populations and made it a community mission to educate its residents about them. Their hard work has paid off and this summer, after years of trying to attract populations of Least Terns back to the island, island birders were thrilled to find a sizeable colony of least terns. On an overwashed section of beach on the far north of the island last May, a turtle team walker was startled by a Least Tern zooming overhead, dive-bombing her as she made her way along the beach looking for turtle nests. At first glance, all she saw was sand, broken by sparse vegetation and bits of shell debris. Then she looked more closely: Dozens of terns waited patiently on nests, sheltering eggs or chicks from the heat of the sun and predators.

“

Thirty-eight percent of North American shorebird species are declining. Many species have very long migrations so are vulnerable to threats along a huge geographical area.

- FELICIA SANDERS

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 19

Please observe the birds from outside the posted area.

Please observe the birds from outside the posted area.

Help us protect birds that nest on the beach!

Help us protect birds that nest on the beach!

Please observe the birds from outside the posted area.

Please observe the birds from outside the posted area.

Thanks to Sullivan’s Island Elementary School students for artwork.

Thanks to Sullivan’s Island Elementary School students for artwork.

SOUTH CAROLINA

SOUTH CAROLINA

to Sullivan’s Island Elementary School students for artwork.

Sullivan’s students forby artwork.

ShorebirdThanks signs toplaced onIsland localElementary beachesSchool and designed Sullivan’s Island ElementaryThanks School Students.

Clockwise from top left, Ashlynn Smartt, Stella Gray, Brooke Parker and Finn Staley.

SOUTH CAROLINA

SOUTH CAROLINA

HOW TO SHARE THE BEACH WITH SHOREBIRDS Leash your dog and avoid shorebird nesting areas. Birds don’t recognize leashed dogs and might be unnecessarily alarmed.

Never allow your dog to chase birds.

Try to avoid the ends of the island, or anywhere birds seem flustered by your presence during the heat of the day.

Stay out of the dune areas and posted nesting areas.

Fill holes and flatten sand castles when you leave the beach; holes can trap small birds and hatching turtles.

20 | SiP

Least Terns, Sterna antillarum, are colony nesters, and tend to nest in large groups. Their black caps and grey wings blend perfectly with the shell surroundings, rendering them almost invisible in plain sight. Their mates bring them tiny fish from the tidepools and fiercely dissuade people from walking anywhere near the colonies. The nests, mere scrapes of sand and shells right on the beach, are actively protected by the adult birds, but it’s hard to convey the sheer scope of dangers facing beach nesting species. Crabs, raccoons, dogs, beachcombers—all are potential dangers to the hatchlings. If they think their nest is threatened, adults may fly off the nest to protect themselves and the chicks can then perish in minutes in the heat of a midday sun.

Least Terns aren’t the only nesting birds on the beach. In the Dewees colony, a pair of American oystercatchers set up a nest near the isolated tidepools, and at least 15 pairs of Wilson’s Plovers also raised chicks on the beach. All of these birds have chicks with camouflage to help them blend in with the sand, and they are likely to become still and stop moving if someone approaches, creating an additional danger of being stepped on. Some adults will even fake a broken wing to try to lure you away from nests or chicks.

“Shorebirds are showing more dramatic declines than other avian species,” says Felicia Sanders, a wildlife biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. “Thirtyeight percent of North American shorebird species are declining. Many species have very long migrations—across the hemisphere—so they are vulnerable to threats along a huge geographical area. Threats can be human disturbance, habitat loss, predation, etc. Dewees provides exemplary management of beach nesting birds. The residents protect and monitor nesting and wintering birds, and provide education to community members.

There are few beaches that invest so much to protect these magnificent species.”

To help the public protect these precious birds across all three islands, Sullivan’s Island Elementary School students have designed signs to alert beach-goers to the tiny birds hidden in plain sight. “The kids are really helping to inspire even more conservation among the community,” Nolan Schillerstrom, Audubon South Carolina’s Shorebird Warden who is helping with the sign program, says. “We are hoping that this program will inspire the next generation of bird conservationists and open more people's eyes to the importance of sharing the beach with beach nesting birds.”

There is so much to appreciate about these birds, and it is a gift that they have decided again to nest on Dewees. SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 21

THE HORSESHOE CRAB UNDERSTANDING A LIVING FOSSIL

They bleed blue blood, scavenge the seafloor with 10 eyes, are most closely related to spiders and scorpions and are an indispensible part of modern medicine. Meet a creature older than the dinosaurs, right here on our beaches.

By Jessie Hazard. Photos by Steve Rosamilia.

6 | SiP

Kristin Linesch and Dr. Amy Fowler display some of their intriguing study subjects.

Photo by Steve Rosamilia

T

he large, tortoise-like shell of a horseshoe crab sits on the beach at Isle of Palms, water lapping at its edges. Some passersby knowingly sidestep the odd-looking remains even as their leashed dogs lurch eagerly toward them, but many beachcombers stop to peer and poke at the skeleton. Eventually, one puzzled man picks it up and flings it, like a Frisbee, back at the open ocean. Within minutes, it’s washed back up and retaken its silent place among the bric-a-brac of the beach.

It’s odd that so many people don’t recognize the horseshoe crab, even though it’s one of nature’s most compelling wonders. These prehistoric creatures predate the dinosaurs, going back at least 420 million years— they survived the great Permian extinction that eliminated 96 percent of all marine species. Able to live for a year without eating, the horseshoe crab can endure extreme temperature conditions and salinity. These creatures have fought hard for their place in the world, and they have earned it. Yet these “living fossils,” while cherished for their biomedical properties and intrinsic to the food chain, may be exiting stage right. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has placed the Limulus polyphemus, the only species of horseshoe crabs indigenous to the United States, on a “near threatened” status. They are still so understudied, however, that many scientists aren’t certain how endangered they actually are.

“People just don’t know much about them because they’re so hard to see,” says Dr. Amy Fowler, Assistant Marine Scientist at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and the resident expert on horseshoe crabs. “It’s a blessing and a curse. Being a wallflower helps them stay away from harm, but it doesn’t make it any easier for us to help them.” If it’s your first time seeing one, Fowler has a few words of advice: “Don’t be scared. They look scary at first, but they are one of nature’s most gentle creatures. They really are extraordinary.”

“

In the nearly 60 years since its discovery, the blood of the horseshoe crab has served as a natural indicator of bacterial contamination in critical medical treatments all over the world.

A CRAB THAT’S NOT A CRAB

Although they got their name because it was thought they resembled the foot of a horse, these “crabs” aren’t crabs at all. A marine chelicerate arthropod, the horseshoe crab is more closely related to scorpions, spiders and ticks. It feeds upon marine worms and shellfish, small potatoes considering that the female horseshoe crab can reach up to 2 feet in length and can weigh up to 11 pounds. The smooth, brown shell often supports a mini-community of hitch-hiking marine life. Everything from bacteria to plants to mussels and barnacles make homes there. By the end of the horseshoe crab’s full life—about 19 years, sometimes longer—the organisms that live on the outer surface can grow so much that the shell is no longer visible.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 23

Photo courtesy South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

JUST FLIP ‘EM If you see a living horseshoe crab floundering on its back pick it up on each side of the shell and turn it over. Don’t grab it by the tail, as that could kill it. The crabs might even roly-poly a little on you when you move them, but they’ll relax and straighten back out on their own. Though they look intimidating at first, they can’t bite, claw, or sting you.

Don’t freak out, you can do this!

REPORT CRABS Most of the shells you see on the beach are empty, as horseshoe crabs molt many times during their life cycles.

But if you see a tagged crab, dead or alive, report it to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Take a picture of the tag or write down the number, then remove the tag and throw it away. Call 1.888.546.8587 or go to fws.gov/crabtag/ to turn in the number. If you can’t record the tag, just leave it on the animal.

24 | SiP

The body, divided into an anterior cephalothorax and a posterior abdomen, has five pairs of legs that function not only for moving, but also for eating. The middle segment of each leg is covered with spines used to chew food before it is passed forward and into the mouth located at the base of the legs. A special inherent grinding structure can even break down clam shells and sea urchins once they pass into the esophagus so that the crabs can absorb them as food. They’ve got ten eyes located all over their bodies (often on their backs or sides), but ecology’s cruel joke is that they still have poor eyesight, useful only in finding mates and sensing light. Finally, a spike-shaped tail functions as a tool for digging in sand and a spatula if the animal finds itself upside down.

Horseshoe crabs are one of the few animals that have no major predators—though their roe is an invaluable food source for many coastal seabirds (the red knot, a federally threatened shorebird, depends upon the crab to survive its migration) and they are sometimes lunch for the federally threatened loggerhead sea turtle and a number of shark species. That hard shell keeps them protected from nearly every adversary—except for us. People use them for eel and whelk bait, and while synthetic baits have been developed, the commercial bait industry still gathers hundreds of thousands of crabs every year. Here in South Carolina however, the species is protected and only hand-harvesting of horseshoe crabs for biomedical applications and marine research is allowed. There are also six island sanctuaries in South Carolina, making the creature one of the most protected species in our area.

STUDYING A SCIENTIFIC MYSTERY

As a crustacean biologist, Fowler and her teammates do consistent and cutting-edge research on the area’s commercially and recreationally viable crustaceans. Usually, that means they’re studying the shellfish we eat, like shrimp. They trawl the Charleston Harbor monthly to keep track of shrimp stock and behavioral patterns, using the data to dictate how and when the year’s shrimping seasons will come about.

It’s hard work, but it’s much easier collecting data on shrimp than on horseshoe crabs. Horseshoe crabs are one of Fowler’s trickiest subjects, because the only time they venture to the shoreline is to spawn, which happens briefly in the late spring months, at night. Once they become fully mature, the crabs head into deep waters and hang out on the sandy ocean floor.

The shroud of mystery surrounding the crab’s life cycle is what makes them so hard to classify. Fowler’s team is working on unravelling that mystery however. They’ve partnered with the South Carolina Sea Grant to take genetic samples from individual crabs they find on 11 beaches stretching along the coastline, helping get a handle on the effective population size of a particular community of crabs, and learn about the health and longevity of that community.

The SCDNR has also instituted a tagging program that’s identified over 9,000 crabs since 1997. The tags are a way to track movements so that, eventually, scientists will be better able to find and study them throughout their entire life cycles. And that’s important, because horseshoe crabs give humans a priceless gift: their blood. Biomedically, horseshoe crab blood has sweeping implications on our health.

Instead of producing antibodies to battle infection, the crabs’ primitive immune system releases proteins that bind and kill the invading bacteria. You can thank horseshoe crabs for every infection-free vaccine you’ve ever had. The proteins detect endotoxins, a group of bacteria that is ubiquitous and incredibly hard to control. In the nearly 60 years since its discovery, the blood of the horseshoe crab has served as a natural indicator of bacterial contamination in critical medical treatments all over the world. Scientists have even discovered antiviral and anticancer components in the magic blood, which is worth over $15,000 a pint. If done right, the animals are not usually harmed during blood extraction, though there is a 15 percent fatality rate, usually because of the stress of transport to and from the bleeding center. One pint is the maximum amount a female crab can donate without dying, though the smaller males yield less. NASA has even taken horseshoe crab blood into outer space to help keep astronauts healthy. If an astronaut comes down with a sore throat, they can swab it and use a test kit made from the blood compound to see if it’s a bacterial or viral infection.“Though they’ve tried since the fifties to find a synthetic protein that can do what the crabs’ blood does, scientists still haven’t been able to produce anything that’s nearly as accurate as the real stuff,” Fowler says.

The next time you come across one of these wonderfully weird creatures on the beach, remember to thank them for the medical miracles they perform. SiP

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 25

2 | SiP

ISLE OF PALMS FISHING IS

OFF THE HOOK Don’t just go fishing—go catching—in the island’s bountiful waterways.

By Stratton Lawrence. Photos by Hunter McRae.

I

t’s 7 a.m. and cold—in the mid 40s—and traveling at full plane up the Intracoastal Waterway against a constant breeze from the east isn’t helping matters. Is this really a good time to go fishing? But an early March cold snap doesn’t hamper Captain Geoff Bennett. The prior week has been warm, raising the water temperature nearly five degrees in as many days. “That really gets the fish stoked,” says Bennett with excitement in his eyes.

We arrive at our destination—a row of docks along the Intracoastal Waterway, across from the Isle of Palms. Bennett rigs three fishing rods with cut mullet, casting them just underneath a dock about twenty feet downwind, with the direction of the tide. He’s careful to keep the lines taut and use enough weight to keep the bait stationary so it doesn’t drift and catch on oysters or debris along the creek bottom.

TURNING FISHING INTO CATCHING REQUIRES KNOW-HOW, FROM CHOOSING THE RIGHT BAIT TO PICKING A LOCATION LIKELY TO HOLD FISH. After five minutes, a rod bends over and line goes buzzing. I reel in a juvenile red drum (also called “redfish” and “spot tails” in the Lowcountry). “See the neon blue on his tail? You can tell he’s been eating a lot of crustaceans,” Bennett offers, but before he can carry on with his biology lesson, another line goes screaming, and no sooner than we’ve released our first bite of the day, we’re posing for pictures with another, slightly larger drum.

But it’s the third fish, just minutes later, that takes the prize, caught from a heavily weighted line and cast upstream toward another adjacent dock. It’s a 24-inch, 6-pounder. Not a trophy by any means, but it’s the biggest red I’ve ever landed. We take note of the two wounds on WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 27

28 | SiP

its side from an apparent attack by a dolphin.

“This guy knows what he’s doing,” I think to myself (about both the resilient fish and Capt.

Geoff), just as another charter trip pulls into the creek, greedily eyeing the big fish in my hands as I release him back into the water.

Even on a chilly winter day, it turns out, this isn’t out of the ordinary for these waters or for Bennett. If you know what you’re doing and where to go, the creeks around Sullivan’s Island and the Isle of Palms are a hotbed of inshore fishing action.

HOW TO GET HOOKED

“Redfish are my business partners,” jokes Bennett, adding that he often downplays their taste to encourage catch-and-release fishing.

Fortunately, the population around the ICW is thriving, providing a year-round saltwater fishery that’s among the East Coast’s best. In the winter, reds travel in massive schools, so if you find one that takes your bait, you’re likely to find more. It’s also best to fish at low tide, when the schools are concentrated in smaller areas. “Never leave fish to find fish,” Bennett advises. So in our case, we stay put, rotating cut mullet with shrimp and live mud minnows as the bite ebbs and flows. In turn, we continue to catch fish. Still, if we weren’t having luck, we’d change locations before long. “If I don’t get popped on a bait in ten minutes, I’m switching or moving on,” Bennett says.

IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND WHERE TO GO, THE CREEKS AROUND SULLIVAN’S ISLAND AND THE ISLE OF PALMS ARE A HOTBED OF INSHORE FISHING ACTION. Bennett’s tactics change as the water warms in the spring, and redfish begin to split into smaller schools, hunting for fiddler crabs in the grassy flats that flood at high tide. Then, he’ll pole along the edge of a creek, letting his clients cast along the bank—some with flies and fly rods—for “tailing” reds, so called for the fins that break the water as they nudge their nose into the mud for crabs.

Spring is also the beginning of trout and flounder season. For the former, the trick is just finding the schools. “Trout stay put,” Bennett says, but once they’re located, they’ll bite all day at shrimp and mud minnows on a popping cork or well-cast artificial lures. Flounder are bottom feeders, so baitfish held to the bottom with weights are the best bet for hooking them.

“They’re not coming up two feet to take your bait,” Bennett says.

With summer’s warmer waters come a bonanza of bait fish, making it possible to target the “Big Three” of reds, trout and flounder simultaneously and more aggressively.

“There’s a huge transition in May and June as menhaden and mullet fill the waterways,” says Bennett. “It’s go-time for fishing.”

But by August, high water temperatures mean trout are only likely to feed at dawn, when water is slightly cooler. And as the fall sets in, cooler water means the seasonal fish become scarce, and it’s back to focusing on WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 29

BIG 3 OF LOWCOUNTRY CREEKS

4

(AND HOW TO CATCH THEM) RED DRUM Average length: 22-24 inches Average weight: 5 pounds Bait: They eat everything!

When: Year-round. In winter, fish low tide around docks. Summer is prime season for sight fishing reds in the grass at high tide, though their appetite is at its most voracious during fall.

FLOUNDER Average length: 12-14 inches Average weight: 2 pounds Bait: Mud minnows with weights along the creek bottom.

When: Spring to mid-fall.

TROUT Average length: 12-14 inches Average weight: 2 pounds Bait: Live shrimp and mud minnows on popping corks or 3-4 inch artificial lures that mimic natural colors of bait fish. Cast around oyster beds and creek mouths in search of schools.

When: Spring to late fall.

BONUS FISH: SHEEPSHEAD Average length: 12-16 inches Average weight: 2 pounds Bait: Fiddler crabs, cast around pilings of docks at a slack tide.

Sheepshead stick close to structure.

When: Year-round.

Caring Professionals Helping you HEAR Better!

Charleston’s #1 Choice for hearing aids and accessories, audiology services including tinnitus therapy and central auditory processing deficit evaluations, hearing loss prevention, and assistive listening devices.

Advanced Hearing Care offers a wide range of services and products to help the residents of Charleston hear and live better. For close to 25 years we have treated all types of hearing concerns with exceptional success. Why trust your hearing with anyone else?

We are only a phone call away at (843) 606-5687 and would be happy to help you with any questions.

Call (843) 606-5687 today for an appointment or demonstration for yourself, a friend or family member!

Advanced Hearing Care 900 Johnnie Dodds Blvd. Ste. 101, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 (843) 606-5687 I Visit us at: www.advhearing.com 30 | SiP

Dr. Mary Anne Larkin

Audiologist

Dr. Casey Adkins

Audiologist

Over 30 years of combined experience!

redfish. “The best time to fish for reds is fall, for three reasons,” Bennett explains. “One, there’s still plenty of bait, but two, the water is cooling, so the fish are eating before the bait leaves. Three, there’s nobody out. Once SEC football starts and you can shoot stuff, this place empties.”

FIND YOUR HONEY HOLE

Whether you’re targeting the smorgasbord of early summer fishing or honing in on reds in the fall and winter, turning fishing into catching requires know-how, from choosing the right bait to picking a location likely to hold fish. “You have to have a reason to fish somewhere,” Bennett says. In other words, don’t just cast your line into open water. Try to think like a fish and go to places they would like, and when you get there, put something in front of them that they can’t resist trying to eat. Docks, creek mouths and oyster shoals are all prime habitat, because they harbor communities of small animals that provide food for bait fish, and thus attract the larger fish that you want to catch. It’s all about considering the food chain and placing yourself in the right place, Bennett emphasizes.

When fishing around Sullivan’s and IOP, Bennett recommends that those unfamiliar or new to the area stick close to the ICW to avoid the perilous oyster shoals that fill the creeks and bays behind the islands, often just out of sight at mid and high tide. From the Isle of Palms Marina, however, the ICW provides an increasingly wild experience as development ends and countless creek mouths present themselves. “Just find a corner to protect you, and cast your line,” Bennett advises, adding that of the 200 days a year he spends on the water, at least a third are in Sullivan’s/IOP waters. “You can connect with an amazing amount of fish in the ICW. Just head north and you’ll own the place.”

For visitors and locals alike, there’s plenty of incentive to get out and explore. Whether you bring home dinner or catch and release, the waters around these islands harbor an open invitation to harvest their bounty. SiP

IGNITE SOMETHING O N LY T H E P E R F E C T C U T C A N U N L E A S H A DIAMOND’S BRILLIANCE.

H E A R T S O N F I R E S T O R E S , A U T H O R I Z E D R E TA I L E R S , H E A R T S O N F I R E . C O M

Village Point Plaza Mt. Pleasant, SC 843.768.5357 kiawahfinejewelry.com

6532-Kiawah-SIPMag-AllEyes.indd 1

4/20/16 12:14 PM WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 31

HISTORY SNAPSHOTS Image courtesy U.S. Mint.

MOULTRIE MEMORIALIZED 32 | SiP

Defence of Fort Moultrie, the Heroism of Sergeant Jasper courtesy Martin, Johnson & Co.

Sullivan’s Island represents South Carolina on new quarter dollar coin.

By Sarah Nolan

T

his fall, Sullivan’s Island will be memorialized in silver as the United States Mint releases the Fort Moultrie (Sumter) National Monument, South Carolina Beautiful Quarter on November 17, 2016. Part of the America The Beautiful Quarters Program, the coin is one of 56 being released in honor of America’s national parks over 11 years. All sites and designs featured on the coins represent places of the utmost natural and historical significance to this country.

The image on the quarter is of Sergeant William Jasper hoisting the 2nd South Carolina regimental flag to the ramparts whilst the fort was under attack from a British ship during the Battle of 1776. At the time, when Commodore Sir Peter Park and nine warships attacked it on June 28, 1776, the fort, built entirely from Palmetto logs, was still incomplete.

After the nine-hour bombardment, which saw the British cannonballs literally bouncing off the pliant trees, the ships were forced to retreat and the battle saved Charleston from British occupation. The fort was subsequently named for its commander, Colonel William Moultrie.

The National Parks Service celebrates its 100-year anniversary this year, and Dawn Davis, Centennial Coordinator at Fort Moultrie, is very pleased with the timing of the 2016 South Carolina coin’s release. “It brings attention to the National Parks Service’s mission of preserving and protecting national treasures and leaving them unimpaired for future generations,” Davis says. Fort Moultrie will involve local school children as part of a launch event to “engage the next generation of stewards of our parks,” Davis says.

Congressman Mark Sanford, South Carolina’s governor during the

early stages of the Beautiful Quarters program, was responsible for choosing the fort as a representative image of his state. “Looking back through the history of South Carolina, the people of Charleston have struggled through some of the most difficult hardships imaginable.

From hurricanes and earthquakes, to a civil war and fires, people in the Lowcountry have shown a whole lot of heart in the face of adversity, and the city has ultimately always bounced back,” he explains.

“To me, it’s that spirit which defines the people of South Carolina—and historical landmarks like Fort Moultrie are the roots of that resilience,” Sanford says. “With South Carolina known as the Palmetto State and the Palmetto tree on the state flag, it seemed fitting to have Fort Moultrie represent us on a state coin.”

It was Sergeant Jasper who, when the colors of the regimental flag were knocked down outside of Fort Moultrie during the attack, turned to Moultrie and said, “Colonel, don’t let us fight without our color.”

He leapt over the wall and ran the length of the fort to reach the fallen flag. An entry from the diary of Captain Barnard Elliott described how Jasper “took the flag and tied it to a sponge staff and stuck it upon the merlon of the bastion near the enemy, gave three huzzas in the dangerous place he stood, and retired to his gun where he fought with his gallant company to the end of the battle.”

Fort Moultrie will have a bank partner at the November 17, 2016 commemoration event, making it the first place the public can obtain the new coins. Visit nps.gov/fosu/learn/historyculture/fort_moultrie.htm for more details. SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 33

Map courtesy J.D. Lewis, www.carolana.com

FINDING O’SULLIVAN

A Map of Charles Town in 1671.

Historical records paint a sketchy, though colorful portrait of Sullivan’s Island’s namesake.

By Marci Shore

O

n St. Patrick’s Day, 1670, Florence O’Sullivan from County Cork, Ireland, was aboard The Carolina, when it drifted into Sewee Bay inside of Bull’s Island. Having embarked the prior year from England in August, 1669, the ship had stopped off at Kinsale, Ireland then Barbados and Bermuda, before continuing on a harrowing journey to the coast of what would become South Carolina. During the voyage the other two ships in the fleet were destroyed in storms.

The Carolina carried 93 passengers, of mostly English and Irish descent, including indentured servants and one black slave. It was loaded with provisions essential to starting a colony from scratch: 30 gallons of brandy, 15 tons of beer and 240 pounds of glass beads to barter with the Indians. There are no physical descriptions of Captain Florence O’Sullivan, but the salty characterizations of this soldier of fortune flowed freely from the pen of the other colonists, portraying a contentious character, respected mostly for his ruggedness in an unforgiving, wild frontier.

Virtually all that is known about O’Sullivan is derived from the Shaftesbury Papers—correspondence documenting the trials and tribulations of the new colony of Charles Town through Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper, one of the Lords Proprietors of North America, who oversaw the venture from in front of his London fireplace. Five years before arriving in Charles Town, O’Sullivan and Captain John Staplehill had been commissioned to raise a company of infantrymen against the 34 | SiP

French on the island of St. Christopher, now commonly known as St. Kitts. The French and English had co-existed on the island since 1625, but the French had recently attacked and tried to expel the English.

O’Sullivan and Staplehill seized two French ships near Guadeloupe, but their own vessels were forced ashore by storms. After 11 days, they surrendered due to lack of supplies and were taken prisoner for 11 months, until the English Treasury paid a royal bounty for services in the Caribbean Island.

This military service won O’Sullivan high rank with the Lords Proprietors, resulting in a deputyship of Charles Town, along with 12 servants, 1,900 acres and the title of Surveyor General. At the onset of the expedition, there were short-lived praises for O’Sullivan from the Lords Proprietors as stated in his commission for service in the new colony: “We [are] assured of the wisdom, prudence and integrity... of our trusty and well beloved Florence O’Sullivan.”

Almost immediately reports of incompetence, thoughtlessness and irreverence began filtering back to England with a consistency difficult to defend, even allowing for historical bias. Stephen Bull, of one of the most famous early Carolina families, made an early complaint that O’Sullivan was involved in “unjust practices,” that his work was “almost triple the rate of other settlements,” and that he was “dissentious and troublesome.” Furthermore, he claimed there were “gross errors” in surveying of the lots. “He is ashamed of nothing, uses private watches

to overreach people and is daily complained of for ill actings,” report the Shaftesbury Papers.

Captain Henry Brayne complained to the Lords Proprietors, that “by his absurd language, [O’Sullivan] doth abuse the Governor, Council and Country by his rash and base dealings... and hath caused everyone in the country to be his enemy.” Complaints may be qualified somewhat by the existence of factions amongst the colonial planters about the proper way to manage the colony. O’Sullivan expressed his frustration in a letter to Lord Ashley Cooper, in regard to the quarrelling. He advised him to send “an able counselor to end controversies amongst us and put us in the right way.” Seeming in search of some spiritual counseling as well, he also advised to send a minister “qualified of the Church of England.”

The barrage of criticisms against O’Sullivan compounded. Famous philosopher John Locke, Lord Ashley Cooper’s secretary and confidant, was troubled by the reports and wrote that O’Sullivan was “dissentious, troublesome... no able surveyor, knavish... disliked, unfit, ignorant in surveying,” and another description that lacks clarification but is highly unflattering at best: “an ill-natured buggerer of children.” By December, 1671, O’Sullivan was replaced as Surveyor General, but retained his deputyship and was still a member of the colonial assembly.

In 1674, the controversial figure was given the duty of manning a cannon on a small barrier island at the mouth of the harbor, “to be mounted near the river’s mouth to be fired upon the approach of a ship one charge of power at a time.” In addition to daily struggles of the colonists to provide food, shelter and avoid illness, there was the constant threat of Indian attack or invasion by the Spanish from St. Augustine in Florida, who saw the settlement as a “flagrant intrusion” upon their own soil. Therefore it was O’Sullivan’s duty to fire the cannon should hostile ships approach, giving the colonists time to organize themselves. That island became known as Sullivan’s Island and its use as a military base to protect the colony and subsequent iterations continued well into the 20th century.

At one point, in desperate need of provisions, with crops failing and morale low, a riot broke out threatening the settlement’s stability. O’Sullivan left his island station to join the disturbance. He was reprimanded for leaving his post and putting the colony at risk, charged with sedition and fined.

Provisions finally arrived, along with fresh faces, which revived the exhausted settlement.

In spite of, by all accounts, his disagreeable attitude, O’Sullivan retained an important position in the colony for 13 years until his death in 1683, as officer of the militia, commissioner of public accounts, and recipient of one of the largest land grants among the planters. History does not mention a wife, but his daughter, Katherine O’Sullivan, inherited the tract of land in 1692, at which time it was broken up and sold.

Documents paint a portrait of Florence O’Sullivan as a man regarded for his brawn over brains, and while he may have been a neighbor many would like to have forgotten, his is one of the few original colonists’ names that has withstood the test of time. It still remains Sullivan’s Island. SiP

Luxury Isle of Palms Vacation Rentals

THE ISLE OF PALMS MOST

Extravagant

VACATION HOMES!

Enjoy your vacation, let us take care of the details.

EastIslandsRentals.com 843.886.0760 29 JC Long Blvd. | Isle of Palms | SC 29451 WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 35

THE BOYS OF SULLIVAN’S

The East Cooper Little League All Star Team 1954/55 with representatives from the Cubs, Yankees, Phillies and Giants. The league played on a baseball field built on the old Fort parade ground. Back row: Mr. Johnny Moore, Mike Williams, Duncan Padgett, Carl Weeks, Roy Kimbrell, Mr. Johnnie Dodd, Haywood Davis, Don Easterlin, Ronnie Nettles, Tommy Price, Mr. Muller. Front row: George Jackson, LeGrand Norell, Archie Morris, Len Williams, Jackie Wear, Jimmy Cleary, Donny Snowden.

Photo from private collection of Jackie Wear

36 | SiP

From military base to summer resort, from rural village to residential suburb, the evolution of Sullivan’s Island creates lifelong memories for those lucky enough to grow up here.

By Delores Schweitzer.

Photos by Steve Rosamilia.

C

linking of knives and forks, verbally sparring over stolen sausages, and lots of laughing punctuate the conversation at a table near the back of Southerly Restaurant in Mount Pleasant on a chilly morning in February. The Thursday regulars of the Southerly Breakfast Club gather every week at 8 a.m., keeping to their working schedules, even though many are retired. Here, they intermingle their present lives in the wide world with memories of a childhood, happily contained in a mere 2.4 square miles—Sullivan’s Island of the 1950s.

One this day, the group consists of Emory Brown, William “Pug” Dudley, Richard Ouzts, Jackie Wear and Mike Williams, but other friends drop in as their schedules allow. While they kept in touch over the years, it wasn’t until about two years ago that Mike and Jackie got the idea of a regular meeting time and place.

Most of them met at the Sullivan’s Island Graded School, although Wear and Dudley, through one of those quirks of family, are actually nephew and uncle. Located at 2302 Middle Street (now Blockaway), the school housed seven grades, with one teacher per grade and 15 to 20 children per class. One teacher also served double-duty as principal, with support staff consisting of a janitor, a cafeteria manager and two cafeteria helpers.

The school provided a solid foundation for these future professionals.

Brown became a pharmacist, Dudley was in real estate, Wear retired from Cummings Diesel, Williams was a dentist, and Ouzts is currently the owner of Atlantic Screen Company. Jackie Wear recalls some of the motivational tactics of the teachers, “Miss Kingman said all of us were going to end up criminals and be on a chain gang. Mrs. Truesdale ran the lunchroom, and if you helped, you got extra food, like delicious cinnamon buns and peanut butter and honey sandwiches. And Miss Wise would pick one student each day to run down to the store and buy her a Coke.”

And then, there was the motto every child knew: “If at once a task begun, never leave it ‘til it’s done.”

Parents pushed their children to work hard, be industrious, respect their elders, and appreciate the different communities that settled here.

It was always a place of transition and diversity. Fort Moultrie ensured a mix of religious and socio-economic backgrounds. Many soldiers met their spouses or brought war brides here to settle when the Fort was decommissioned in 1947, and the town began to sell fee-simple lots for the first time. “Back then, lots cost between $400 and $500,” Williams says. “No one had much money, and it was very economical to live there because taxes were low.”

Of course, not everyone could afford to buy immediately. Many families WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 37

8 | SiP

bounced around rental cottages on month-to-month leases. They were not elaborate, says Wear, just normal for the time. Like the accessory dwellings in Mt. Pleasant today, a property owner might build a small second home on their land for extended family, or to rent for additional income. Many of these homes and cottages were lost to Hurricane Hugo or pulled down to make room for larger homes. They certainly were not up to modern day construction codes and expectations.

Nor were the existing homes of the time. Brown remembers their place at Station 9, which had been the Charleston Orphanage summer home before his parents purchased it. “It was a big, rambling house with 12 foot ceilings, and in the summer time that breeze would blow right through that house, and it was very comfortable. And in the winter time? That breeze would blow right through that house, too.” The guys laugh, remembering the lack of insulation, sleeping in full clothes and piling up comforters to stay warm.

If the winters were harsh for the 200 or so year-round residents, the summers were a wonderland of new friends, exciting opportunities and occasional mischief. The Catholic, Presbyterian and Baptist church communities thrived on the Island, while Episcopalian families like Brown’s went to Mt. Pleasant when Holy Cross closed for a time. There was also a small A.M.E. church and a number of Jewish families who spent summers on Sullivan’s. A microcosm of the nearby Holy City, children of the island learned to coexist with many faiths.

Wear recalls the fascinating inhabitants of Loretto Cottage. “There used to be a lot of nuns on the island because they had a summer house.

They were dressed in black year-round, and we were little and didn’t know. So we’d see them on the beach and say, ‘The witches are coming!’

But our mothers found out and told us they were nice ladies and to leave them alone.” Other groups, like the STAR Gospel Mission, welcomed kids, and there were always fun events and festivals sponsored by churches and civic groups.

The island children rarely went to Charleston except to visit family, watch the Azalea Parade, or shop for clothes once a year. They might go off island to Mt. Pleasant once a week to get major provisions, but if something didn’t make the list, it had to wait. Families were lucky to have one car, and so for the boys, visiting or working meant walking or bicycling.

The crew at Southerly is quick to recount their early friendships, sealed through play, physical sparring, brushes with authority and innocent pastimes. Williams remembers, “Jackie and Pug came up to me—I must have been about six—and they acted like they were my friends before they gave me the old left-right. That’s how I learned to run.”

Wear retorts quickly, “Yeah, but you got us back in the dentist’s chair!”

The abandoned buildings Fort Moultrie were the perfect playground.

“Mr. Brockington was the town’s only police officer,” Brown says. “His mission in life was to run us out of the forts. And our mission was to hide from him.” Ouzts remembers crawling down the vents to get into Moultrie and building a camp inside. And both Wear and Ouzts laugh when looking at the field between Battery Jasper and the beach. Tinker McInerny was their only friend with a car, and for fun, they would hide in the tall grass, and he would drive through, flushing them out and chasing them.

A little further up Middle Street, in the small brick building next to the Fort’s movie theater, the Sullivan’s Island Township Commission sold lots, managed town growth, and even arranged for state troopers to conduct driving tests once a month. The Fort Theater showed films and across the street, in the current location of the Island Club and Fish Fry Shack, the Community Hall had a playground, a skating rink with two sizes of skates—small and large—basketball courts and a space for special events.

Further east, on the old Fort parade ground between Middle, Poe, stations 16 1/2 and 17, was a young boys paradise. “A group of guys worked at the Navy Yard—Jim McClary, Jimmy Gladden, Ark Chiola, Red Wood, Larry Dodds and Mr. Padgett,” Brown says. “They decided there ought to be some kind of recreation for the kids. They made a beautiful baseball field—the finest in Charleston. They got us uniforms.

We were the Phillies, Yankees, Giants and Cubs. Those guys donated their time, money and effort. It was spectacular and a big deal.” A News and Courier article from April 17, 1955, testified to the appeal of the East Cooper Little League, when 150 players and 500 fans packed the Sullivan’s Island field for Opening Day, complete with speeches from local dignitaries, a band, the award of “small fry beauty” contest winners, and, of course, some exciting exhibition games.

Opposite page: The “Boys” tour their old stomping grounds at the Fort Theater, Hines Barber Shop (now Family Restorative Dental), Fort Moultrie and Sullivan's Island Graded School (now Blockaway). Bottom right: Breakfast at Southerly with Emory Brown, William "Pug" Dudley, Richard Ouzts, Jackie Wear and Mike Williams.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 39

After the games, the boys would cool off with a drink from the artesian well pumping behind the waterworks at Thompson and Station 17, then make a run for the government docks one block west—a prime spot for swimming, provided they didn’t get stuck in the pluff mud when the tide went out.

Being a boy on the island was all about finding opportunities. They set traps and checked them each morning, selling the captured animals to the local garbage man. You could grab a boat from the landing off Raven Drive and take it out to fish, crab or clam—no permission required. Just bring it back in one piece.

A

microcosm of the neArby holy city, children of the islAnd leArned to coexist with mAny fAiths.

“Summer Housing” was going around and checking the trash at summer homes and rentals for recyclable bottles, which could be returned for two cents a bottle, or five cents if it was Canada Dry. Brown had a gas mower and a grass cutting business. Walking the beach in the early morning was a ritual that yielded all kinds of surprises tossed or lost by passing ships—bunches of green bananas; life jackets; coats; cans of peaches, black pepper, and lemonade concentrate; and once even a bunch of bales of cotton, which Brown’s brother and father claimed.

And the boys hustled to get jobs delivering papers, stocking shelves or working at service stations.

Burmester’s (currently Sullivan’s, the Co-Op and Almost Pink) combined a drug store, soda fountain, dry goods, dance floor and a liquor store at the end. Williams worked there, and Ouzts recalls reading illustrated classic comic books for his book reports, sharing ten cent milkshakes among friends and getting run out of there every day.

Once, they snuck in the liquor store while the narcoleptic clerk was asleep behind the counter, and they swiped the cash register. They hid it around back before coming back in to ask for change for a quarter, and it took the clerk a while to catch on. They got run out that time, too.

YOUR ISLAND REAL ESTATE CONNECTION LUXURY SALES AND VACATION RENTALS FEATURED PROPERTY

Beach Front • 5 Bedrooms • 5 Bathrooms • Hot Tub • Private Path to Beach • Walk/Bike to Island Attractions

Matthew Treanor

Real Estate Buyers Agent

843.810.3776

matthewsellscharleston@gmail.com • www.matthewsellscharleston.com www.510oceanblvd.com Working for Buyers – Free of Charge!

Realtor.com says: “A Buyers Agent represents You. Listing Agents represent the Seller – not you – that is an inherent conflict of interest.”

40 | SiP

While restaurants and cafes compete now, back then, it was groceries, pharmacies, liquor stores and gas stations. The current BP station was Chippy’s Pure Oil and bar, owned by the Andregg family, but across the street, there was also Godwin’s ESSO and McConnell’s Shell stations, all within one block. Ouzts worked at them all, recounting one memorable time where he stopped an oil change to pump gas for a customer and forgot to put the oil back in.

Hines Barber Shop (now Family Restorative Dental) was run by a Filipino woman married to an Army man. She gave GI cuts to all the boys, with a bonus of Vitalis hair tonic. And Jones Realty was Ferer’s Variety

Back

then, lots cost Between

$400

and

$500.

- Mike WilliaMs Store, where Williams remembers goods stacked to the ceiling and Dudley got his first bathing suit.

There were three groceries on Middle Street, according to the 1950-51 City Directory—Presto at Station 18, Triangle at Station 24, and Simmons Market at Station 26 1/2. Soon after, the Kalman family, owners of the Triangle Grocery, opened another store at Station 22 1/2 (now Taco Mamacita). The Godwin family owned a liquor store (now Dunleavy’s) in that block, and there were a couple restaurants although nothing fancy— the Breakers and Brownell’s lunch counter, which became Wurthmann’s Pharmacy, then Bert’s Bar, and now Home Team BBQ. In today’s conversations about the preservation of the quality of life on Sullivan’s Island, it is valuable to consider that the island has always evolved as families, businesses, and even churches come and go. From military base to summer resort to suburb, from rural to residential, from trolleys to swing-spans to gridlock, Sullivan’s Island draws people to come and stay and create lifelong memories. Perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned from the Southerly Breakfast Club is one of gratitude for what was, with the wisdom to understand that things will always change.

The best constant of all is friendship. SiP

s t i a w A t h c a Y e t a v i r P

Weddings, Birthdays, Corporate Events, Anniversaries.

Make your special occasion truly special — celebrate them on your own private yacht.

Planning, Catering, Decorations — Southern Drawl Does It All ! Pick up all around the Charleston area.

All we need is water ... and You!

r u Yo

We comfortably accommodate up to 50 passengers.

Matthew T. Treanor | Captain, 100 Ton Master-USCG Cert

For rates and more information, visit our website www.southerndrawlyacht.com or call (843) 810-3776 WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 41

ISLAND LIFE

A CHANGE OF PACE

Sand, scenery and speed combine to make beach running a perfect recreational pursuit.

By Laurie Volkmann. Photos by Steve Rosamilia.

I

am not a runner. I don’t even say that I love running. Though I often do love to run. Especially at the beach—and especially the Carolina coast where vast swathes of hard-packed sand at low tide provide infinite space to tread as you soak up the breathtaking beauty of a sunrise. The idea of running for 30, 20 or even 15 minutes doesn’t usually strike me as all that appealing. Until I’m at the beach. And then a run for 30 or 40 minutes—perhaps even an hour—seems effortless.

I’m often struck by how few runners I come across on morning jaunts along my personal coastline on Sullivan’s Island. Morning after morning, it is just me and the wayward jellyfish, sand dollars and horseshoe crabs. Occasionally I see a fellow comrades pounding the sand and as we pass, there’s an inherent understanding that we’re both keepers of this great secret.

Eighteen-year-old Amelia Parker, who lives with her family on the beach near the Sullivan’s Island lighthouse, knows this secret well.

She runs along the beach every day for an hour. She doesn’t run for a team or to train for any races. She just loves running along the beach.

“I don’t get bored out here,” she says, adding that she runs all different times of day. “I listen to music, zone out. I just prefer the beach.”

Margarethe Waldowski, who recently moved from Stuttgart, Germany, has just discovered this secret and absolutely loves running on the beach. For the three-days-a-week runner, the short drive from Mount Pleasant for a run is “definitely” worth the effort.

“I love the freedom. It’s just nice, relaxing because of the water and the waves,” Waldowski says, adding that she prefers the sand because the impact on her joints is much softer.

But for so many local runners, the beaches represent a slight inconvenience as well as difficult terrain that can hamper training speed. Meredith Nelson, owner of PrimeTime Fitness located just off Sullivan’s Island, started running in college for a physical education class. While she much prefers to run outside, even her close proxim-

42 | SiP

ity to the beach isn’t generally enough to pull her to the sand. “I love running outside, and if the beach happens to be on my route, I’ll do it,” says the 25-year runner, admitting that it’s often much more convenient to just stay on the road. “I’m a numbers person, and I can keep track of my mileage much better on the road.” But Nelson also admits to enjoying a beach run anytime she does venture that way.

“Every time I do run on the beach, I’m like ‘Oh my god I need to do this more often,’” she says.

Charleston has recently become a running mecca with several major races every year, including the Cooper River Bridge Run 10K that attracts more than 30,000 runners annually, and the recently created Charleston Marathon/Half-Marathon, which boasted runners from 49 states and seven countries for its last outing. But the Holy City’s beach towns have also been part of the racing scene for decades. While only two races—Run for Adela in April and the Isle Of Palms’ Beach Run in July—actually run along the beach, the local island races tend to attract runners for the scenery as much as for the running.

The Charlie Post Classic in January and the Floppin’ Flounder in July both run through downtown Sullivan’s Island, while the IOP Connector Run starts and ends in Isle of Palms with an impressive backdrop of the Intracoastal Waterway in between.

Anne Peterson of James Island runs 20-25 miles every week and often participates in the local races. Though she runs on the beach occasionally, she prefers to run the IOP Connector because of its beautiful scenery but easier terrain. “The beach is more work,” she says with a laugh.

Yes, it is. Though runners know the sand makes the trek a bit more work and navigating the coastline at anything other than low tide can be tricky, for many that beach run wins out every time.

I still don’t love running. But I still absolutely love running at the beach. SiP

PROS & CONS OF BEACH RUNNING Pros

Cons

4 TIPS FOR BEACH

RUNNING

Lower impact If you run on beaches with hardpacked sand you get the same stability as a road but with a giving surface for a lot less impact on your joints.

It can be the best of both worlds for a perfect surface and a great view.

Strengthens weaker muscles Running on sand requires the use of smaller foot muscles in order to stay balanced in the shifting sand. Since such stabilization is not required as often on roads, many runners have weaker muscles here and the beach run provides a good cross-training experience to strengthen those muscles. The additional time your feet need to rebound from the soft sand forces your quadriceps, hip flexors and gluteus muscles to engage more than normal, thereby strengthening them too.

Burns more calories It takes about one-and-a-half times the energy to push through a beach run than a jog on the road, so running on the beach can also be a better workout when it comes to burning calories. So that extra effort in the sand could be worth it (and may justify that extra dessert/cocktail while on vacation)!

Injuries can be more frequent If you are not used to running on soft and moving surfaces, it can increase the chance for injury primarily to ankles, Achilles and shins. The uneven surface of a sloping beach can also cause problems to your back and knees. Knowing the risks and running on the best sand areas to avoid these as much as possible will go a long way to improving your beach run experience.

Hard work Just like the extra effort can be a bonus when burning calories, it can also be a killer if you’re not careful. Overuse injuries to calves and plantar fascia are common in regular beach runners because of an excessive load that is forced onto the calves and Achilles during soft sand beach running. It can also adds additional stress to the plantar fascia because feet tend to grasp the sand and stretch in unfamiliar ways.

Check the tides Often the difference between a bad beach run and a great one is knowing the best time to do it. Although you may want to run first thing in the morning or at sunset, if the tide is high—and therefore the type of sand and space to run is far less than ideal—it’s a good idea to wait. Low tide or half tide provide the best options for an ideal surface. Hard-packed sand just beyond the tide line but before the soft sand is the safest surface when possible.

Take it slow Because of the various pros/cons of beach running, it is a good idea to start and keep your beach run slower than normal. Your ankles and knees need to get oriented to a shifting surface, while the extra work it takes to run may take a little getting used to.

Remember the sunscreen Just like skiing, the reflection of the sun’s rays on the sand and nearby water will increase your sunburn potential, so don’t forget the protection. Also, a visor and sunglasses are a must, even if the sun is not at its brightest. An added tip is to wear shoes with closed mesh rather than open mesh around the foot to prevent sand getting in the shoes.

Enjoy the view Probably the best part of a beach run is the view, so keep that in mind as you set off to train, strengthen, burn and work. Consider the beach run an “off day” for your workout and go slow to both protect your joints and just appreciate the beauty around you.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 43

4 | SiP

STORIED STRUCTURES Historic homes dot Sullivan’s Island, with stories that range from sardine companies to six generations in a centennial.

By Margaret Pilarski. Photos by Steve Rosamilia.

I

n the early days of Sullivan’s Island, mail could simply be addressed with a home’s name.

Today the post office requires a few more details to identify an envelope’s final destination, but naming a beach home is a tradition that’s not going anywhere. Spot a sign? There’s probably a story. Whether the name comes from an old business, local geography, or just a special person, these homes have a history that’s worth a second glance.

OLEANDER COTTAGE

Just like some folks who move to Sullivan’s Island from “off,” some homes end up here too.

Such is the case of Oleander Cottage, originally built to house attendees at the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition of 1901– 1902, which took place in what is modern-day Hampton Park in downtown Charleston. After the fair, the exposition-built homes were put on barges and floated to Sullivan’s Island.

For Cathy Curtis, the cottage was a childhood summer home that felt eons away from civilization. “It was like you moved to another state—we never went ‘into the city.’ My dad would commute to work,” she says. “One of my earliest memories at Oleander Cottage is my great uncle Leo chopping a chicken’s head off on a stump in the side yard. The headless chicken ran all around the yard before dropping dead. Made an impression on a three-year-old!”

For entertainment, Curtis and her sister would sit on the porch and “play cars”—which entailed simply guessing the color of the next car. “There wasn’t the traffic there is now,” she explains.

Though the cottage had been in her family for years, they made the decision to sell in the 70s.

“IT WAS LIKE YOU MOVED TO ANOTHER STATE—WE NEVER WENT ‘INTO THE CITY.’ MY DAD WOULD COMMUTE TO WORK.”

- Cathy Curtis

Opposite page from top: A painting of Brady’s Tavern by Peggy Hughes. Harold Holt on the steps of Crossed Fish. Oleander Cottage, Cathy Curtis’s childhood summer home

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 45

WILLIE’S WHISTLE STOP

Today, Cathy Curtis isn’t too far away from the childhood magic of Oleander Cottage. Her current home, Willie’s Whistle Stop, was left to Curtis by her Uncle Willie, her mother’s brother and favorite uncle. “I had no idea that I was going to inherit the house and also be the executrix of his estate! What a surprise,” she says. “He dropped dead in the living room of my house the month before his 90th birthday. When he was feeling well, which was most of the time, he constantly whistled. Since he died in the house, the whistling stopped here and that is how I got the name—I wanted his name on the house.”

Built in 1906, Curtis still has a copy of the home’s building permit written in longhand.

“Uncle Willie bought [the home] from my uncle Henry. Uncle Henry paid $17,000 for it and Willie thought he got ripped off because he bought it [from him] for $23,000.” Today the bathrooms are all indoors, but the house’s angles still catch the island breezes, including the ones from an addition that Curtis initiated. “I added on a screen porch that gives me a view of the back yard—I love to sit out there and watch storms come in. The yard is a half-acre and I keep my four beloved chickens there that lay blue and green eggs.”

CROSSED FISH

Named by a former owner of the house whose sardine company was called Crossed Fish, the home on the site of the old Atlantic Beach Hotel was built in 1925. “My parents, Kitty and Ed Holt, bought the house in 1999 from Sally and Jesse Ellington after it was only on the market for a day,” Harold Holt, who shares the home with his brother Edward and sister Katherine, says. Two blocks from the beach and a block from nearby restaurants, it’s been a family gathering spot for years, but also a symbol of small-town closeness due to inadvertently sharing the space with friends.

“Over the years we found that many friends of our family had rented Crossed Fish before we owned it. Les and Barbara Robinson rented it at one point, and Jay and Jane Keenan rented it not long after them. Both couples told us great stories when they lived there—one of the most interesting stories was when the house almost burned down in 1973 when the old Post Office caught on fire behind it. Luckily it was saved,” Holt says.

Although the family has added on about 1,200 additional square feet, they were careful to add to the back of the home so as not to disturb the original 1925 design of the front. “It has always been a very social house being so close to the bars and restaurants, but it’s also a spot where you can chill out and enjoy quiet time,” Holt says. “We plan on keeping the house for many years to come.”

BRADY’S TAVERN

From top: Willie’s Whistle Stop. Cathy Curtis inside Willie’s Whistle Stop. Harold Holt and dogs inside Crossed Fish.

Brady’s Tavern today.

46 | SiP

Although not the Brady family, six generations of a single family have kept this structure’s name in honor of a former tavern rumored to have been run out of the building. The current family’s history here dates back to 1911, when James T. Molony and Margaret Hartnett Molony bought the house from Ann Laffan.

James and Margaret’s daughter, Helen Molony, then married Arthur B. Moore, and their daughters—Margaret, Ann, and Jimmy—grew up in the home during the mid-century.

Jimmy remembers when “in the 1940s the town put in water and sewer lines, so Daddy added a bathroom and another bedroom to the house.”

The third-generation sisters were eager participants in the operation of the bridge, too. “We would help Mr. Limbaker, the bridge operator, turn the gears to open the swing bridge. The boys would jump on to the opening center and ride until the bridge closed again. Daddy would play cards at the house with Mr. Limbaker until boats sounded their horns to have the bridge open,” Margaret Moore Shuman says.

Ann Enright Moore remembers the popularity of one particular feature of the home: “Everyone liked to swing on the bench swing Daddy made for the front porch. Children would get the swing going fast and pretend to be traveling to Charlotte or New York,” she says. Sitting to watch travelers upon the sea never got old for the imaginative sisters, either. “The front porch is a great place to see ships coming and going in the harbor. The hospital ship seen during World War II—white with a red cross—was beautiful, especially all lit up,” Margaret Moore says. With the house dating over 100 years, the family celebrated a collective centennial of its Sullivan’s Island life in 2011. Today the sixth generation still enjoys the home in the summer. SiP

“THE HOUSE ALMOST BURNED DOWN IN 1973 WHEN THE OLD POST OFFICE CAUGHT ON FIRE BEHIND IT. LUCKILY IT WAS SAVED.”

- Harold Holt

THE ONLY REALTOR WHO SPECIALIZES ON JUST THE ISLE OF PALMS

$17,134,000 Sales in 2015, and over 7 million so far in 2016!

Jimmy Carroll Carroll Realty, Inc

103 Palm Blvd., Isle of Palms, SC 843.452.1200 / jimmy@jimmycarroll.com www.jimmycarroll.com LUXURY REAL ESTATE SALES SINCE 1978

17 6th Avenue, Isle of Palms Best buy on the island, just 2 houses from beach. Home being sold furnished. Pool. Ocean Views!

3 Bedrooms | 2.5 Baths | 3,328 Sq.Ft. $1,695,000

12 Sandcrab 28 Beachside #7 Live Oak 2500 Waterway 602 Ocean Blvd.

5837 Back Bay Dr. 38 Grand Pavilion

$520,000 $610,000 $280,000 $487,000 $1,815,000 $750,000 $1,100,000

27 23rd Avenue, Isle of Palms Very cool home on quiet street within walking distance to ocean.

Open floor plan. Tall ceilings. Pool 4 Bedrooms | 4.5 Baths | 4,010 Sq.Ft. $1,375,000

411 Merritt Blvd.

408 Ocean Blvd.

220 Charleston Blvd. #10 6th Ave. 2000 Waterway 609 Ocean Blvd.

3301 Palm Blvd.

$2,450,000 $2,300,000 $1,625,000 $1,200,000 $722,000 $1,650,000 $1,999,000

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 47

PLAN A CULTURE-FILLED

STAYCATION 1|

2|

6|

3|

5|

4|

Travel blogger and Sullivan’s Island resident Carol Antman spends her days exploring places of artistic interest all over the region. For SiP, she shares her top picks for those residents and visitors looking to inject a little culture into their time here.

Photos by Steve Rosamilia

M

usic is wafting from open windows. Painters are perched on the edge of the marsh. Thespians are rehearsing atop batteries.

The arts are flourishing East of the Cooper. Big city Charleston has whetted our appetites with its smorgasbord of events, exhibits and performances and now it’s easy to choose a tasty treat right in our own backyard.

Our good fortune of living here includes not only our beautiful surroundings, but the beauty they inspire. The arts celebrate the best of human nature. They entertain and lift our spirits but the unintended benefit is even greater. When we join a committee to produce an event or sit beside our neighbors to see a play, when we dance with our children or get our hands dirty creating or encourage those who do, we are making our community stronger, more authentic and an even greater place to live.

48 | SiP

There are no more compelling stories than those that can be found at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island. It was here escaped slave Robert Smalls staged his daring act of liberation that made him a Union war hero. From this point, planter and politician William Moultrie led the battle against nine British warships, resulting in the fort being named for him. Here you can sit on Toni Morrison’s “Bench By the Road” and read the historic marker where thousands of slaves disembarked. You can conjure Edgar Allan Poe on the spot where he wrote “Annabel Lee.” The Fort’s professional exhibits and ancillary online materials could easily be a college humanities course.

one of his numerous commissions. But he’ll be happy to stop and talk.

Adele’s Pottery is nearby at 1659 Middle Street. Visitors from all over the world have been dropping by for 35 years. It’s fascinating to watch her create the sand- and sea-inspired usable art on her potter’s wheel.

When the gate is open, she’s open. Or call 843.883.9545. Carol McGill’s vibrant paintings have won numerous awards throughout the Southeast. She welcomes visitors to her Isle of Palms studio by appointment through her website at carolmcgill.com. Complete an island experience with some food for the soul at Sandpiper Gallery at 2201 Middle Street.

Their intriguing collection of fine art and American crafts highlights local talent and their frequent art openings are local favorites.

2 | LIFELONG LEARNING AT THE LIBRARY

5 | HOBNOB WITH THE NEIGHBORS

1 | WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HISTORY

A beloved community gathering spot, the Poe Library, is not only a place to pick up a good read. It also hosts a variety of entertaining and educational programs for all ages. Puppet shows, crafting, history lectures, book clubs, memoir-writing, plays and storytelling fill their calendar. ccpl.org

3 | RECHARGE THE BATTERY From atop the historic battery next to the Poe Library, the sounds of Shakespeare heraldthe rejuvenation of an island institution. The Battery Gadsden Cultural Center has begun its mission to provide a community space to preserve the history and culture of Sullivan’s Island through photographs, artifacts and art. Recent theatrical performances show the promise of the building as a permforming arts venue. Membership is free and monthly meetings attract engaged citizens who want to help. batterygadsden.com

4 | DROP IN ON AN ARTIST Go meet your artistic neighbors! Whenever the “open” sign is displayed, you can drop in on Mickey Williams’s studio at 1820 Middle Street.

You’ll probably find him working on a large marsh scene or finishing

Cultural festivals abound on the islands. The Isle of Palms hosts a Front Beach Fest in March, the popular Piccolo Spoleto Sand Sculpting Competition in May and a Holiday Street Festival in December. Art on the Beach and Chefs in the Kitchen, a house tour with dozens of artists, is on Sullivan’s Island in November. Wild Dunes Resort on IOP offers up a variety of cultural activities year-round, including making iron creations with a blacksmith and photography outings. If you’re a lucky resident or vacationer on Dewees, you can enjoy one of the frequent gatherings in the beautiful Huyler House which hosts various performances.

6 | FIND FOOD (AND ART) FRESH FROM THE MARKET They say food is art, and there’s a new opportunity for getting your hands on some delicious, locally grown “art,” as Sullivan’s Island new Farmers’ Market brings fresh produce and hand-crafted foods to the beach. But the real gems to be found at the market are the local artists and craftsmen showcased in the rotating “artist/artisan nook.” A different creator will show off his or her work each week through the season, which runs April through June, Thursdays 2:30 to 7 p.m. facebook.com/ sifarmersmarket SiP

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 49

50 | SiP

TWO CHIEFS TWO ISLANDS ONE FRIENDSHIP

ISLE OF PALMS FIRE CHIEF ANNE GRAHAM WAS THE FIRST FEMALE CHIEF IN THE STATE, BUT SHE WOULDN'T BE HERE TODAY WITHOUT SULLIVAN'S ISLAND FIRE CHIEF ANTHONY STITH.

BY JENNIFER TUOHY PHOTOS BY STEVE ROSAMILIA

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 51

T

SULLIVAN'S ISLAND IS A GREAT TOWN, AND IT'S CHANGED COMPLETELY SEVERAL TIMES. IOP HASN'T CHANGED SINCE THE DAY I GREW UP. EXCEPT IT'S GOT BIGGER HOUSES. - ANTHONY STITH

4 | SiP

he morning of July 9, 1973, a slice of Sullivan’s Island history burned to the ground.

The old concession stand of The Breakers, a 1920s dance pavilion, caught fire and started a blaze that consumed a large portion of Middle Street and Station 22 1/2, including the former Post Office. But as one part of the island’s history disintegrated into ashes, another was born.

Half a block away, a redheaded tomboy woke to the sound of the crackle and pop of her hometown on fire. The sky was a blazing orange color and the 13-year-old leapt out of the cot she was sleeping in on her grandmother’s porch and ran toward the glowing flames. That first taste of soot and smoke sparked something in Ann Graham.

Another young island resident also had his first brush with disaster at a similar age. Michael Anthony Stith was 12 years old when his father, Sullivan’s Island’s volunteer fire chief, took him on his first rescue call. It was a double drowning. “He put me in the rescue boat,” Stith recalls.

“That’s where I got it in my blood—going with him on calls.”

It takes something special to be a firefighter; to have the drive, the need even, to be the one who runs into the burning building not out of it. It is something they’re born with, an instinct to help people even when they must put themselves in danger to do so. For these two Sullivan’s Islanders, what they discovered as children living on an isolated strip of land—where help was often far away— would lead them to careers as chief protectors of our barrier islands.

A TOUGH PATH TO FOLLOW For Stith, 63, the path to becoming Sullivan’s Island fire chief was almost inevitable. The third son of Louis Stith, the man who helped form the island’s first fire department, Anthony Stith initially tried to take a different path. He worked for a finance firm in Columbia briefly, before taking his first firefighting job with Mount Pleasant in 1974.

A career at the naval shipyard was then pressed on him by his mother, but after four years he knew it wasn’t for him, and he returned to Mount Pleasant FD. Clearly, something kept pulling him back to fire and rescue, and closer to home. Perhaps it was the call of his ancestor, Michael McGuire, who was a surfman at the Sullivan’s Island lifeguard station in the late 1800s.

In 1982 Stith accepted the Town of Sullivan’s Island’s offer to be fire chief, with a salary of $12,000 approved by a council that included his brother Marshall Stith. Councilman Roger Beck told The Post & Courier at the time that the “salary was higher than budgeted, but the council feels Stith is well-respected with the volunteers and is the best hope for the department.” Looking back 35 years later, it appears that was a wise investment.

For the young Graham however, it was a very different story. Her interest sparked by the fire that burned down Middle Street, Graham started hanging out with the firemen at her school bus stop, which happened to be in front of the fire station. Picking up some tips from them, she was inspired to take a CPR course at Wando High School.

Then tragedy struck her street again. A fire broke out at 2208 Ion on March 10, 1979. Graham’s neighbor, Julia Carter, was inside. Firefighters had pulled her out and a nurse who lived nearby was performing CPR alone. Graham rushed to help the 64-year-old woman but the then-fire chief told her to “get out of the way.” Carter died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

“I don’t remember if they said ‘you’re just a kid’ or ‘you’re just a girl,’ but they said ‘we don’t need you,’” Graham recalls. “Right there I decided that I never wanted to be in the position where I wasn’t allowed to help again.”

Getting into that position, however, proved far more difficult than she anticipated. “I tried to join [the Sullivan’s Island Volunteer Fire & Rescue squad] right after my neighbor died. I was told you have to be able to do XYZ, and I did it. Then it was ‘Well actually you need to be able to do ABC,’ so I did it. But then I was told ‘You need to do ABCD...

XYZ’—so I did all that. Then I was told, ‘Well actually we don’t have any openings right now... .’’’

The problem was that she was a women. And that was a problem she couldn’t solve until there was a change of guard. “I wanted to join, but the previous chief did not appear to need my services.

So when Anthony came along I asked if I could join and he said ‘I need all the help I can get—but you have to get voted in.’’’

She applied and found herself standing in a room surrounded by volunteer firemen, seeking their approval. “I’ll never forget, one of the big fellows in the room says ‘Ann Marie, no offense, but I don’t think you can get me out of a building.’

I looked at him and said ‘No offense to you, but I don’t think there’s any one person in this room who can get you out of a building.’ I got voted in.”

RIGHT THERE I DECIDED THAT I NEVER WANTED TO BE IN THE POSITION WHERE I WASN'T ALLOWED TO HELP AGAIN

- ANN GRAHAM

BROTHERS IN BOOTS On a sunny, January day in 2016, Chief Stith and Chief Graham sit across from each other in the Sullivan’s Island Fire Station, discussing their careers, sparring and reminiscing as only old friends can. The polar opposites of each other in every characteristic—Graham petite, blonde and naturally reserved, Stith, tall and broad with a booming laugh and constant twinkle in his eye— they are like two peas in a very uniquely shaped pod. They finish each other’s sentences and often seem to know what the other one is saying before they even open their mouth.

“Don’t pull the girl thing—just do your job,” Stith says as we discuss the issues women in the fire department face. “I don’t look at color, race, size, shape, gender. We interview the candidates and hire the best person.” Those principles held him in good stead when he went out on a limb and hired Graham as the first female volunteer firefighter in Sullivan’s Island’s history.

“I remember my helmet didn’t fit when I first started,” Graham says. “I was told ‘You have a regulation helmet on a non-regulation head.’”

Stith and Graham laugh, looking at each other knowingly. Uniforms, it appears, were a big issue.

Starting with the pair of men’s Dickie pants Stith gave her. “He told me, ‘Just go get them altered.’”

“One of my first big fires, I had been issued my jumpsuit but I hadn’t been issued my boots yet,” WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 53

Graham says. “I grew up running barefoot on Sullivan’s, so when the call came out in the middle of the night, I go flying out the door with my jumpsuit on and no shoes!”

She was standing at the pump panel when a chief from the Mount Pleasant Department approached her and asked: “Have you ever pumped a truck before?” “I said ‘No sir,’ and he said ‘The most important thing you can do is if I say shut it off, you hit that button as hard as you can.’ I just stood there with my fist in the air the whole time.”

“After the fire, Chief Cyrus Pye came up to me and said ‘Anthony, you need to get that girl some boots,’” Stith recalls with a laugh. Stith took his advice and within three years had turned Graham into a fully-fledged firefighter. She went on to a career on neighboring Isle of Palms, where she became the island’s first certified firefighter.

By 1989 she had been promoted to captain and five years later became the first female chief in the state.

“Being the first female fire chief is irrelevant,” she says dismissively of this significant milestone for her sex. While being repeatedly denied entry to the profession she knew was her life-calling because of her sex undoubtedly gave Graham many of the tools she needed to excel at it, she simply doesn't have time for dealing with the “woman issue.”

She didn’t accept an invitation to join a Women in Fire orgnization, because, she says pragmatically, “How can I say ‘don’t treat me differently’ if I’m in a different group?”

Is it easier for women in the fire service today though? “No,” she says without hesitation. “But the uniforms fit better.”

HARD CHANGES For anyone involved in emergency services in the Charleston area over the past few decades, there are two events that stand out, that shaped who and what you are. Hurricane Hugo and the Sofa Super Store fire.

“September 11th was a big impact for accountability, but I would have to say locally the Sofa Super Store was a big change,” Graham says, recalling the tragic fire in West Ashley that claimed the lives of nine Charleston firefighters on June 18, 2007. “It’s not that we weren’t already progressing, but that was a huge wake-up call for everybody.”

It prompted a sea change in the way local departments ran big fire calls. “Safety rules that were in place but needed to be implemented came into focus,” Stith said. “People running without airpacks, that stopped. Bringing in RIT [Rapid Intervention Teams], that’s all come about since.

There’s a lot more mutual aid, automatic aid.

Sometimes I think there’s too much aid... . I think the duty personnel need to get to the situation and figure out what they need and get on the radio. You get a pot on the stove, fill the house with smoke and four or five engines show up nowadays. It leaves too many places open [unprotected].”

The hurricane that destroyed Isle of Palms and devastated Sullivan’s Island on September 9, 1989 is a striking personal marker in the lives of both firefighters. “I have two lives, before Hugo and after Hugo,” Stith says. “That’s the culture of the people in this area. Sullivan’s Island is a great town, and it’s changed completely several times.

54 | SiP

IOP hasn’t changed since the day I grew up.

Except it’s got bigger houses.”

“I lost everything to Hugo,” Graham says, who was living on both islands at the time.

“Except a couple ceramics—a little helmet, a little boot. Everything everybody in my family owned—cars, trucks, houses, everything. We started over.”

“I remember commandeering a friend’s boat and coming out to the island a couple days after,” Stith says. “The bridge was off its axis, but from a distance it didn’t look so bad.

When you got up close though... .”

Stith, who has lived in Mount Pleasant most of his adult life, had a bar on Isle of Palms at the time. “It was called Three Sheets in the Wind, right on Front Beach. After Hugo, it was gone,” he says. “Hugo took out our playground.”

Tragedy and destruction is par for the course for firefighters, but there’s always that one call that stands out. For Graham it was a windy Friday the 13th in 1999. “Wild Dunes.

That’s the one that doesn’t seem to want to go away for me,” she says. “We could have lost the end of Wild Dunes.”

The fire was eventually controlled, but not without the loss of four structures, belonging to “some very influential people,” including then U.S. Senator Ernest “Fritz” Hollings and race-car driver Kyle Petty, ensuring the incident gained national attention. “Thank God nobody got hurt and everybody did a wonderful job, the fire was quickly getting away due to high winds and propane tank explosions.”

Sometimes however, it doesn’t work out the way you would hope; with everyone safe. “The hardest thing is when things don’t turn out the way you wanted them to,” Graham says.

“When somebody dies you beat yourself up wondering why you couldn't save them. But the reality is they were probably dead before you got there.”

“We had a whole family drown once, a mother father, baby and a young boy. They got the boy out, but they ended up drowning trying to get the baby,” Stith recalls. “At that time one of my sons was about the same age.

That was the worse thing. I had to ask [Father] Ross why did this happen? You start wondering, questioning your faith... .”

we’re going to sink.”

Of course it wasn’t always this way. “I can remember growing up here in the summertime, my cousins would come over and we’ve got pictures of us on the beach and no one’s out there,” Stith says. “Now both islands are yearround destinations—there’s no such thing as seasons anymore. I remember when we’d have 300 people left on the island in the winter.”

Both chiefs have fond memories of growing up on Sullivan’s, a place where their family roots are deep. Stith’s family is literally embedded into the island's history: The park is named after his brother, former mayor Marshall Stith, and the bridge for his father, Judge Louis Stith.

Graham’s South Carolina roots go all the way back to the Civil War, her great great great grandfather Robert Graham fought alongside Brigadier General Hagood. Her parents lived

on opposite ends of Ion Avenue Street when they were children.

Stith grew up going on fire and rescue calls with his father, while Graham grew up watching them from her home, a few doors down from the fire station. They both played in the abandoned forts and on the beaches, they both rode bicycles and boxes down the side of The Mound (“I still to this day look for boxes to ride down that hill,” Graham says. “There’s one by the door at the station that I’ve been eyeing!”).

Today, as they watch their children and grandchildren grow up doing the same things, experiencing the same yet different islands, they can be proud that their combined history, their knowledge and experience, and their friendship has helped make these islands a safer place to live. SiP

CHALLENGES BRING CHANGE Something those who work on the front line as first responders know best, is that the upside to tragedy and disaster is the chance to make things better—to try and make sure these things never happen again, or at least be prepared for when they do. For the islands’ two chiefs, one of the biggest challenges they face is the changing nature of their islands.

“The size of the structures have significantly increased and the size of the staff has not,” Graham says. “In the summertime, we go from a population of 5,000 to 30,000, but we still have the same amount of people looking after everyone.” This lopsided math is clearly something that keeps both chiefs awake at night. “I agree with that,” Stith says. “I joke sometimes that if somebody puts one more car over here WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 55

Jim's

impressions of reality Sullivan’s Island artist Jim Darlington pursues people and places with his brush.

By Sarah Nolan. Photos by Steve Rosamilia.

56 | SiP

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 3

A

Afternoon at Porpoise Point, 14 x 18 oil on canvas

Viridian Sky, 16 x 20 oil on canvas

Violet Afternoon, 16 x 20 oil on canvas

58 | SiP

rtist Jim Darlington comes to the door of his Sullivan’s Island studio in a paintspeckled long sleeve t-shirt, palette and brush in hand. He is in the middle of touching up a canvas featuring a local church in softly rendered oil paints. It’s something he says he does occasionally—revisits his works to retouch them, sometimes years after he first painted them. He mentions Post-Impressionist painter Pierre Bonnard, who used to do the same thing, even when his works had been bought or hung on display in a gallery. “Bonnard had one painting; he went in [the museum] and wanted to change something. Of course this was back in the forties—you couldn’t do this now—but he went back home and got a little brush and some paint and hid it in his overcoat and got a friend of his to distract the guard while he touched it up!”

Darlington draws inspiration from PostImpressionist artists and other sources, many of which are pinned or taped up in his three-room studio. The walls are peppered with newspaper clippings, including a review of a Paul Gauguin retrospective, alongside art show ribbons he’s won from Charleston Artist Guild and South Carolina Oil Painting competitions, and articles featuring his band, Minimum Wage, for which he plays guitar. Literary figures also appear around the studio, including a quote by American novelist and naturalist Theodore Dreiser and photographs of fellow Sullivan’s Island creative, Edgar Allen Poe. Darlington came to Sullivan’s in 1983, having grown up in a tobacco-farming town in northeastern South Carolina. His hometown has since become an important part of his identity. “My real name is Jim Brown, born in Darlington. When I first moved here and joined the Charleston Artist Guild there were [already] two Jim Browns in town who were painting. So I took the name of my hometown, like El Greco and Caravaggio adopted the names of their birthplace.”

He has since spent his life immersed in the arts, working as a journalist and art critic, and then as a teacher. “When I first came here, I was an instructor at the Gibbes Museum. They had an art school for adults where I taught watercolor and oil painting during the late eighties and early nineties. The building where I taught is now Husk Restaurant,” he says with a chuckle. “When the Gibbes closed that school and we had a son, I decided I needed something a little more steady, so now I work with Charleston County School District at Windwood Farm out in Awendaw.” The school schedule allows him generous amounts of time on the weekends and during summer to paint.

Darlington lives in a house he renovated from a repurposed nurse quarters that had been part of the old Moultrieville Hospital. He reflects on how the island has changed since he made it his home over thirty years ago. “Sullivan’s was a little bit different back then. It was before the connector and before the big bridges.” He lives with his wife Michal Baird, also a South Carolina native, and his son Baker Brown, now a senior at Clemson. The family loves the coastal lifestyle. “It’s a beautiful place. You don’t have to look around very hard for subjects.”

"I always return to the human face I'm trying to say what it means to be a human being living in the world" JIM DARLINGTON

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 59

Woman with Long Braid, 24 x 18 oil on canvas 60 | SiP

Of his landscapes, Darlington says, “I like to paint scenes characteristic of the lowcountry of South Carolina. I usually begin a painting by applying large flat areas of color to a background, which is colored either red or dark umber. Sometimes I have composition in mind; other times I let the movement of the brush suggest forms. I build upon these forms, or change them, until I have a painting that conveys a certain mood, or an aspect of the landscape that I feel is authentic.”

Julie Cooke, owner of Sandpiper Gallery on Sullivan’s Island and Edward Dare Gallery in downtown Charleston, has represented Darlington for the past 15 years. “It has been such a pleasure watching his work ebb and flow in style, mood and composition,” Cooke says. “One characteristic of Darlington’s work that is a constant is that it has a bit of a primordial feel to it—the landscapes are wild, thick with underbrush and untouched. The moods he is able to capture with his often-sultry palette range from peaceful and serene to the feeling that all hell is about to break loose. The fact that his pieces are his impressions of reality, give you a peek into his mind and encourage you to make your own impressions of reality, allowing the viewer to be an active participant.”

One of Darlington’s oil on canvas paintings that was done completely on location, or in artistic terms en plein air, is Afternoon at Porpoise Point. The composition shows a softly lit red-roofed oceanfront house and crop of palmetto trees set against a muted seaside palette of blues and greens. The piece is one of Darlington’s many paintings that will be on display this summer at Sandpiper Gallery’s Timeless Island show, a one-man exhibition of Darlington’s art opening July 16, 2016.

“With plein air painting, when I spend the day in the sun and elements, I almost feel as if I own the subject I have painted or at least that I have ‘collected’ it,” he says. “It’s a very intimate experience.”

Painting on the beaches of Sullivan’s Island can be a lovely experience for an artist, but it requires the eye and technique of an accomplished painter. “It amazes me the way plein air painters are able to capture their subjects with the ever-changing light when painting out on location,” Cooke says. “It takes so much skill, knowing the critical elements to capture quickly before the light changes, and to get it right immediately. It really exemplifies living in the moment—being present.”

Darlington is also a keen portraitist. “Sometimes I’ll get a sitter or I will work with drawings I’ve done or portraits I began at the Gibbes. Since I play guitar, I like to do some guitar players.” he says. He often combines features from models and life sketches into one portrait, a technique that, according to his gallery, allows him to capture “a range of emotions—sometimes with subtle, fine brushwork and other times with strong palette knife work to add a dramatic, sculptural visual impact.”

Darlington took up sculpture recently, and has already been featured at the City Gallery on the waterfront during the Spoleto Festival, the international performing arts festival that takes over Charleston every year in May. His technique is pottery, sculpted and baked, “then I paint them to look like a bronze patina.” The effect is a convincing version of a traditional bust, but with a gentler, more organic finish.

“I always return to the human face… I’m trying to say what it means to be a human being living in the world… and all the ups and downs we have. I’m looking for a mood that the viewer can respond to.” SiP

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 61

Blood and sand inspire

Mystery

62 | SiP

writer

Growing up, bestselling author Leonard Goldberg spent his summers on Sullivan’s Island. Today he mixes his medical mysteries with the sounds of the Atlantic Ocean.

By Marci Shore. Photos by Steve Rosamilia.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 63

L

If you don’t like change, go live in a museum.

64 | SiP

eonard Goldberg spent his summers on Sullivan’s Island in an era when there were no maritime forests, only sand dunes. The author of a series of USA Today bestselling medical mysteries, remembers when I’on Avenue was a bed of oyster shells and when Mount Pleasant was “just a place you passed through to get to Sullivan’s Island.”

On a gray January day, I put my notebook in my bicycle basket and pedal down Ion Avenue toward Dr. Goldberg’s beach cottage.

We are already acquaintances from meeting on beach walks over the years, and it was here I learned about his medical career at UCLA and his life as a novelist.

We meet at 2:30 p.m., half an hour after he normally finishes writing for the day. “I stand at a podium when I write,” Goldberg says. He writes on a 14-inch yellow legal pad, using Number 2 Ticonderoga pencils. “Every morning I stroll to the corner service station and get the newspaper. On my walk I think about what I’m going to write about for the day, and when I get back I write for 5 or 6 hours, standing at the podium or walking around the house.”

When I arrive, Goldberg is sitting in the corner chair of the renovated circa 1920 beach cottage. Outside the front door, palms gently sway, concealing a hammock. A retired physician and professor at UCLA Medical Center, Goldberg spent most of his post-medical school life in California. From age 2 until 15, Goldberg and his family travelled to Sullivan’s Island for the summers, staying in the annex to a bigger house at Station 24 (the main house washed away during Hugo in 1989, but somehow the annex survived). In those days, the 1940s early 50s, there were very few full-time residents on Sullivan’s Island. Families escaped the heated concrete of downtown Charleston to spend the summers from June until Labor Day on the island.

The Goldbergs’ Charleston residence moved around during his childhood: first, in Radcliffeborough, then to a residence near College Park and finally to a waterfront condominium on Concord Street. “The summers were just delightful,” he says, with a sudden softness in his voice. He remembers “playing war” in the sand dunes with his friends using toy guns. “Run and hide in the dunes and say ‘pow pow.’ That sort of thing.” He recalls the tidal pools as being more connected to the ocean, and less like stagnant water as they are now. “I remember the pools being deep enough that we could put out a diving board to dive down five or so feet.”

His friend had a boat that they used to water ski in Breach Inlet, and one of his favorite island memories is fishing with a hand line on the ocean shore. “I never would catch anything. Then one day, I felt a strong tug on the line. I would pull, and it would pull back. Whatever it was it wasn’t giving up. I started running onto the shore to pull it in, and saw a silver gleam coming out of the water. It was a four pounder. We all ate drum that night,” he says, smiling like a proud 10-year-old.

Poignantly, he recalls the heartbreak the community felt when a young member of the Condon family never returned from a midnight sail. “We were all stunned and saddened,” he said. Today, he feels the island still retains that close knit character of a small town, where individual grief is shared by the community. Gone, though, are many of the beach cottages Goldberg remembers from his childhood. “I don’t particularly care for the big houses.

I prefer the beach houses. The mansions are too gentrified. But my block still has several of the older houses.” He also laments the changes of downtown Charleston he’s seen in his lifetime, “but then, if you don’t like change, go live in a museum.”

Goldberg attended the College of Charleston, where he was one of only 400 students. “The entire graduating class could easily all sit on the Cistern.” Next was MUSC, then an internship and residency in St. Louis, Missouri, before draft orders took him to Tokyo to work in an Air Force referral hospital. After the Air Force, he crossed the country to California to teach as a Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA. While involved with a research project, he encountered an unusual blood type. The patient’s blood cells were O-Rh null, and were totally deficient in A, B, and

Rh factors, and could be administered to virtually anyone without fear of a transfusion reaction. The discovery spurred an idea for a story in which a woman is born without a tissue type, making her organs universally transplantable.

From this idea, came a book. To see if he could get it published, he found the name of an agent and sent in the manuscript. Being a first time author, he had to send a $100 non-refundable fee to have his booked considered. “I told the agent, I want my check back if she decided to represent me. The check was returned three days later.” In 1980, ten years into his medical career, his first novel, Transplant, was published.

The book went through several printings and was optioned by a Hollywood studio.

Goldberg has published a total of 13 novels, with his next due out later this year. “Hospital discharge summaries read like a mystery,” he says, explaining the logical jump from doctor to mystery novelist. “The disease is the villain, the doctor is the protagonist who puts the clues together, lab tests are the evidence. In his first nine novels, Dr. Joanna Blalock was the protagonist and in his next series Dr. David Ballineau, an emergency room doctor and former Special Forces operative, solves the medical mystery at hand. In his latest three-book series, the first of which will be published

by St. Martin’s Press later this year, he is back with a nurse as the lead character.

“I’m enjoying life,” he said, as I took notes on his unique wooden coffee table. “That table reminds me that every now and then things just seem to come together. I was looking for a table in an antique furniture store in West Los Angeles. I didn’t see anything I wanted, but did notice this long piece of wood on a top shelf. It was greasy and dirty, but I wanted to see it.” The piece of wood turned out to be a door hatch to a boat from long ago. He took the hatch door home, and a former patient cleaned, sanded and varnished the wood.

He then put legs on it and made it the focal point of the living room.

His life has come full circle back to Charleston, where he always knew he would end up. “In California, my Charleston accent became more neutral, but it’s now back stronger than ever. It’s like they always say about Charleston: ‘Once you get sand in your shoes you just can’t get it out.’” SiP

I told the agent, I want my check back if she decided to represent me.

The check was returned three days later.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 65

Sun, Swim, Save, Repeat On Isle of Palms, a steadfast crew is keeping their guard up.

By Jessie Hazard. Photos by Steve Rosamilia.

66 | SiP

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 67

The strip of coastline lifeguarded at Isle of Palms County Park is miniscule—only a few hundred feet

mark the distance between the two red and yellow flags that delineate the zone. Still, it’s always a busy spot. It’s late September, the last day of lifeguarding season, and a flurry of guards move about, dividing their time between monitoring beachgoers and packing away equipment until next year. They’ve just been notified that a church group has called to say they’ll be coming to the park shortly, en masse and without prior notice, to conduct a baptism in the ocean waters. In any other working atmosphere, this kind of news would be enough to buckle production and cause sheer panic among the staff. But the crew just looks at each other, chuckles, and with a big shrug goes back to work. “This is pretty standard stuff for us,” lifeguard Kurtyss Kasten says. “Technically, groups are supposed to arrange anything with a big crowd in advance, but it doesn’t always happen. We’ve got to take everything that can and will happen out here in stride—it’s in the job description.”

Kasten, a 25-year-old James Island native, has been lifeguarding for eight years—for the first four, he was a regular guard, since then he’s moved up to supervisor and on to a training position. He heads a group of impossibly good-looking people, all of them young, lithe, and ripped straight from a sunscreen ad. It’s mildly irritating how effortlessly perfect they all are—until you realize that these physiques are bought and paid for by a lot of hard work.

Besides training at the IOP County Park, Kasten works with the lifeguards on Kiawah Island and at the two stations on Folly Beach. These are also run by the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission and the only three beaches in the area with lifeguards. He regularly drills his teams by sending an assistant out into the water from varying spots—then the assistant pretends to drown. Kasten perches up in a place where he can observe how long it took the guard to notice his faux victim, if they used the right signals in communicating with other guards on the beach, and how long it took them to get to the person.

Speed is key here. Taking the time to start up a Jet Ski and whip it out into the water is time a guard usually can’t afford. Unless the victim is very far from shore, a straight swim is the best way for them to reach someone in distress. The Isle Of Palms station doesn’t even have Jet Skis or other powered watercraft ready at its location; it relies almost solely on the swiftness of its staff.

Always Ready

Most importantly, these lifeguards must be acutely aware and willing to hop out of the chair at every whim. Laziness and apathy have no place here. “The lifeguard mantra,” Kasten says, “is ‘When in Doubt, Check it Out.’” Even the slightest appearance of distress must be treated with the same attention one might give to an obviously serious situation. It’s this type of zealous observing 68 | SiP

that usually keeps events from escalating to fivealarm level. The guards are looking for distress signals such as a swimmer being tossed around in the waves, looking panicked, or “climbing the ladder”—when the motions of their arms look as if they are trying to pull themselves up and away.

“Hair in the face is another tell-tale sign,” says Kasten. “Nobody wants their hair in their face, so if the swimmer isn’t bothering to move it out of the way, we know something urgent is going on.”

Often, lifeguards have to leave the swim zone marked by the flags. It isn’t uncommon for victims to get yanked from the area into farther waters.

That’s why Kasten and his team are vigilant from the start about where and when their charges swim. The rule is, if you can’t swim out to the person in two minutes or less, you rein them in.

Two minutes getting out to them means two more minutes returning to shore—and four minutes is a long time for someone in need of emergency care. So on calm days, the guards call people in if they’re past shoulder-height depth. On days with big waves, they often don’t allow swimmers to go past waist-height.

Though this micro-monitoring can seem a bit heavy-handed at times, it gets results. Kasten has only seen three deaths in his eight years. His first year, an elderly man on Kiawah Island had a heart attack on the beach. In 2009, a body drifted into the guards’ swim zone, and the victim was too far gone to save. Similarly, a death last year resulted from another victim that floated into the swim zone too late. While all the guards are required to have CPR and Red Cross medical training, emergency care for a drowning victim is particularly complicated. A person typically needs at least two full breaths in their lungs before someone can successfully start CPR. When someone drowns, particularly if they’ve been under for a long time, the lungs can be so full of water that no progress can be made.

Kasten says that while losses are hard on every guard, each person takes it a different way. “It doesn’t look nice when you see something like that,” he says, “and it stays with you. But so do the rescues, and they make you stronger. I’ve never had someone quit because the bad took a toll on them that the good couldn’t outweigh.” That feeling of significance stretches far—while a poolside lifeguard may expect a wage of around ten dollars an hour for a much cushier job, this beach crew starts only moderately higher at about twelve.

There’s infinitely more work involved. At 8:30 every morning during the season, the crew shows up in uniform and begins setting up the beach, bringing out equipment like binoculars, first aid kits and vinegar solution for stingray encounters.

From 9 to 10 they train as a group, running hard, physical drills like relay races and employee swimming competitions. Often they play a swimming game where everyone swims in a line, then the person in back swims hard to get to the front, then the next person in the back swims hard to take the first position, and so on in a braided pattern.

The guards are then in service from 10 in the morning until 6 in the evening. Except for a 45-minute lunch break, they are constantly rotating between training and “in-chair.” Every 45

“The funniest thing is that people see us running down the beach and think ‘Baywatch.’

Most of our lifeguards are around 18— they’ve never even seen the show.”

- Kurtyss Kasten

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 69

Lifeguard Trainer Kurtyss Kasten’s 5 Tips for Beaching it Like a Pro 1. Shuffle your feet along the ocean floor to avoid stingrays You don’t want to be personally acquainted with the stinging barb on their tails. They don’t want to meet you, either—in shallow water, shy stingrays hide by burying themselves under a thin layer of sand. The shuffling sends vibrations that scare away stingrays in the immediate vicinity. If you step on one and then try to get away, that’s when they’ll sting the worst.

2. Don’t swim alone The buddy system is your best defense against getting in over your head. Make sure you’re with other people and that they know where you are at all times. Conversely, don’t drop the ball on your pals: keep an eye out for them, too.

3. Carry a flotation device Kids should wear floaties or a life vest, and adults should have access to a jacket or board that they can wear or grab onto. Even in knee length water, a swimmer can be swept away easily and may need help staying afloat.

70 | SiP

4. Know how to spot a rip current “Eighty percent of lifeguard rescues on our stretch of coastline are due to rip currents. They look super different from the rest of water,” Kasten says. A victim of a rip current will find themselves pulled out from shore so swiftly that they can exhaust themselves trying to return to the beach. Ashore, a rip current looks much frothier than a regular wave. You may notice a spot where two waves are crashing near each other, and a suspicious place in between where no wave is hitting the shore. Debris is a good indicator, too—if you see a lot of it being sucked back into the water in a particular spot, there’s a good chance you’re looking at a riptide.

5. Know how to swim Sounds simple, right? But if you aren’t a strong swimmer, lifeguards don’t want you going into the water. Many of their rescues involve people who can’t swim. Heading in to a depth that reaches only to your knees can still pull you into deep water quickly, and anyone that doesn’t know how to swim will be in serious trouble. If you aren’t a confident swimmer, stay ashore and don’t go in past your ankles.

minutes, the guards switch between occupying the tall chair, physical and medical training, and acting as rove guard. The rove guard stays near the shoreline and acts as a go-between. Unsurprisingly, the majority of rescues are conducted by the rover, as he or she is the closest to the water.

Sandy Superheros

The guards try to maintain a laid-back attitude and a love of people. They are well-regarded and are, of course, ardently adored by many of the public. Kasten has been in more bachelorette party photos than he can count. The one thing that irritates the guards, though, is when swimmers ignore posted signs. There’s a big notice posted next to the IOP beach pier, for instance, warning swimmers to stay away from it—a good wave can do serious damage by knocking someone into the structure. Yet the guards are forever hopping in to fetch people who wade near it unheedingly.

In addition to a forgiving outlook, the guards must possess a passion for fitness and a lot of physical verve. Most of them are slim and trim from the constant motion, not beefy like a young David Hasselhoff. “The funniest thing is that people see us running down the beach and think ‘Baywatch,’” Kasten says, chuckling. “Most of our lifeguards are around 18—they’ve never even seen the show.” Though the momentum never ends, some days are slow. The beach might be empty, or the water is calm and swimmers are obeying the rules. “You get to know the other guards very well,” Kasten says. The crew often hangs out after work and surfs together on off-days. There are also encounters with other friends, like dolphins and a rare turtle. Dolphins are so common while the guards are out on their paddleboards that they can reach out and touch them. Kasten says knocking on the board will often invite dolphin curiosity.

Occasionally, he’s startled when one of the gentle, inquisitive creatures breaches only a few feet away from him.

And there’s the other, scarier animal encounters—the kind with sharp teeth. However, it doesn’t hamper the crew. “Yes, there are sharks out there,” Kasten says. “We don’t ever want to downplay that fact in the interest of PR. But the fact is, there are sharks all around us in the ocean all the time. The percentage of attacks is so low.”

As a family park system, IOP County Park will close the beach if a shark is spotted in the water.

“But lifeguards know that the chances of one of them attacking is slim,” Kasten says.

Though they navigate waters filled with jellyfish, riptides and hapless swimmers, everyone on the crew seems wholly satisfied with the job. On this final day of the season, they’re glad for the break, but a little sad to see it end. This is hard, fulfilling work. Kasten puts it best: “Of course you’d earn more money waiting tables. But it’s the difference between coming home super-tired from a day being a server and coming home exhausted because you just saved someone’s life. It’s one of the most rewarding experiences you can have.” SiP

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 71

72 | SiP

LIVING THE GOOD LIFE ON

Goat Island THREE GENERATIONS OF RUGGED, INDEPENDENT WOMEN THRIVE ON GOAT ISLAND.

BY STRATTON LAWRENCE. PHOTOS BY HUNTER MCRAE.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 73

4 | SiP

If you’ve ever moved to a small town, perhaps you can start to understand Goat Island. Now imagine that town—where everybody knows everybody—is even smaller. Imagine that it’s just one street in that small town. And now imagine that one street as an island.

On Goat, the rules of city life may technically apply, but the real law is simply mutual respect for your neighbors. Party hard. Be nice. It’s a microcosm of simple Southern courtesy and community at its very best.

Newcomers are viewed with friendly suspicion, because if there was ever a place where residents fear change, Goat Island is the poster child.

The status quo of unfenced yards and unlocked doors is held dear. The Isle of Palms may be only a few hundred yards away, but it’s a world apart.

Catherine “Cat” Moye may be Goat Island’s most famous local these days, or at least the one most discussed by her neighbors. Her uncle, Tommy Moye, moved to the island in 1983, quickly developing a reputation as the island’s go-to builder and fix-it man. His main project was his own house, a modest wood structure with an eagle’s nest bedroom upstairs. In September 1989, however, that all washed away with Hurricane Hugo. “The house moved about 18 feet during the hurricane,” Moye told the Post and Courier ten months after the storm. “I felt obligated to resurrect it. I figure it will take about 30 years to complete it.”

Sadly, Tommy passed away in a boating accident in 1991. The home sat vacant, exposed to the elements, for two decades, until Cat moved back from her adopted home in Portland, Oregon, to resume the family project.

“For the first six months, I slept on the front porch and cooked over a fire outside,” Cat recalls. “I’d go barefoot outside, but put my shoes on to go into the house. It was pretty disgusting, but it was also really romantic and magical. I was getting to know my uncle by finding his song lyrics and letters and unique stuff he had collected as I slowly cleaned, room by room.”

Moye found a job harvesting clams for a commercial fisherman in nearby waters, and devoted her evenings to a never-ending list of projects, from a rainwater catchment system for the home’s toilet and outdoor shower to the more recent additions of a duck pen and wood stove. But Moye’s style of roughing it is luxurious compared to the island’s first yearround residents, Henry and Blanche Holloway. Known as the Goat Man, Holloway gave up his job as a butcher in downtown Charleston to escape society in the 1930s. He and Blanche lived in the woods of Isle of Palms’ north end (now Wild Dunes) before fleeing across the water to Goat Island, where they’d remain for over three decades, living in a driftwood hut and harvesting oysters, clams, berries and various edible plants.

One account of Mr. Holloway reads, “A long-haired, phantom-like creature, fleeting from bush to bush through the jungle-shrouded island.”

Writer Edwin Stone recounted that description in a 1969 story for Sandlapper magazine, revisiting his time on the island in 1956, where he discovered quite the opposite to be true. “Their loneliness and survival had created in them a deep insight into reality,” wrote Stone. “At the same time, an absence of the responsibility and tension of the present-day world transformed their thinking, released their inhibitions and allowed a regression back to youthful ideology.”

“I wanted to find the foundation of peace and I found it,” Holloway told Stone. Holloway died in 1962 at age 86, leaving Blanche behind to persist for another two years, living alone and off the land. She perished during a frigid winter night, reluctant to accept help on the mainland. Blanche was the first of many fiercely independent women to stubbornly build a life on Goat Island.

Opposite page: Catherine Moye, Sarah Sanders and Diann Clark have discovered a home and friendship on Goat Island.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 75

Three Weeks in Sweaty Paradise A word of advice: If you receive an invitation to Goat Island from a property owner, accept.

For my wife and I last summer, that meant even if the invite was for three weeks, to stay in Cat Moye’s unfinished, uninsulated home and care for her pup, Cookie, and duck, Sonora.

We spent most of July in this complete-lack-of-climate-control environment, while Cat traveled to California and the Grand Canyon. On our first morning, upon opening the hatch of the kennel that served as nighttime quarters for Sonora, I was greeted by a roughly fourfoot black snake, clearly on the prowl for eggs. That was the first of several indoor snake encounters. While waiting out the midday heat in the upstairs bedroom, my wife caught a subtle movement in her peripheral vision along the windowsill next to the bed. Even at 30-some-odd-feet off the ground, it’s not at all unlikely on Goat Island to be paid a visit by a slithery creature. That’s not to mention the mosquitoes, or the giant, hairy spiders that seem to live inside each door frame and appear as you fumble around in the dark for a light switch.

It was an adventure. We spent the first four days repairing her boat so that we could access Isle of Palms. For 21 days, my only trip into greater Charleston was a run to West Marine for fuses. By the second week, I’d given up wearing a shirt entirely. I worked from the porch via a cell phone hotspot and took breaks to swim with Cookie off the dock. In the evenings, I’d take my fishing pole and stalk the flooded flats behind her house.

We got to know the neighbors, including Wilson, an affable retiree from Chapin, S.C., who hosted the entire island for three consecutive nights over the Fourth of July weekend, projecting the Grateful Dead’s reunion shows in Chicago onto a screen in his yard. Our friends from Folly Beach drove out to Isle of Palms, where we’d pick them up and ferry them over for a night removed from the real world. One of those friends left the hose running, and we learned what it’s like to pray for rain over ten very dry days of an empty cistern. By the third week, my wife was ready for air-conditioning, clean sheets and the comforts of home.

Cat called—she was headed home a day early. I reluctantly packed and loaded the boat, looking over my shoulder all the way and dreaming of my next sojourn on Goat Island.

76 | SiP

The Island Matriarch

Named for the herds of goats that roamed the island, left there to eat away at ground level foliage, Goat Island began its modern era in the 1950s, when a real estate investor purchased the small strip of land a couple hundred yards off the west edge of Isle of Palms and renamed it Jolly Rogers Estates, slicing the island into 100 parcels (for sale at one point for $300 each). That’s the origin of Buccaneer Road, Goat’s sole thoroughfare, a dirt double track that bisects the island between the Intracoastal Waterway and the broad marsh vistas facing Mount Pleasant.

Although the parcels were bought up as summer homes and camps, Sarah Sanders, a physical education teacher and basketball and track coach, saw an opportunity for a simpler, freer life.

In 1969, she purchased a cottage and became the island’s only year-round resident. Each morning, she paddled her canoe across the Intracoastal Waterway to get to work. “I’d leave at 6 in the morning and sometimes not get back home until midnight,” Sanders recalls.

She never regretted the inconvenience or self-imposed solitude of her decision. “The funny thing is, when you live in an apartment downtown, there are all these people that you see, but you don’t know them. You’re going to work and they’re coming in, and it gets lonesome,” says Sanders. Although her neighbors were seasonal and her interactions few, she came to value and savor her individual relationships that much more, and she romanticized the rugged life the Holloways had lived on her beloved island. “It would make a great Hollywood love story,” she says of her predecessors.

“

We rented a house and just started building, floating every two-by-four every window and every door across the water.

- DIANN CLARK Sanders is known for her Goat Island Treasure Boxes, a collection of ornate keepsake boxes crafted from salvaged wood moulding. Her current home (the second on the plot—the first was destroyed by Hugo, forcing her to live for a year in the workshop where she now makes her boxes) sits just three houses down from Moye’s. Her younger counterpart’s willingness to rough it through rainy winters and muggy, buggy summer nights reminds Sanders of her own rugged determination as an independent 20-something woman.

Like Moye’s home—still filled with her uncle’s mementos, books and tools—Sanders’ house is a museum of Goat Island history and art. Her coffee table holds binders full of newspaper clippings about the island, from the days of the Goat Man to the construction of the Isle of Palms Connector a stone’s throw from the island’s southern tip. Thanks to that road and the Isle of Palms Marina, living on Goat Island is now far easier than it was half a century ago. But well before those conveniences, Sanders proved that living on an island inaccessible by car was a viable option for a person with a job and an otherwise normal life. She survived nearly 50 years on the island without a dock (now retired, Sanders only got her first dock two years ago, a gift from her longtime next-door neighbor).

Part of the charm of Goat Island is the improvised fixes for home repairs—it’s simply difficult to get supplies to the island. “You think you’re going to make something so you go to Lowe’s, buy supplies, put them in your truck, drive them to the landing, carry them to your boat, drive the boat across the water, put everything in a cart on the dock, and then drop it in your yard,” says Sanders. “Then you might think about getting started.”

Discovering Home

Diann and Dennis Clark understand the difficulties of building a home—and running a business—on an island. They’re among the bestWWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 77

8 | SiP

known Goat Island residents, thanks to the Hope on Goat event they began in 2010 as a way to raise money for victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Apart from private events at their outdoor venue (available for rental), Hope on Goat is the only opportunity for the public to visit Goat Island. During the early ‘80s, the Clarks often spent summer days visiting Tommy Moye on the island. He encouraged them to move down from their native Pennsylvania and settle in Charleston. “It was very desolate, really,” Diann says of the island at that time. “There wasn’t a whole lot going on, and there weren’t many docks, so it was slim pickins where you parked your boat.” The couple bought a lot in 1985 on the far northern end of the island, but didn’t move down until ten years later. “We had our third winter in a row being snowed in and we asked the kids, ‘Who wants to move to the beach?’” Diann recalls. “All three raised their hands, so we finished the school year and we were gone.”

“

The island is changing fast. But it’s changing at a slower pace than the other side.

- SARAH SANDERS

The Clarks arrived in the Lowcountry with no job and no house— just a parcel on Goat that had nothing on it except a gazebo—built

by Moye—that still stands today (it’s one of the few structures on the island to survive Hugo completely intact). “We moved down on faith,” says Diann. “We rented a house and just started building, floating every two-by-four, every window and every door across the water.” Their children began their commute to school via boat each morning, eventually juggling high school superlatives, social lives and curfews with the added complication of a water crossing to go anywhere. But when their daughter and oldest son each got married, they both chose Goat Island for the ceremonies. Put simply, it’s home.

The Living’s Easy

“Goat women don’t worry about their hair,” exclaims Sanders, as she, Moye and Clark step outside to pose for photographs on a blustery Sunday afternoon in February. Sanders tosses Cheerios to her two goats— Muriel and Blue—while her yellow lab, Callie, looks on with hopeful eyes. The trio are not your average gathering of three women from three generations. They casually swap snake stories and laugh about the “Puppy Pool” on the island, a muddy pond where the local dogs run off to swim. Sanders mentions the way children used to search for Trigger Burke’s treasure, allegedly stashed away by the ‘50s era bank robber who was apprehended on Folly Beach after hiding out on Goat Island.

Sanders gets out a few shelf mushrooms—“Artists Conchs” found on the island’s trees, with sleepy island scenes intricately carved into them.

Clark recounts the laughter of tan-skinned children idling away the summer, roaming the woods and floating in the water as single-engine planes landed on the Isle of Palms air strip (now the Wild Dunes Harbor golf course). Moye mentions the scar on her foot, acquired as a five-yearold running across the mud. “The island is changing fast,” says Sanders.

“But it’s changing at a slower pace than the other side.”

The other side is more than just Isle of Palms—it’s Charleston. It’s South Carolina. It’s the rest of the world. An island changes dramatically when we build a bridge to it. By connecting that isolated piece of land to the rest of the world, we inevitably alter its natural identity.

That’s not a bad thing. Much of what we all love about Sullivan’s Island and the Isle of Palms involves their people, their culture, their food, their golf, and more. But Goat Island is still very much an island, in the old-school, world-apart kind of way. Because on Goat Island, life is good—in all the simple, complicated, inconvenient, wonderful ways that island life should be. SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 79

An aerial shot of Isle of Palms, 1949.

Photo courtesy The Beach Company 2 | SiP

CREATING A Community HOW J.C. LONG BUILT ISLE OF PALMS In 1944 J.C. Long had a vision, a bustling barrier island town, home to middle-class houses and a middle-class community. Today, those mid-century houses may be dwarfed by multi-million-dollar homes, but they are still the heart of a vibrant community.

By Susan Hill Smith. Photos by Mic Smith.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 3

My husband and I wound up living on Isle of Palms by accident. We moved to the Charleston area in the fall of 1994, in our 20s, and needed a rental with a fenced-in yard for our two dogs.

J.C. Long’s two daughters help with a groundbreaking as mid-century development of Isle of Palms gets off the ground.

Photo courtesy The Beach Company.

To our happy surprise, Isle of Palms had one of the few available in our modest price range.

Earlier that year, Mic and I had vacationed with extended family on the island in a new, threestory oceanfront house. Gigantic homes and Front Beach—that’s all we knew of Isle of Palms— until we turned onto 21st Avenue and saw the 815-square-foot house that would be our home for six months.

Built on a concrete slab foundation, the onestory cottage dated to 1962, though it seemed a decade or two older. With a few steps, we walked through the living/dining room and the galley kitchen. I sized up the smaller of the two bedrooms, uncertain whether it would fit a double bed. Mic considered the distance to the beach access path: two blocks. Given that, we agreed to squeeze in and stretch our budget for the $700-a-month rent.

I’m not sure who told us we were living in a “J.C. Long house,” a moniker for the man who made Isle of Palms into a both a working-class community and post-World-War II beach destination. But as we explored the island, we came across more twobedroom cottages like ours and felt connected to them. Even after we moved into a larger, split-level home on 23rd Avenue, I would wonder about the history of the small houses, and their future.

Two decades later, I took time to fully investigate and learn about J.C. Long’s substantial and complicated impact on Isle of Palms. I discovered that his development empire actually built most of the original houses concentrated in the heart of the community and those that remain still provide regular people the chance to enjoy island living.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

Born in Pensacola, Florida, in 1903, Long moved to Charleston at age 15 and went on to study at the University of South Carolina, where he played basketball, baseball and served as captain of the Gamecocks football team. He received a law degree in 1925, after bypassing undergrad studies, made juries cry as an attorney, and served as a state senator and on Charleston City Council. But he made his greatest mark as a driven real estate developer who erected apartment complexes and neighborhoods across South Carolina. “John Charles Long has moved through life powered by a dynamo of bountiful, turbulent energy harnessed 1897 NICHOLAS SOTTILE BUILDS FIRST ISLE OF PALMS HOUSE. EFFORTS TO TURN THE ISLAND’S SOUTHERN SIDE INTO A BEACH PLAYGROUND, RESORT AND RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY HIT HIGHS AND LOWS OVER NEXT FOUR DECADES, WITH A NUCLEUS OF 77 HOMES BY 1937.

82 | SiP

1944 CHARLESTON’S J.C. LONG PURCHASES ALL UNDEVELOPED ISLE OF PALMS LAND—1,300 ACRES OF HIGH GROUND—FOR $96,000, PLUS $1,500 TO COVER EXPENSES. 1945 AS WORLD WAR II COMES TO A CLOSE, LONG CREATES THE BEACH COMPANY TO DEVELOP ISLE OF PALMS.

by a shrewdness of character and ability which have spelled fortune and success,” assessed a 1951 Evening Post profile.

By several accounts, he found great satisfaction in the Isle of Palms, which he effectively took over in late 1944, when he bought all undeveloped property on the island, including 1,300 acres of high ground. During the early 1900s, Isle of Palms had been known for its famous Ferris wheel, pavilions and resort hotels, but the Depression, world wars and a series of fires stymied the developers who came before Long. His timing couldn’t have been better. At the end of World War II the island emerged with gusto from wartime restrictions, military patrols and oil slicks from torpedoed tankers, a 1946 News and Courier article reported. Americans wanted to have fun again and a crowd of returning GIs needed places for their families to live.

TRANSFORMATION

Long launched The Beach Company to oversee the island’s development in coordination with other companies he created, such as The Worth Agency, which handled sales and rentals.

By March 1946, the Evening Post proclaimed, “Mammoth Real Estate Program is Transforming Isle of Palms.” The push was on to sell both vacation homes and year-round residences on the island, which was easier to get to as a result of road upgrades, but still somewhat remote, with travel going through Sullivan’s Island.

Long’s outfit preferred to do its own home construction. He filled in sections on the island’s already developed southern side where he kept a summer house for his family and eventually built one on each side for his two daughters and started a corridor of new homes to the north, working inward from the ocean side along an extension of Palm Boulevard. Cleared lots provided native wood for many homes. Names of streets planned by an earlier developer Beach, Pine, Oak, Cedar and Holly became 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th avenues respectively, continuing the numbered system from the south. Long’s straightforwardness also showed in the no-frills houses that dominated most of his building and became his trademark; access to the Atlantic Ocean was always his biggest selling point.

J.C. Long’s companies constructed most of the interior Isle of Palms homes built from 1945 to the early 1970s. More than a few of those homes have disappeared over the years, but there are many left that you can still identify.

Photo courtesy The Beach Company.

“If memory serves me correctly you could buy a three-bedroom house with one bathroom for $11,750.”

- CHARLIE WAY

SHAPING A COMMUNITY

“My father-in-law envisioned the Isle of Palms being for middle-class people,” Charles S. Way Jr., who married one of Long’s two daughters, says. “He never realized, never thought about it where you have million dollar houses. That was just never in his vision.” Way, 78, talks with me for more than an hour at the headquarters for

1946 TOLL LIFTED FOR GRACE MEMORIAL BRIDGE FROM CHARLESTON TO MOUNT PLEASANT WITH PARADE THAT ALSO CELEBRATES EASIER ACCESS TO ISLE OF PALMS’ AMUSEMENTS AND NEW, YEAR-ROUND HOMES. THE BEACH COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES LEVEL DUNES, PAVE ROADS, BUILD DOZENS OF

HOMES AND DRAW UP BLUEPRINTS FOR HUNDREDS MORE. 1951 COMPLETION OF ISLE OF PALMS AIRSTRIP ALONG INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY, WHICH WOULD BE TURNED INTO GOLF FAIRWAYS IN THE MID 1980S. 1952 BUILDING FOR FIRST UNITED METHODIST OF ISLE OF WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 83

THE TWO-BEDROOM COTTAGE One of the quintessential J.C. Long styles is a simple, two-bedroom, pitched-roof cottage with about 800-square-feet of living space on a concrete slab foundation. Some of the earliest from the 1940s came with a Jack-and-Jill bedroom and shared bath. Later versions, like this one built in 1962, might have a carport, or a small porch on the back or side.

While they are scattered around the island, look for clusters of these homes along Hartnett Boulevard, where this cottage can be found.

The Beach Company, which moved to downtown Charleston from Isle of Palms long ago and became the flagship for the family’s many businesses and development properties.

Now chairman of the board, Way started working for his father-in-law in 1962, after law school graduation. By then Long had turned the Isle of Palms into a bustling beach suburb with more than 1,200 year-round residents, and he was plunging into an expansion program that would introduce a large number of brick ranch homes built by his LACO construction company.

“If memory serves me correctly, you could buy a three-bedroom house with one bathroom for $11,750,” Way, who handled the flurry of real estate contracts, says. The mortgage payment would be a little more than $60 a month, he recalls, “that was the sweet spot.”

Front porches were often forsaken because of the added expense. An economy of space caused features like small closets that would frustrate later generations. “Why waste room on a closet when you can put it in the bedroom?” Way explains. Long also “loved” low-cost concrete, and borrowing an idea from his brother, who built extensively in Puerto Rico, Long mass-produced a flat-roof, allconcrete house on the island called the ALCON home. “At Last ... A Durable Beach Home Within The Reach of Everyone,” one advertisement proclaimed. Back then, an ALCON home would sell for around $5,000, Way estimates.

Through the 1960s, development focused on finishing 21st to 41st Avenue and the Forest Trail neighborhood. Long didn’t bother building homes directly by the ocean, and there wasn’t a demand to live that close to the water. Way remembers his father-in-law had been happy to sell beachfront lots off for $2,500 each during the early days of the island’s development.

While Long continued to market Isle of Palms as a vacation place, he took extra measures to support the year-round community, providing land for several churches and The Exchange Club in $1-dollar agreements, helping create an idyllic place for many families.

EXCLUSIONS

THE TWO-STORY DUPLEX Isle of Palms duplexes often date back to the 1950s or earlier. There are several duplex styles, and some have been converted to single-family use, so they may not be as obvious. Look for two outside entrances, which might be side by side, at opposite ends or on separate floors with one reachable by outside stairs. Most duplexes were built within a block or two of the beach. You’ll find them running along and around Cameron Boulevard, starting at 22nd Avenue, and the island’s southern end has some left, too.

PALMS FINISHED WITH LAND LEASED FROM LONG. (BAPTIST AND LUTHERAN CHURCHES EVENTUALLY FOLLOW.) 1953 ISLE OF PALMS INCORPORATED AS A TOWN WITH MORE THAN 400 YEAR-ROUND FAMILIES. BEACH COMPANY OPENS 1,000-FOOT FISHING PIER. 84 | SiP

But not everyone was welcome. In keeping with turn-of-the-century Isle of Palms practice, Long apparently restricted property from being sold or rented to anyone “not of the white or Caucasian race,” as evidenced by a 1947 listing of real estate covenants from The Beach Company that one Hartnett Avenue homeowner shared with me before I met with Way. While black people could work on the island, they had to leave by 6 p.m., an expectation that continued at least into the 1960s, according to people who lived here during those days. Likewise, the beach was off limits to black people. The city archives contain a 1964 letter Long wrote to the mayor, asserting that the new Civil Rights Act did not apply to property The Beach Company owned between the ocean’s normal high water mark and the main roads. He requested that “any negro 1954 CITY HALL DEDICATED WITH FIRE AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS, MUNICIPAL OFFICES. 1962 LONG AND HENRY CONE’S LACO CONSTRUCTION COMPANY RAMPS UP BUILDING IN HEART OF THE ISLAND. BEACH COMPANY MARKETS “DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT” FOREST

citizen found walking across or trespassing on the property” be arrested and prosecuted.

When I ask Way about Isle of Palms beach segregation and the restrictive covenants, he responds, “All true.” But he says those were “different times” when much of everyday life in the Lowcountry was segregated. “Many, many subdivisions in Mount Pleasant, Charleston, West Ashley, North Charleston you would find that same covenant back then. But as I say, times have changed, a great deal.”

EVOLUTION

From early on, many full-time Isle of Palms families had military ties. City Councilman and Realtor Jimmy Carroll came here around the age of 5 in 1959 when his dad, a gunner on a destroyer ship, was assigned to the Navy base in North Charleston. His parents had heard about Isle of Palms from friends at the Great Lakes naval station. “This is the only home I know, and I watched it being built,” says Carroll, who takes me on a history tour that includes 30th Avenue, where Long once kept a construction yard.

Along the way, Carroll stops on 22nd Avenue to show me the duplex his parents first rented from The Worth Agency before moving to 37th Avenue.

“What a cool spot to have grown up,” he says, remembering boyhood adventures, including a run-in with Long, who caught him climbing on construction equipment. “I got in so much trouble in this neighborhood, it’s unbelievable.” He stops and walks over to the white-sided home where he once lived. It was originally split into two apartments, but has been converted into a singlefamily residence. Soon Gary Nestler sees us and pops outside to talk. He and his wife live there with their middle school daughter and are responsible for overhauling the 1949 building. He explains how they dressed up the outside, gutted the inside and added onto the back. “It’s got good bones in it,” says Nestler, adding that it’s a work in progress.

“I think we can do a lot with it.”

THE BRICK RANCH Long and builder Henry Cone formed the LACO construction company, which built most, but not all, of the island’s single-story, 1960s brick ranch homes. The flat, rectangular LACO ranch homes typically had three bedrooms, with one or one and a half bathrooms. You can still find a lot of LACO homes in the heart of the island, on the cross streets that run between Waterway and Palm boulevards, like this one on 27th Avenue, and along the older Forest Trail streets. Some aren’t as obvious because owners placed siding over the uninsulated exterior walls. Several were elevated post-Hurricane Hugo.

USING EVERY INCH OF SPACE

Most homes built on the island’s interior streets from the mid 1940s to the early 1970s were J.C. Long homes of one kind or another, based on my interviews and past newspaper articles I came across. The block of 23rd Avenue where my husband and I currently live with our three children happens to be an exception, with older homes from other builders.

Some homes from that era have been lost to Hurricane Hugo in 1989, and others have been torn down and replaced by much larger, upscale residences that tower over the original homes that are left. That trend will likely continue due to rising insurance premiums and restrictions on improvements to buildings with ground-floor living space. But the J.C. Long homes that remain keep island living in reach for many people.

Our friend Janalyn Bowden, a real estate appraiser, briefly lived in a 3,500-square-foot home in West Ashley before downsizing with a

TRAIL NEIGHBORHOOD THROUGH SECOND HALF OF DECADE. 1972 LONG SELLS ISLAND’S LARGELY UNTOUCHED NORTHERN END, WHICH BECOMES ISLE OF PALMS BEACH AND RACQUET CLUB AND EVENTUALLY WILD DUNES RESORT.

THE FLAT-ROOF CONCRETE HOUSE Long tested out these shoebox-style concrete structures after being inspired by his brother, L.D. Long, who used a similar approach to large housing developments in Puerto Rico. Don’t be fooled by the stacked layers of concrete, which look like siding from a distance, and know that the tops of some flat-roof ALCON homes have been added onto. There are only a few easily identifiable ones left on Isle of Palms, mostly at the northern end of Cameron Boulevard, including this well-kept rental house. Others have not fared as well.

SOURCES: POST & COURIER ARCHIVES, CHARLESTON COUNTY LIBRARY’S SOUTH CAROLINA ROOM AND CITY OF ISLE OF PALMS; NEWS REEL FROM 1946, PROVIDED BY HAL COSTE; IMAGES OF AMERICA: ISLE OF PALMS, BY WENDY NILSEN POLLITZER; CHARLES WAY, BOARD CHAIRMAN, THE BEACH COMPANY. WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 85

8 | SiP

move in the early 1990s to Isle of Palms, where she met her husband, Ray. “I wanted to be near the beach,” Bowden, who walks her two English bull terriers by the ocean most mornings, says. “It’s a different lifestyle than even Mount Pleasant.” She initially rented and considered some foreclosure homes outside the gates of Wild Dunes resort before she and Ray decided on a 1964 LACO brick ranch on 24th Avenue, because they liked the neighborhood feel.

Ray Bowden grew up four blocks away in a similar brick ranch on Waterway Boulevard during the 1970s, never wanted to leave the island and wound up working at Wild Dunes, where he’s now an engineering supervisor. Their son finished Sullivan’s Island Elementary School two years ago and played sports at the Isle of Palms rec center, just like his dad. They drive their golf cart to the marina to see friends at the end of the workday, and keep their boat in front of the house ready for the weekends.

Previous owners expanded their house on the front and to the side. The Bowdens wound up doing more updates and renovations, including an addition with an extra bathroom in the back.

They use “every inch” of the home’s 1,853 square feet, Janalyn says. She has appraised several other LACO brick ranches through her work, and the original floor plans are almost identical. “But then people take them and do different things with them.”

DETERMINED TO STAY

With property values on the island escalating once again, it might be tempting to sell out. But there are homeowners like Sarah Stewart, who lives less than a block from the ocean in a twobedroom, one-bath cottage on 32nd Avenue, who won’t consider it, despite the offers she receives. “I get letters,” she tells me with a smile as she looks out her window. “And here I sit.” Her father and an uncle bought the 1948 cottage together in the late 1960’s and decided to share it for family vacations.

Stewart recalls arriving home from school on Fridays in Winnsboro to learn they were headed to the beach for the weekend. “It’s still one of the best memories of growing up.”

Her nursing career brought her to the Charleston area after she graduated from Clemson University in 1986, and she has lived in the house full-time ever since, frequently sharing it with visitors. “Even though it’s my house, it’s still the family beach house, and that’s the way it needs to be.” She had to repair a collapsed roof post Hugo, but has never expanded, and while she would like to add an extra bathroom, or even a washer and dryer, she manages with the space she has. Like many of the people we know here, she’s willing to make sacrifices to live on Isle of Palms. “This is home,” she says. “It just is.” SiP

H Y L A N D CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN, LLC

Opposite Page: The kitchen countertops in Sarah Stewart’s home (top and bottom right) are from the original J.C. Long construction.

Bottom left: The Bowden family and their English bull terriers use every inch of their 1964 LACO brick ranch.

REMODELING | RENOVATIONS | RESTORATIONS HYLANDCONST.COM | 843.514.0001 LICENSED. INSURED. BONDED. WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 87

Dog Days of Summer From snoozes in sunbeams to chasing tidal waves, our four-legged friends find ways to make beach life even more joyful.

By Margaret Pilarski. Photos by Steve Rosamilia.

2 | SiP

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 3

Maggie & Gigi

4 | SiP

As if life by the beach weren’t splendid enough, the addition of a canine pal has the capacity to sweeten the scene. The laidback lifestyles on Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms are a natural fit for four-legged friends, who enjoy the area’s natural environment and the embrace of dog-friendly locales. We stopped a few beach walkers to tell us about their furry friends and what they love most about island life.

Puppy love comes in all sizes

Brooklyn

To others, Luka the Great Dane looks less like a dog and more like a Chincoteague pony when she gallops into the surf. To owner Beth Cavanaugh, she’s still a happy, eager puppy. “She loves the beach,” Cavanaugh says. “Grabs my hand when she wants to come down and runs like the wind kicking her feet up. Even when it's cold and rainy I have donned ski clothes, rain boots, hat and gloves to bring her down.”

The two are inseparable, thus beach walks are as frequent as other outings. “She goes everywhere with me, she loves her friends at boot camp and makes sure she steps on everyone's mat with dirty dog paws, but she’s probably the best dog I have ever had. She got me through the most difficult year of my life.”

Frequent beach walkers might recognize Fin the French Bulldog, who’s quite the opposite of Luka the Great Dane. Fin’s fan club might not know his proper name though, and he’s not quite sure either. He receives so many compliments that Fin actually thinks “He’s so cute” is his name.

“It’s become a nickname of sorts,” says Caroline Knopf, who grew up spending summers at a family beach house on Sullivan’s Island and met her husband while she was attending College of Charleston and he was in the Navy.

Knopf and her husband Mark Stetler frequently work out of New York City, doing photography for fashion, advertising, commercial and fine art assignments. In their spare time they are slowly but surely restoring a beach cottage. “It holds so many great family memories of treasured times and we love being able to again spend time on the island and become part of the community,” Knopf says.

One thing that won’t make it into the cottage is one of Fin’s beach finds, a hollowed out horseshoe crab. “It was as large as he was at the time—he grabbed it and ran back to the house with the treasure, fighting the dog door to get it inside,” Knopf says.

High-energy heaven The Buckhannons know a thing or two about adventurous beach dogs as well. Ryan and Sonya have two German Shorthaired Pointers—Folly and Goose. The breed is a high-energy hunting dog, which was the reason they got Folly. But they didn’t realize the full extent of pup’s ambition until they were on the beach in the Outer Banks.

“Folly was still young and was ‘on point’ on a bird, and when the bird took off, so did Folly. We chased her for miles and finally caught up to her in a bog where she was hopping around like a gazelle chasing dragonflies,” Ryan Buckhannon says.

On the upside, Folly has a much more chilled-out sibling in Goose.

“Goose most often lies around on the couch or on your lap,” Ryan says.

“If you are lying down on the couch, she has no problem slowly crawling up and lying down on top of you to sleep.”

Owners of Mount Pleasant-based Buckhannon Brothers Tile, the couple have been on Isle Of Palms for 19 years, and Ryan was one of councilmembers who amended the times that dogs could be off-leash on the beach during the off-season.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 91

For Joe and Dottie Stubel, whether leashed or not, beachtime is a bonus for their family of pups. Brandy, 6, is the Stubel family’s “big, black, beautiful Bouvier Des Flanders”—the second Bouvier they’ve had. “We love the breed for their intelligence, loyalty and affection for their family,” Joe, who found Brandy on a rescue site and flew her cross-country when she was 8 weeks old, says. “If it were up to Brandy, her perfect day would be going to the dog park for an hour, coming home for a rest and fresh water and then heading to the beach where she can run into the surf for a dip, chase seagulls and greet any and all with a big smile.”

The couple moved to Wild Dunes after Joe retired from Coca-Cola in 2013 and Dottie put Isle of Palms on her list of top spots to live, and the pups clearly agree. However, Abby, a Yorkie/Cairn Terrier, chooses socializing over surf. “She has no reservations about going to up just about anyone who is sitting on or walking along the beach to say ‘Hi’ and get some love from them. Most people are more than happy to oblige,” Dottie says. “We’ve lived here a little over two years. We were introduced to the Charleston area when our daughter attended the College of Charleston.

Fell in love with the area immediately. We have the best of everything: the quaint small-town atmosphere and proximity to a mid-sized city.”

That quick embrace of the Lowcountry is something Jen Owens can attest to as well. “We moved back to Charleston on a Thursday, enrolled my daughter in school on Friday, and adopted Georgia on Saturday,” Owens says. “When we left for the Charleston Animal Society I said, ‘No pit bulls and no puppies.’ But we got both. And we wouldn't have it any other way.”

“You can’t say the word ‘beach’ in our house unless you're committed to a walk,” Owens says of Georgia’s passion for the wide open spaces of sandy beaches. “She will stand by the door until you give in. She loves to play in the waves and chase birds.” For Owens, who moved here in 2014 from Washington, D.C., the beach means family time too. “One of my favorite things about IOP is when my daughter gets home from school— we go for a walk on the beach with Georgia and she tells me about her day, usually what she learned in history. We couldn't do that in D.C., and I wouldn't trade it for the world.”

Celebrity sightings Quality time on the beach is a hallmark of longtime Isle of Palms resident Mary Alice Monroe. The author is known for her bestselling novels and her loyalty to the Island Turtle Team, but two tricolor Cavalier King Charles Spaniels keep her company in between book signings and beach scouting. “Maggie is my old girl at 12, and Gigi is my 10-month-old puppy.

They’re best of friends, though Maggie sometimes gets tired out by Gigi’s antics,” she says.

Maggie is the original beach babe of the two. “My daughter, Gretta, used to surf with Maggie on Isle of Palms. Maggie loves the ocean and swims far out but I’m always afraid she’ll go too far. Now that she’s old, I keep her leashed. Gigi is pleased to just walk with me on the beach with her jaunty gait,” Monroe says.

Another slightly famous dog you might spot on the beach? Brooklyn, the namesake of Lucky Dog Publishing—publisher of SiP magazine and local bi-monthly newspapers The Island Connection and Island Eye News.

The pit mix was previously a bait dog in underground dogfighting rings in New York and even had her teeth filed down. Publisher Lynn Pierotti’s brother initially adopted the dog from a no-kill shelter in 2005, but her rambunctious nature and history of trauma made the South Carolina coast a better fit for the pup.

“She took to the beach immediately,” Pierotti says. “We walk the beach every day and she’s very friendly. She loves to fetch and swim in the ocean—and she loves being on the boat, especially the ferry to Dewees, which is her favorite place.” When Brooklyn isn’t daytripping, she’s a regular part of the Lucky Dog office. More than just a mascot, she’s a greeter and a local celebrity, having regularly appeared in the newspaper over the last twelve years.

It’s tempting to say that every local dog is a lucky dog. For anyone who strolls the beach with a pup, taking a moment to consider the walk from their point of view reminds you that you should really grab that leash and go. The wide expanse of sand, the rolling surf, the tiny crabs tottering over gullies and streams—it’s endlessly fascinating and equally calming.

With a wag of a tail, a stranger becomes a friend and a curiosity becomes an adventure. We should probably take more cues from them. SiP 92 | SiP

Photo by Barb Bergwert

The pull of the sand and surf

Folly

Brandy

Abby

Fin

Luka Peekamoose

Georgia WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 7

DELIGHTS OF

The community dock at Dewees hosts informal neighborhood gatherings all year.

2 | SiP

Dock Life IN PRAISE OF THAT SPECIAL SPACE BETWEEN LAND AND SEA, WHERE WE CAN WALK ON WATER AND EMBRACE THE SKY. A DOCK BRINGS YOU CLOSER TO NATURE, LETTING YOU JUMP RIGHT IN.

BY MARGARET PILARSKI PHOTOS BY STEVE ROSAMILIA WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 3

For landlocked lovers of the Lowcountry, the dream is often a dock. Whether you’ve got motorpowered boats, tricep-fueled paddleboards, or just a couple of inner tubes, the dock is the all-purpose bridge between hearth and sea.

Rob Schoderbek

Elliott Haynes

The Marr family

96 | SiP

Prescott Schoderbek

For Maureen Marr, the dock was a feature the family sought out. “When we first moved to Sullivan’s Island ten years ago we wanted to be near the ocean. Five years later we fell in love with the marsh and decided we wanted to build a house on the creek. Having a dock in deep water was our dream.”

The Marr family moved to the area from Washington, D.C., and found that when friends would visit, they took one look at the dock and understood what was special about the Marr’s new home. “At first we thought it would mostly be used for boating, but now we spend most of our time on paddleboards, jet skis and fishing,” Maureen says, adding that the dock even holds sway with their independence-seeking kids. “As our children were growing into the teenage years we found they still liked to hang out with us when we were on the dock.”

That the dock can act as a family magnet isn’t lost on Anna Schoderbek, who says their dock on Isle of Palms tends to attract half the neighborhood. “We’ll have literally ten kids just jumping off the dock, running back to the pool, then off the dock again and run back into the pool again,” Anna says. The tight-knit community feel followed the Schoderbeks from their home on Sullivan’s Island when they relocated to Isle of Palms. “Most of my girlfriends are truly my sisters, we all feel like family and watch after each other’s kids,” she says.

While her family, and all those in the neighborhood too, make plenty of use out of the dock, it’s the one-onone time the dock provides that Anna cherishes. “I love to drive our boat and I love that we have a boatlift so I can do it all myself—I like the independence and freedom of doing it all,” Anna says. “My husband works 80 to 90 hours a week so it’s nice to be able to enjoy the water with my son and not need my husband there to help.”

To be fair, it was her husband Rob’s idea. “Living on Sullivan’s we were on the marsh and spoiled with the sunsets over there,” Anna says. “But my husband has always wanted to have a dock. He hates to move so we think this is our last move.”

Luckily for the Haynes family, they have two options.

“When we were looking for a property, my wife and I were really more interested in having the wide open, panoramic view of the marsh, because my parents already had a deep water dock down the street, but it has been fantastic to have a dock at our property,” Ashley Haynes, whose wife and two kids appreciate the opportunities the dock affords, says. Those dock adventures include proximity to nature, a favorite of daughter Elliot.

“Elliot and I like to do most of the fishing and crabbing, studying shellfish beds, different birds and fish life, checking out all of the different animal tracks—from birds, to raccoons and coyotes, and we’ve even seen a few large bald eagles,” Haynes says.

A Childhood Dream

The Cummings family

Both Bobby and Kristin Cummings grew up on Sullivan’s Island and a dock was “the ultimate goal” Kristin says. “When we bought this place about 13 years ago we would have lived in a tent if we had to in order to have a dock on this creek,” Bobby says.

His family home was on the same street he lives on now, just five houses down on the mainland side. He remembers all the neighborhood children swimming in the creek almost every day. “One of my main goals in life was to ‘move across the street.’”

Today Bobby’s children, sons Tanner and Banks and daughter Keenan, are the “kids in the creek” all summer long. While they’re all interested in paddleboarding and kayaking, there’s a special boat memory that Bobby pinpoints as representative of the family’s love of recreation.

“When Tanner was five or so, his Christmas present from me was a boat I built. A ten-foot bateau to be exact.”

The plans Bobby found online promised a 25 hour build, around 300 hours of work later, it was ready to get wet.

“One day after church we christened it and launched it from the backyard. I will never forget how awesome it was to watch him row the boat and the fact that it actually floated,” Bobby says. “The boat has brought smiles to countless kids ... [often] it is the first time they have piloted a boat without an adult on board. There is just a certain sense of freedom and accomplishment for a young mariner to do that.”

Mariners they all are, with a weekend motto of “If we can’t get there by bike, boat, or golf cart we don’t go.” So if dinner downtown is on the itinerary, the Cummings family will meet you at a downtown dock before they set foot on the peninsula.

The Docks of Dewees

The Marrs

Walking out to Dewees community dock

Tanner Cummings

For some, dock life doesn’t necessitate finding the perfect lot, just the ideal dock-loving community, and if it’s only accessible by boat, well that’s just a bonus.

The Dewees Island ferry, which brings residents and guests to the private island via the Isle of Palms marina, has a dock at Dewees that acts as a prime space for residents of this unique community to gather. Dewees resident Reggie Fairchild says it’s quite the spot. “Since everyone and everything comes to Dewees by boat, the private dock is a key amenity. It even serves as the bus stop for island kids,” Reggie says. “Island anglers also love it as a prime fishing spot for sheepshead, red drum and the occasional shark.”

On the marsh side of Dewees there are two community docks reaching out to Horseshoe Bend Creek. “The western dock, called Big Bend Dock, stretches from the island fire station over the pluff mud to the water,” Reggie says. “To the east, Lone Cedar dock extends past, you guessed it, a gnarled cedar tree.”

Reggie and his wife Judy regularly organize creek floats on the outgoing tide from Lone Cedar to Big Bend.

“Some swim, some paddle, some sip a tasty beverage while floating,” Reggie says. “They all make the trek in about an hour. Then they repeatedly jump off the Big Bend pierhead, plunging into the water. It makes for a great moment.“ Judy appreciates the natural beauty of the docks and the sense of community they provide. “Dewees Island has a bunch of ‘accidental meeting places’ that build community, including the ferry dock, crabbing docks and waterway docks. They give us a great space for impromptu meeting places where nobody has to clean up in advance and we can all take in the beauty that surrounds us every day.” SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 97

R E T UR N

2 | SiP

Photo c

our tesy

C MT T

V

T

r ip

Why Darius Rucker and other favorite musicians come back to The Windjammer.

By Susan Hill Smith. Photos by Mic Smith.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 3

Cowboy Moth perform at The Windjammer.

100 | SiP

It was one of those Windjammer memor ies no one will for g et, including the man at center stag e.

Darius Rucker took the microphone at twilight with a backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean and a watercolor August sky. He launched into the lyrics for This, his 2010 hit about destiny, and looked out onto The Windjammer’s volleyball court, which had been turned into his backyard beach for the night. While he played here countless times as a young man, he had never done an outside show here, and in fact, few ever have. Looking out, he says, he recognized many of the smiling faces and knew that his wife and their two kids were watching as well. Smartphones tried to capture the magic while the high-dollar TV film crew ensured the performance would be shared with fans across the country.

He extended a hand to the audience, his Carolina Gamecocks ball cap tipped upward “...Thank God for all I missed,” the 49-year-old sang. “Cause it led me here to This.”

Rucker’s native love for the Lowcountry guaranteed the 2015 CMT Instant Jam concert would be homegrown, not only showcasing the crossover star’s country and rock hits but also offering a tribute for Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church.

At the same time, the concert broadcast the spirit of the legendary Isle of Palms bar where Rucker cut his teeth in the 1990s with Hootie & the Blowfish, before the band soared to international fame. While many connect Hootie’s early days with the University of South Carolina in Columbia, The Windjammer played an instrumental role in giving the band’s members a stage to test themselves and expand their reach, just as it has done for decades of other emerging musicians.

AnTheemotional week concept of CMT Instant Jam is for a country

music megastar like Rucker, who can pack a show with many thousands, to treat several hundred to a surprise pop-up concert in a more intimate setting, as CMT documents both the build-up and the event itself. Rucker wouldn’t give the performance anywhere else, he told the CMT cameras and close friend Bobby Ross, the man behind the music at The Windjammer since the early ‘80s.

By the time the band cranked up the Hootie favorite “Only Wanna be With You,” the sun had set and the sky glimmered in orange, purple and pink. “C’mon, WindWWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 101

Bobby Ross enjoys a rare moment of quiet at The Windjammer’s bar.

102 | SiP

jammer!” Rucker called to the crowd as they answered him in song. No question, the Isle of Palms and The Windjammer glowed in the sentimental spotlight.

“It’s exactly what I envisioned and imagined it would be.

It was awesome,” Rucker says, looking back. “That is what music is supposed to be about.”

“The day worked out perfect,” recalls Ross. While he would typically run a big production at The Windjammer, he handed over control to the CMT crews, allowing him an unusual opportunity to take in the show uninterrupted.

“I went over and sat behind the soundboard where nobody could get to me and just watched it,” he says, trying not to get emotional.

Back in the mid 1990s, Ross and Hootie’s lead guitarist Mark Bryan had a moment together outside the bar when they teared up at the realization that the band had outgrown the The Windjammer. Ross didn’t know then that the members would come back anyway, together and as solo acts, just as other successful musicians continue to return, sometimes in creative ways. Rucker’s CMT splash was especially meaningful to Ross because of the friendship and shared memories. “It’s just a bond that we have from a long, long time ago,” he explains.

To be honest with you, a lot of people give me a lot of credit.

But look what I had to work with.

- Bobby Ross

Isle of Palms hospitality The Windjammer’s spirit starts with Malcolm Burgis,

who opened it in 1972 with his brother James at what was previously the Sea Side and before that, the site of the original SurfDeck, a teenage hangout dating back to 1946.

The brothers came from a large Isle of Palms family that operated The Palms restaurant for years. James traded his share of The Windjammer a couple of years later to Bill Kulseth for a motorcycle. Malcolm, meanwhile, continued to be a guiding force and now shares ownership with Ross as well as Jack Alspaugh, a longtime employee who was recently brought into the fold. All three live on Isle of Palms — a golf cart ride away from work.

“It would not be The Windjammer without Malcolm,” says Ross, who describes Burgis as the “rock of the place” and credits him for putting money back into the business through the years, even as he lent a hand to many employees and others in the community. It is Ross, however, who is responsible for putting The Windjammer on the map for live music.

He first visited the original cinder block building as a customer in 1974, and distinctly remembers being carded.

He had just moved to Isle of Palms from Savannah at age 18, the legal drinking age at the time, and he continued as a customer until 1980, when he started working as a bartender to pay off his tab. Two years later, he became a manager, and before long, started to bring in bands.

“There really wasn’t a place to put them,” he admits. He recalls building a makeshift stage that could be taken in and out, and squeezing it in by the shuffleboard table, which would hold the drum stool. “It was an experiment. I didn’t know if it was going to work or not.”

Ross didn’t sing or play an instrument, but he loved music. He subscribed to Atlanta’s Creative Loafing entertainment listing, and started to pull in touring bands that WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 103

were stopping through there and Athens, Georgia. Most played inside, though The Windjammer held a few daytime shows with bands playing to a beach audience from atop the flat building, shielded from sun by an old military parachute.

Back then, the Isle of Palms was more remote and people were more likely to visit through the day and stay into the night. Volleyball and half-rubber games helped pass the time—The Windjammer hosted many professional beach volleyball tournaments back in the day—but it was bands like Spidermonkey that consistently pulled people to Front Beach.

“That’s when I got turned on to live music,” Alspaugh, who moved to the Lowcountry in the mid-1980s and joined the staff in the 1990s, says.

Over time, The Windjammer developed positive relationships with musicians no matter where they were in their careers. “Bobby has always had a good rapport with all the bands that came through. He took care of them, fed them, set them up,” Alspaugh says.

Swept through the 1990s Hurricane Hugo washed the old place away in the summer of 1989. The Windjammer re-opened nine months later in a new raised building that could fit standing-room-only shows of 500, and the music returned with a surge of talent that included relative unknowns from the Carolinas.

Greenville’s Edwin McCain lived in Charleston at the time and recalls pestering Ross until he let McCain play an acoustic set one Saturday at noon. “I either worked for tips, or he gave me like 50 bucks, but I was just so excited to play at The Windjammer. I would do anything to get in there,” McCain, who went on to hit the national charts with “Solitude,” “I’ll Be” and “I Could Not Ask for More,” says.

The Windjammer partnered with Charleston’s trendsetting 96 Wave radio station, producing Monday Night Jams so successful they started to cut into Ross’s weekend business.

McCain describes it as a fantastic learning experience, whether he was playing with his band, or watching others like Uncle Mingo or Hootie work the room. Ross would have made a great record label president, McCain says. “He always had a knack for figuring out who was going to do it, and who was in it for the long haul, and putting those people on stage.”

Musicians would often crash at Ross’ house when he was still single. “Staying at Bobby’s was the deal,” McCain, who felt like he was admitted to “the inner circle” when he was invited, says.

“You were trying to get to that.”

Even after Ross married his wife, Shirley, they would have bands over for cookouts and other get-togethers. She loves the music as much if not more than her husband and helps make the musicians feel at home. “She’s got to smooth out Bobby’s rough edges,” laughs Sister Hazel lead singer Ken Block. He proudly recalls how Ross told him that he called Shirley three songs into the band’s first Windjammer performance and told her to come to come down to see the rest.

Everyone has “Bobby Ross stories,” says Rucker, who first got on The Windjammer stage with Hootie & the Blowfish in spring of 1991, when they played for $500. “Bobby was always the first guy to help you out. He’s one of my best friends in the world.” Rucker would also stay with Ross in the early days, and he had help from Shirley and Bobby in setting up a home when he returned to the Lowcountry during the hectic days of Hootie’s new celebrity. “They took care of everything.”

High fives and hugs

The New Orleans-based touring band Cowboy Mouth dished up its hard-driving “rock-n-roll gumbo” at The Windjammer for nearly a decade before Hurricane Katrina’s devastation left them stranded on the road in 2005. Ross immediately reached out to the band members and arranged for them to do a series of fundraising concerts on Isle of Palms with openers like Hootie, McCain and local favorite Blue Dogs. “It’s that type of community—that community spirit that Bobby and 104 | SiP

Malcolm have always fostered—that makes it just a wonderful place to go to,� Cowboy Mouth drummer and frontman Fred LeBlanc says.

The band still returns twice a year and always packs the house. LeBlanc wants a Cowboy Mouth show to be “an almost communal rock ‘n roll church kind of thing, without the religion,� and The Windjammer’s rectangular room demands audience interaction. “It’s different than any other place that we play.�

Sister Hazel counts on high-fives and hugs when band members return. Their annual Windjammer visit into a three-day event that draws their devoted fans— HazelNuts—to Isle of Palms from across the Southeast and beyond. The HazelNut Hang includes daytime and nighttime sets as well as VIP activities like cookouts, volleyball and even Mad-Lib karaoke. (The 11th Hang is set for this year from June 10-12.) “You don’t even have to put your shoes on all weekend,� says Block. “It’s a great way to connect with our fans in a place where it all started.�

You know if you can carry your show o at The Windjammer, you can pretty much play anywhere, because it’s not like there’s anywhere to hide.

- Edwin McC ain

Transitions The Windjammer still makes room for newcomers,

and Ross, who recently turned 60, says he is turning over his responsibilities for booking bands to someone else. “I just feel like a younger person needs to come and take it over.� However, with the success of Rucker’s CMT Instant Jam he may do more outdoor shows as special events, for example, with a guaranteed draw like McCain.

McCain typically plays once a year at summer’s end and by coincidence was scheduled to play two days after CMT came to town in August. Now in his mid-40s with a similarly-aged core audience, he started his sold-out show at 9 p.m. that Friday without an opening band, joked that it was “15 minutes past his bedtime� when he took the stage and teased a 20-something fan that he didn’t know how to use a selfie stick.

He quickly proved he still had the stamina however, climbing on top of the bar to sing “Love T.K.O.� by Teddy Pendergrass, and delivering signature songs like “I’ll Be,� enthusiastically keeping pace with requests.

Just before midnight, McCain remained on stage with his guitar, deep into a cover of Peter Gabriel’s “Your Eyes,� savoring the last minutes of the three-hour show.

Shirley Ross soaked it in with friends, standing close to the stage, not surprised at how long he played. “He loves it here,� she said with a broad smile. After all, he was at The Windjammer. SiP

XJOEKBNNFSJPQ DPN

The Greatest Venue on the Beach 'PS UIF MBTU :FBST

The Windjammer

8IFSF JU T BMXBZT B +BN (PPE 5JNF WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 105

BRUNCH,

Island Style NOTHING BEATS A MID-MORNING FEAST ON THE BEACH.

BY STRATTON LAWRENCE. PHOTOS BY HUNTER MCRAE.

106 | SiP

The Obstinate Daughter’s beet-cured| 3 salmon WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM flat bread brings new meanings to brunch.

D

rawing weekend diners to the beach is as easy as the promise of a lazy, sunny Sunday afternoon kicked back in a lounge chair by the sea. But the geographical appeal of brunch on the beach means that competition has given rise to a multitude of options.

On Sullivan’s Island and the Isle of Palms, that’s to the benefit of islanders, out-of-town visitors and Charleston locals who flock to these two bastions of brunch every weekend, where a bevy of new and classic restaurants dish out their very best while the sun is still arcing toward its summit.

Duck confit and potato hash. Biscuit bread pudding with shrimp gravy. Beet-cured salmon flatbread. These aren’t your typical meat-lovers’ omelets or eggs benedicts with Canadian bacon. They’re staggeringly creative and downright delicious meals offered up every weekend at the array of restaurants furthering the cause of the beach brunch.

We went in search of the islands’ very best, and are happy to report that it’s a complete toss-up of satisfying success stories.

THE PROLIFIC PIONEERS

“I love duck, all the time,” Taylor Still, the chef and owner at High Thyme on Sullivan’s Island, says. That explains the reasoning behind the decadent potato hash and duck confit on their Sunday brunch menu, graced with a fried duck egg and just-theright-amount-of-rich hollandaise. Or, opt for local grouper, pan seared over grits with baby heirloom tomatoes.

It’s these sort of confident spins that redefine what a late (or second) breakfast can be, and that earn the Middle Street hot spot a packed house every Sunday afternoon.

(Rumor had it that country crooner Darius Rucker had dined there just before our arrival on a recent spring weekend.)

Just down the street, The Obstinate Daughter has already reshaped expectations of beach dining in its two years on Sullivan’s.

The standout item on a brunch menu that ranges from cassoulet to pork coppa steak? A beet-cured salmon flatbread, designed to take advantage of the restaurant’s renowned pizza dough while turning lox skeptics into full-on converts.

4 | SiP

“We make a beet puree with brown sugar, salt and gin, and then rub it into the salmon,” explains chef de cuisine Will Fincher. The fish, sourced from the Faroe Islands of Scotland, sits for a few days, taking on a beautiful, striking purple hue and pleasantly acidic flavor, before receiving a second rub of horseradish, dill, tarragon and, of course, more gin.

“It’s not cooked at all. We just let it cure for about five days, total,” says Fincher. The salmon is then paired with Charleston Cream House cream cheese, whipped with local butter and then spread with capers, herbs, poppy and sesame seeds over the flatbread.

Pair those tastes with a striking but simple, bright room, adorned with reclaimed wood and deep blues and whites that hint at the island’s nautical history, and it’s easy to see why the Obstinate Daughter’s tables fill up immediately after its doors open each Sunday.

THE CREATIVE CLASSICS

Over on the Isle of Palms, Acme Lowcountry Kitchen’s chef Frank Kline is also discovering ways to build loyal, repeat clientele, by rewriting the rules of the eggs benedict. His daily menu (Acme offers brunch seven days a week) typically includes at least eight different benedict creations, but weekenders can choose the Triple Benedict, an ever-changing “best of ” selection that’s perfect for the indecisive diner who knows they want eggs, but also dreams of pork belly or soft shell crab. “My goal is to always have a local seafood item, a meat or protein or something of that nature, and a third that’s either vegetarian or something super playful and fun,” Kline explains.

A recent Triple included sublime fried oysters, perfectly cooked to retain their texture (even when doused in yolk after splitting the poached egg atop them), rich and flavorful short rib (slow cooked for eight hours) and a third “garden benedict” with three varieties of local, hydroponic heirloom tomatoes from Holy City Farms. A typical Sunday sees around 50 orders of the iconic trifecta.

Just up the road, Isle of Palms locals and visitors alike have a dependable new option in The Refuge. Although it’s the adjacent Refuge coffee bar that may initially draw people in with signature drinks like a hot chili Mexican Mocha and growler fills of cold brew, they’ll

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 109

BRUNCH ABOUNDS ON THE ISLANDS! H E R E ’ S W H E R E T O G E T YO U R B E AC H F E AS T O N

Sullivan’s Island The Obstinate Daughter (Sat/Sun) A fresh perspective on brunch with ample seafood options

Acme Lowcountry Kitchen (Daily) Inventive benedicts, omelets and locally sourced favorites

High Thyme Cuisine (Sunday) Eclectic, inventive and ever-changing menu with an outdoor patio

Sea Biscuit Café (Daily) Breakfast staples in a homey, old-school environment

Sullivan’s (Sunday) Breakfast staples in a classic island diner

The Boathouse (Sunday) Waterfront spot for brunch classics, including seafood-centric items

Taco Mamacita (Sunday) Tortas, tacos and Mexican-influenced spins on eggs and brunch dishes Home Team BBQ (Sunday Satisfying brunch menu for the hungry and thirsty crowd Beardcat’s (Daily) Grab-and-go baked goods and smoothies

110 | SiP

Isle of Palms

Morgan Creek Grill (Sunday) Seafood and brunch standards with a view across the water Long Island Grill (Sunday) Simple, elegant takes on classic brunch fare The Refuge (Daily) IOP’s newest hot spot features a coffee shop and a restaurant with a brunch menu inspired by the tides (pictured above)

likely soon be enticed by a daily breakfast menu that includes satisfying dishes like a baked avocado and egg over grits, egg white quiche and steel-cut oatmeal, along with traditional breakfast sandwiches and platters.

On weekends, the brunch menu expands to include benedicts, french toast and even a healthy stack of “surfer-bod” pancakes made with almond flour, served in an airy, bright space with ample lighting and a relaxed vibe.

THE STALWART STAPLES

Of course, brunch doesn’t always have to be about pushing the limits. Sometimes we just want comfort food, a taste of home, or a familiar favorite.

For three decades, the Sea Biscuit Café on the Isle of Palms has played that role, offering hearty omelets, quiche and French toast every day of the week, in an atmosphere that harkens back to the island’s low-key days. The yellow cottage, with its tin roof and tiny dining room (plus a cozy side porch) fills up quickly on weekends, but the diners patiently lined up outside don’t mind waiting on the welcoming front porch for the chance to step back in time once inside.

Across the street, the Long Island Café has also attracted a steady clientele of loyal locals since 1986. Reinvented in 2012 by owner/ chef Ravi Scher, the restaurant’s strip mall environs belie the cheery seashore vibe inside, where dishes like crab cake benedict fly off the line every Sunday afternoon. Scher doesn’t subscribe to food trends, instead opting to keep his focus on “trying to get the best ingredients and not messing them up,” keeping dishes simple with his seafood-centric menu.

It’s hard to justify eating “in,” with options on the islands ranging from the nouveau to the comfortably familiar. The only downside to the feast of brunch options on Sullivan’s Island and the Isle of Palms? The word is out, so set your alarm and claim your table. SiP

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 111

THE CULTURED AFFAIRS OF ISLAND OYSTER ROASTS

By Jessie Hazard. Photos by Steve Rosamilia.

112 | SiP

“C

omin’ through, make way, comin’ through!” Jimmy Carroll and Marty Bettelli of the Isle of Palms Exchange Club bellow and grunt, each hoisting up an end of a colossal metal basket heaped with steaming, fragrant oysters. Guests at the Exchange’s 18th Annual Oyster Roast jostle each other a bit, shadowboxing an effort to clear the way for the basketbearers, but they make no heart-filled attempts.

Always, all eyes stay on the basket—patience is not a virtue here—and heads comically bob along with its every swerve, the way a litter of kittens watch a laser-pointer. Finally, the sea of people parts just enough to allow a tumble of oysters to clatter onto one of the long wooden tables. As suddenly as they’d parted, the waves of people converge, and though lively conversation still skitters across the waterfront deck, the clacking of shells and scraping of knives take equal measure. These people are here with a supreme purpose: to roast.

The Charleston area is home to a veritable cornucopia of seafood, much of it interchangeably used as the centerpiece for many a local gettogether. There are fish fries, shrimp boils, crab pots. Ask most any Sullivan’s Island or IOP native, however, and they’ll tell you they prefer an oyster roast. Though the others offer inarguably delicious fare, oyster roasts foster a sense of community less present elsewhere. There’s something about slumping over a long, splintered table with your fellow man, muddy to your elbows as you battle bivalves, that just brings people together.

Al and Linda Tucker have lived on Isle of Palms for over 40 years, and they return to the Exchange Club roast every year. “The most unique thing about oyster roasts,” says Linda, “is the atmosphere they create. Something about the oysters make things more conversational, more community-oriented. They’re a relatively unusual food to eat—luscious, salty, fun to pick—but not something you have in your kitchen every day. It’s that strangeness that makes them seem so special, and that’s what gives everyone something to gather around.”

And it’s true. Some of the newcomers cast furtive glances, self-consciously trying to figure out the best shucking method. Within minutes, the mavens are demonstrating, sliding the oyster knife into the sweet spot where the shells meet and giving a twist, then passing the meaty halfshell back to the amateur. People across ages and circumstance, strangers only moments before, are building kinetic bridges over the valleys of oyster shells—they laugh, trade tools, tell stories, crack jokes.

The camaraderie runs deep not only with attendees, but with organizers as well. Carroll and Bettelli, along with Chip Stehmeyer and John Bushong, head a crew of roast veterans that are the lifeblood of the Exchange club event. The pack stands around giant steamers, chortling and gossiping, waiting for the right moment to pull fresh bushels of single select oysters from the water. They’ve got this down to a science, no easy feat: a minute too long and the oysters become rubber, pull them too soon and you’re looking at

WHERE TO GO FOR

ISLAND ROASTS East Cooper Meals on Wheels Gold Bug Island When to go Late October/Early November Why You’ll be contributing to Meals On Wheels, a meal delivery program that brings meals to homebound residents in the community.

Isle Of Palms Exchange Club Exchange Club building When to go January 28, 2016 Why This charity event benefits students in the East Cooper community, all proceeds fund scholarships for today’s bright scholars and tomorrow’s world leaders.

Sullivan’s Island Fire and Rescue under the Big Tin When to go February 4, 2016 Why Proceeds fund equipment and bills for the upkeep and enhancement of the rescue team, so your dollars go toward items like much needed aquatic gear necessary for keeping the island safer.

Morgan Creek Grill at Isle of Palms Marina When to go Every Saturday afternoon from October 1 through December 31, additional roasts occasionally hosted throughout the season Why You’ve got the best view. You can eat oysters while looking out at the ocean—a full-circle experience.

The Dinghy on Isle of Palms When to go Every Thursday night, all season long Why If a neighborhood-style get-together is what you’re craving, this roast will satisfy. Locals go for the steaming buckets of oysters; they come back for the conviviality.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 113

DOS AND DON’TS OF A ROAST Don’t be shy. You’ve got to fight for your right to shuck.

That means that you watch like a crazed animal for the roasters to bring up a freshly cooked batch, and you leap on it before it disappears. This is a necessary part of the experience because, as you’ll soon learn, no action means no oysters. Be polite, but be aware—this is a fight to the finish. Contrastingly, if you do find yourself in a prime spot at the oyster drop, harken back to when you weren’t so lucky and share the pile with your starving brethren.

Do carry cash, a poncho, and a crew of peeps. There are typically other items for sale, like chili or stew, raffle tickets, and liquid refreshment, so you’re going to want to have a few bucks on hand. Ponchos are key because oyster roasts are rain or shine—and a baffling amount seem to fall into the rain category. And bring along friends and family—it’ll bring your own crowd a little closer and will undoubtedly lead you all to branch out and meet other guests. Got a single friend? Bring ‘em; this is the match. com of the seafood world.

Do dress like you’re going to a homecoming game, not a homecoming dance. If you’re doing this right, you’re going to get dirty and you’re going to be standing up for a few hours—possibly in mud. Comfy boots and a shirt you don’t mind mussing are paramount.

Don’t make the rookie mistake of trying to split the oyster near the top, where the shell should be slightly parted after steaming—it will often splinter, leaving behind unpleasantries that you don’t want to put in your mouth. Instead, insert the knife at the base of the oyster, just where the two shells meet, and twist. It should pop open cleanly and leave you with nothing but sweet meat.

Always hold the oyster to be shucked with a glove or a 114 | SiP

towel. Not only will this prevent scrapes and cuts to your fingertips, but it’s a swell buffer between your hand and an errant oyster knife.

Do bring your own equipment. Yes, island oyster roasts normally supply all the towels and shuckers needed for an oyster roast—for about 20 people. That means that all of the other guests will be casting about frantically for ware.

Head to the outdoor or kitchen section of a superstore to stock up. Alternatively, if you’re seasoned and in the mood to spend bigger, a custom oyster knife will lend some swagger.

Don’t lose track of your shucking tools. It’s good practice to set your tools directly in front of you and enjoy your opened oyster ever-so-slightly to the side. Too often, people do the opposite. This is important because when people get oyster-crazed in a communal setting, they grab for anything nearby and go to town.

Do bring your own condiments—and have no shame about it. If you’re a newbie, it may seem a little weird to show up packing horseradish in your purse. Sure, the hosts will supply the perfunctory cocktail sauce. However, seasoned professionals know that the key to enjoying your oysters is making sure you have them your way, so they come in jackets lined with sleeves of Saltines, baggies of lemons at the ready. Ted and Barb McKnight winter here but spend their summers in Pennsylvania, where Ted puts up nearly 200 quarts of the homemade spaghetti sauce he makes from their tomatoes. The two spoon the sauce from Tupperware onto their oysters. “It gives it a kick,” says Ted in response to a skeptical glance, and Barb nods emphatically, neither of them batting an eyelash.

And it does—the oregano in the sauce brings out earthy tones normally lost on the tongue.

a hot, soupy mess. The troop gets it right every time. Diners are treated to supple oysters that still retain some of their intoxicating liquor. “It’s the perfect consistency for everyone,” Bushong’s wife Anne says. “Whether you’re new at this or you’re seasoned, you’re going to be happy. You get all of the good flavor from the oyster without the raw and runny aesthetic that makes some people squeamish.”

A good oyster, like most good things, is a product of condition and time. This year, South Carolina has seen a particularly fine batch of local oysters, and some of the nation’s recent weather idiosyncrasies have yielded fine specimens from other regions. The roasts take full advantage of these resources, both local and afar. But ask anyone here—truly, anyone—what makes a good roast, and the oysters take back-burner. The first answer is, unfailingly, “the people.”

It’s this zealous kind of fellowship that also makes oyster roasts a profitable business. This year’s Exchange Club roast raised over $13,000 in scholarship money for community schools. Over at the Sullivan’s Island Fire and Rescue roast, Chief Anthony Stith annually leads a fearless crew that, though they turn a more modest profit, requires a whopping $18,000 on the front end to put up the event. These food-oriented fund-raisers have a deep-seated tradition with the SIFD. It all started in 1949, when a firefighter’s sister-in-law needed surgery. A group of volunteers put on a fish fry and raised $10,000—no small sum then or now.

When they decided to try a hand at oyster roasting two decades ago, the Fire Department saw another philanthropic avenue light up, and has been hosting them ever since—with an increasingly loyal following. “The $5 fish fry is really just more of a tradition now, so we keep doing it,” Stith says, who relies on the money from these events to fund nearly a half of his rescue division’s budget.

“The oyster roasts are what people seem really attracted to, and they’re where we make most of our profit.” Three years ago, the East Cooper Meals on Wheels program smartly jumped on the oyster roast bandwagon and are now seeing a return on that investment.

Isle of Palms restaurants Morgan Creek Grill and The Dinghy feature seasonal weekly oyster roasts as well—though their motives are decidedly more business-minded. “I don’t even make money on the oyster sales,” Bret Jones, owner and operator of the Dinghy, says. “But it’s a sure way of getting people to come in, talk to each other, buy a few beers, and most importantly, come back.”

It seems quaint to say that these roasts are capable of a level of moral consciousness you might find in a Girl Scout, but it’s true—particularly for those roasts that fundraise. Shells are recycled to help rebuild the oyster beds. Retailers like Simmons Seafood in Mount Pleasant consistently supply thousands of pounds of the signature shellfish, and they don’t mark it up for their trouble. Volunteers come early to set things up and stay late to tidy them away. The do-gooderism is ratcheted so high that it’s contagious, even for the most hard-shelled attendees. Patrons trickle from the fests in high spirits, buoyed not only by shellfish and beer, but by each other.

While the oyster meat may be the thing patrons take in at the roast, it’s a pearl of togetherness that they hold onto long after the shells are cast away. SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 115

1 DAY, 2 BIKES, 6 STOPS OUR PICKS FOR THINGS TO DO ON SULLIVAN’S

By Margaret Pilarski Photos by Minette Hand 116 | SiP

Whether you’re a local for life, or a visitor by day, Sullivan’s Island’s charms stretch the length of the barrier island, spanning everything from history to adventure to natural beauty. While I think any of these suggestions are stellar as standalone activities, together they comprise an epic day of sightseeing and take you from one end to the other—all via two wheels, with a bonus water excursion.

With the help of the SiP team, I built a Sullivan’s Island itinerary that represents a full day of fun and asked my sister, Jane, to come along to test it out.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 117

STOP 1 BAG A BIKE If you are truly planning a full day of adventure, I recommend you stop at Sealand Adventure Sports, a locally owned shop right on Middle Street. Here you can rent bicycles, surfboards and paddleboards and if you’re feeling extra-adventurous, sign up for some kiteboarding, surfing and paddleboarding lessons too. Bicycles come with a generous basket to tote your supplies for the day (recommendations: SPF, hat, binoculars, sunglasses, jacket or scarf for cool breezes, water), and every bike rental comes with a bike lock and helmet. Helmets aren’t required by law, but they are recommended. Before you leave the shop, double check the tire pressure—you want beach cruisers’ fat tires a little squishier than you’d want for a road bike—and make sure the seat is at a comfortable height since you’ll be on the bike all day. Once you’re good to go, hop on and head west to Station 16.

STOP 2 WALK THE MARITIME FOREST Station 16 is the main entrance to the Maritime Forest, a now-200-acre forest protected by a conservation easement. In 2015, the island unveiled several hundred feet of boardwalks on meandering trails through the forest and on out to the beach. An exploratory walk of any length can net you spottings of diverse species of birds and butterflies. Platforms, observation decks and benches offer spots to sit for a bit and appreciate secluded views of the harbor and wetlands. Once you untangle yourself from the winding trails, pop back out and onto your bike and continue a few blocks west to Fort Moultrie.

STOP 3 EXPLORE FORT MOULTRIE This block has enough stories to fill an entire historical library. Stop in at the Visitors’ Center and learn about the history of the area, watch a short film and explore an exhibit on the enslaved Africans brought through the area.

Across the street you can enter the Fort’s grounds, which had a place in American history from the Revolutionary War to World War II. A self-guided tour can be completed at your leisure. Behind the Visitors’ Center is a small park, a dock, the grave of General Moultrie, and a special bench placed there in 2008. The bench, commissioned by the Toni Morrison Society, is a place of remembrance for captive Africans—nearly 40 percent of whom entered America on Sullivan’s Island.

118 | SiP

STOP 4 PADDLEBOARD TO SHARK TOOTH ISLAND From the dock at Stop 3 you can look left to see this tiny speck of sand, which popped up after the dredging of the harbor. With a welltimed kayak or paddleboard put-in, the tide can help you zip out for a walkabout. Locals nicknamed it Shark Tooth Island because of the teeth frequently found among the sand and pebbles by keen-eyed wanderers. Hunt for chompers with rambunctious little ones who might like specimens of sea monsters to take for show-and-tell.

STOP 5 FISH FROM THE PIER Back on land, find the hidden pathway near Station 9 that leads out to the edge of what remains of the Sullivan’s Island side of the old Pitt Street Bridge. What’s now a park and pier at the edge of Mount Pleasant’s Old Village was formerly a wooden trolley bridge allowing passage between the two towns. It was widened for automobiles in the 1920s but eventually disused in 1945 when the Ben Sawyer Bridge was completed. Creep up the trail marked “Station 9 Old Bridge Landing” (an easy trail, but there are a few steep bits) and take the short walk to the water for a different view of the Intracoastal and a visual context of the island’s former connections to the mainland. If you’ve got a rod and reel, it’s a prime spot for fishing, and the wooden bench even has a South Carolina DNR placard to check measurements and regulations. If you aren’t looking to catch dinner, it makes a fine spot for catching up with friends, or catching the golden hour before sunset.

STOP 6 SUNSET FROM THOMSON PARK If you’ve still got energy for pedal power, a prime sunset spot is northward at Thomson Park just before the connector to Isle of Palms. Take your time and find a lazy route through quaint back roads of Sullivan’s Island—the four-mile ride takes about 20 minutes. Once you arrive, the site can be explored quite quickly, but the real marvel is the fact that locals put it together five years ago after realizing there was no marker for the 1776 battle at Breach Inlet. Today the park has palmetto logs, a series of explanatory signs, native plants and frequent dolphin sightings. SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 119

VIBES &

VOCALS

The dunes are alive with the sound of music. You’ll find some big talent on our small islands. Local musician Marci Shore takes a tour through Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island live music hotspots to bring you the lowdown on the scene and sounds to be found on the sea islands this season. Photo by Steve Rosamillia.

120 | SiP

THE WINDJAMMER

THE DINGHY

thewindjammer.com, 1008 Ocean Blvd., IOP, SC 29451, 843.886.8596

dinghyiop.com, 8 J C Long Blvd., IOP, SC 29451, 843.242.8310

Vibe It’s always a “jam good time” at this Isle of Palms institution. A favorite with locals and tourists alike, the Windjammer has withstood the test of time and elements since 1972. This nofrills, casual oceanfront bar is known for its friendly bartenders and reasonably priced and simply delicious cheeseburgers. Happy Hour Monday through Friday, 4 -7 p.m. Beach volleyball court, pool tables, a back deck overlooking the ocean, 5 web cams, Bikini Bash every Sunday from May 24 through August 9.

Vocals Acts scheduled for this summer include: Medicated Sunfish, Slippery When Wet, The Ultimate Bon Jovi Tribute Band, Cody Purvis, Sister Hazel and Cowboy Mouth.

Vibe Across the street from the Windjammer, The Dinghy has established itself as a hot spot.

Though only in its second season, the Dinghy has an unassuming Key West vibe and a variety of unique beers on tap, plus appetizers, salads, and sandwiches. Martini Mondays and Moscow Mules are specialties. Happy Hour Monday through Friday 4-7 p.m.

Vocals With live music most nights of the week, this little dive bar gets crowded with fun.

MORGAN CREEK GRILL

Bobby Thompson Project at Home Team BBQ

morgancreekgrill.com, 80 41st Ave., IOP, SC 29451, 843.886.8980

Vibe The only island location where you can eat, watch the sunset, listen to music and see a variety of boats as they travel the Intracoastal Waterway all at the same time. Upperdeck views, outdoor bar, outdoor stage and oyster roasts every Saturday afternoon October through December.

Happy Hour Tuesday through Friday, 4 -7 p.m.

Sunday brunch 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Vocals Only the best local talent plays at Morgan Creek catch them on Fridays, Saturdays, and some Sundays usually starting at 5 p.m.

COCONUT JOE’S coconutjoes.biz, 1120 Ocean Blvd., IOP, SC 29451, 843.886.0046

Vibe On Isle of Palms, Coconut Joe’s features a rooftop tiki bar with a panorama of the Atlantic.

The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Under the same ownership, Island Joe’s, in front of Coconut Joe’s, serves up fun foods like ice cream, coffee drinks, funnel cakes and hot dogs.

Happy Hour Monday through Friday, 4 -7 p.m.

Vocals For their 14th season, Mystic Vibrations perform on the rooftop bar on Sundays for “Reggae on The Roof,” 1:30–5 p.m. Music on the roof Tuesday and Wednesday evenings as well.

BANANA CABANA thebananacabanasc.com, 1130 Ocean Blvd., IOP, SC 29451, 843.886.4360

Vibe A casual, beachfront establishment on Isle of Palms’ main strip, the Banana Cabana is hopping for lunch and dinner with a wide variety of food, from pizza to quesadillas. Happy Hour Monday through Friday, 4-7 p.m.

Vocals Daily music outside on the back patio, just steps away from the beach.

HOME TEAM BBQ hometeambbq.com, 2209 Middle St., Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482, 843.883.3131

Vibe Nationally acclaimed BBQ , the frozen concoction The Game Changer and an always stellar music lineup make Home Team BBQ a hub of young energy on Sullivan’s Island. Home Team recently opened its third area location, in downtown Charleston. Happy Hour Monday through Friday 4-7 p.m. Tuesday night is Team Trivia night.

Vocals Music starts late, 10 p.m. most Friday and Saturday nights. Check the online schedule.

You’ll likely hear blues, bluegrass or Americana/ rock/country by national, regional and local touring talent. Shane Pruitt, Jeff Jenson Band, Voo Davis, Kenny George Band, Eric Culberson, and the Outervention are among the lineup for this summer.

DUNLEAVY’S IRISH PUB dunleavysonsullivans.com 2213 Middle St., Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482, 843.883.9646

Vibe Situated on the corner of Sullivan’s Island, the pub has been family operated for over 20 years, and has a loyal following of locals. Daily specials, highly sought after cheeseburgers and wings. Happy Hour Monday through Friday 4 -7 p.m.

Vocals In season, there will likely be music Friday and Saturday nights, and some Tuesdays, featuring local acoustic and blues musicians.

THE REFUGE therefugeiop.com, 1517 Palms Blvd., IOP, SC 29451, 843.242.8934

Vibe On Isle Palms at the Harris Teeter shopping center, The Refuge is an elegant coffee bar with bagels and pastries in the morning, gourmet sandwiches by day, with an upscale menu and cocktails at night. Happy Hour Monday through Friday, 4-7 p.m.

Vocals Live music for Sunday brunch and also some evenings Wednesday through Saturday.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 121

PEOPLE & PLACES

2 3 1

10

8

7

17

18

9

19

16

20

1. Allison Forster, Callie Campbell, Milt Stratos, with Katie and Kirk Shields at the SIFD Oyster Roast 2. Andie MacDowell, Michelle McNeill and Cheri Rodgers at the Wild Dunes Author Event 3. Germaine Aprill Tajak and Dianne Byers enjoy a cocktail at the Wild Dunes Author Event 4. Oliver Hankinson gets his face painted at the IOP Easter Egg Hunt 5. Sissy Harris and her husband Gene celebrate her birthday at the SIFD Oyster Roast 6. Barby Harrington, Deb Barr, Elizabeth Grantham and Pamela Marsh at the IOP Exchange Club Yard Sale 7. David Brahen helps his daughter Haley get a better view at the SI Christmas Tree Lighting 8. Fredda Culverts and her dog Sally at the SI Town Council Polls 9. Bill Dunleavy and Jamie Maher at Dunleavy St. Patrick's Day Celebrations 10. Bridgette and Jamiel Kadri at the SIFD Fish Fry 11. Stacey Sampson and Iris Kornhauser at Art on the Beach 122 | SiP

6 4

11

5

12

15

21

14

22

13

23

12. Brothers Danny and Anthony Jost at the Stella Maris Spaghetti Dinner 13. The Brinegar family at the IOP Exchange Club Meals on Wheels Event 14. The Custer family at the IOP 4th of July Golf Cart parade 15. Nelson Durand and Sheila Regan at the IOP Exchange Club Oyster Roast 16. Lisa Vogt and Beth Behegan at Edgar Allan Poe's birthday party, with the guest of honor himself 17. The Detyens family at the SIFD Fish Fry 18. Guests and librarians at the reopening of Poe Library 19. Dorothea Benton Frank and Jack Cleghorn at a fundraising party 20. Jane and Dave Manuel, Maureen Marr and Frannie Reese cheer on Clemson in the National Championships 21. Sergeant Jamey Meekins and Beth Sharp at Coffee with a Cop at Harris Teeter 22. Cal McCombs at the Methodist Church Men's Club BBQ 23. The Schroder family visits with Santa at the IOP Christmas Carnival WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 123

CALENDAR

ONGOING EVENTS

Lifeguarded Beaches Isle of Palms County Park is lifeguarded on weekends beginning May 7, 2016 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Beginning Memorial Day, the lifeguards are on duty every day through mid-August and weekends mid-August through the last weekend in September.

Sullivan’s Island Farmers Market Enjoy local produce, prepared food and arts and crafts, every Thursday, 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. April through June, 1921 Ion Ave., Sullivan’s Island. facebook.com/ sifarmersmarket

Fry Shack, 1459 Hennessy St. floppinflounder2015.kimbia.com Sullivan’s Island Fire and Rescue Fish Fry Enjoy freshly fried fish served with a smile.

One of the three major fundraisers to support the volunteer rescue operations on Sullivan’s. Held at the Sullivan’s Island Fish Fry Shack, 1459 Hennessy St., Saturday, June 25, 5 to 8 p.m. sullivansisland-sc.com Carolina Day Celebrate the defeat of the British at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island June 28, 1776 with Fort Moultrie’s weekend of activities. nps.gov/fosu

Fourth Saturday Musket Program The fourth Saturday of every month Fort Moultrie park volunteers and staff demonstrate how historic weapons evolved and discuss the life of a soldier over the 171 years that Fort Moultrie was used to defend America’s coastline; May 28, June 25, July 23, August 27, September 24, October 22, November 26 & December 24. nps.gov/fosu

Summer Reading Programs The Edgar Allan Poe Branch Library sponsors fun summer reading promotions for the young and old alike. Visit the branch or ccpl.org to discover the line-up of programs and activities. 1921 I’on Avenue, Sullivan’s Island.

Oyster Roasts Two IOP standbys, Morgan Creek Grill, 80 41st Ave. and The Dinghy 8 JC Long Blvd., host oyster roasts throughout the fall. morgancreekgrill.com, dinghyiop.com

4th of July Fireworks The Isle of Palms hosts a 4th of July fireworks display over the ocean near 14th Avenue beginning at 9 p.m. iop.net/recreation, 843.886.8294

MAY 2016

World Turtle Day Celebrate the iconic reptile at the South Carolina Aquarium on May 23, with a day full of turtle-themed activities and learn about the species of turtles that call South Carolina home. Tour the Sea Turtle Hospital, which is the only sea turtle rescue facility in the state. scquarium.org Wild Dunes Memorial Day Family Fun Run/Walk Saturday, May 28, 8 a.m. $25 per person, including t-shirt, register at 843.886.7008.

JUNE 2016

Spoleto Festival For 17 days and nights the arts takes over Charleston. Plays, operas, dance and music of all types fill the streets, churches and outdoor spaces. spoletousa.org Piccolo Spoleto Sand Sculpting Contest June 4 at 9 a.m. head to Isle of Palms beach for a stunning display of sand-sculpting prowess. The event is part of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, May 27 through June 12. piccolospoleto.com Floppin’ Flounder 5K Run/Walk This community-wide group run hosted by the Charleston Running Club and Sullivan’s Island Fire and Rescue Department has had a faithful following for 25 years. It takes place Saturday, June 4 at 8 a.m. and starts in front of the Sullivan’s Island Fish

124 | SiP

JULY 2016

4th of July Golf Cart Parade Deck out your golf cart or bicycle for this annual parade celebrating America’s independence. Start at the Sullivan’s Island Fire Station, end at Stith Park. Meet at 8:30 a.m.

Wild Dunes Family Fun Run/Walk Monday, July 4 at 8 a.m. $25 per person, including t-shirt. Pre-registration required: 843.886.7008 Wild Dunes Watermelon-Eating Contest Come enjoy waterslides and more on the lawn next to Wild Dunes’ Palm Cove pool, July 4 from 11 a.m. from 2 p.m. $10 per person. Watch or compete in the watermeloneating contest at 12 p.m. wilddunes.com Isle of Palms Beach Run On July 16 choose from a Youth Fun Run, 5K or 10K run on the beach. Start at The Windjammer, 1008 Ocean Blvd. IOP, at 8 a.m. iop.net/recreation, 843.886.8294 Brews & Chews Island Beer Festival July 24 3 to 6 p.m. head to Wild Dunes’ Palmetto Hall for the 3rd annual Beer Festival and Pool Party. Sip on a selection of local, regional and national craft beers. $40 for adults, $25 for ages 13-20, $15 for ages 4-12. Free for kids under 3. wilddunes.com/ brewsandchews, 843.886.2218

AUGUST 2016

Shark Week Celebrate our finned friends August 6-14

during this special weeklong celebration at the Aquarium. Friday, August 12 there is a special kick-off event, “Dark Blue,” featuring a concert, food, drinks from 6 to 11 p.m. scaquarium.org LEGO Experience Opens The Aquarium opens its new exhibit August 19. Journey from the mountains to the sea through unique, one-of-a-kind animal sculptures built from thousands of LEGO bricks. scaquarium.org Half Rubber Tournament This annual tournament takes place at IOP Recreation Center on August 20. Pre-register by Friday, July 29. $25 per person (3 or 4 players per team). Check In/Captain’s Meeting at 7:30 a.m., games begin at 8 a.m.

National Park Service Birthday Throughout the day August 25, Fort Moultrie hosts 15-minute programs about how it became a National Park site. nps.gov/fosu

SEPTEMBER 2016

Turtle Trot Beach Run September 10, 5 to 8 p.m. Isle of Palms. iop.net/recreation IOP Community Wellness Fair On September 22, from 7 to 11 a.m. the IOP Recreation Department teams up with the East Cooper Medical Center to offer blood work for local residents including cholesterol screenings and lipid profiles at the Recreation Center, 24 28th Ave., IOP. iop.net/recreation, 843.884.7031 Jammin’ for Jammer Islands Turtle Team annual fundraiser is September 28 at The Windjammer, on IOP’s Front Beach. Come out for a night of food, fun, live music and a silent auction to benefit the efforts of the turtle team. bergwerfgraphics.com

OCTOBER 2016

Isle of Palms Connector Run & Walk Fundraising event for the Isle of Palm’s Exchange Club’s programs to help abused children takes place October 1, IOP Connector, 8 a.m. ioprun.com Fire Prevention Celebration Look for a SI/IOP parade of engines October 12, at Sullivan’s Island Fire House, 2050 Middle St., Sullivan’s Island.

Ghostly Tide Tales Spooky stories by bonfire light on the beach at Isle of Palms. October 21, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. iop.net/recreation IOP Halloween Carnival Enjoy games for all ages at the annual carnival on October 31, IOP Recreation Department, 24 28th Avenue, from 5 to 7 p.m. Costume contest at 5:30 p.m. iop.net/ recreation, 843.886.8294

NOVEMBER 2016

Polar Express Watch the Christmas classic come to life at the South Carolina Aquarium’s 4-D Theater beginning November 1 and running through the end of December. $6.95 (free for members or with general admission), scquarium.org America the Beautiful Quarter release Be one of the first to get your hands on a new Fort Moultrie quarter at the official release party at Fort Moultrie on November 17. nps.gov/fosu

DECEMBER 2016

Scuba Claus Beginning December 1 Santa dons his wetsuit and visits the Aquarium through December 23. scquarium.org Sullivan’s Island Tree Lighting Light up the night at the Sullivan’s Island Fire Station, 2050 Middle St. December 2, 5:30 p.m. Enjoy carols, hot cocoa and visits with Santa. sullivansisland-sc.com Holiday Street Festival Join the Isle of Palms’ mayor as he lights the 22-foot holiday tree on December 3 from 2 to 7 p.m. Visit with Santa, enjoy carnival rides and more on Front Beach. iop.net/recreation, 843.886.8294 Gingerbread Making The Town of Sullivan’s Island hosts a gingerbread house party around Dec. 15 at the Fire Station. Check website for exact date. sullivansisland-sc.com

JANUARY 2017

Dunleavy’s Polar Bear Plunge “We’re freezin’ for a reason.” Jump into the chilly waters of the atlantic on January 1. Meet at 2213 Middle St. Sullivan’s Island at 2 p.m. dunleaveyspubpolarplunge.com, 843.795.5316 Charlie Post Classic 15K/5K The Charleston Running Club will host the 34th annual Charlie Post Classic 15K & 5K January 8, 2017. The race starts at 8:30 a.m. in front of the Sullivan’s Island Fire Department, 2050 Middle St. charlestonrunningclub.com IOP Exchange Club Oyster Roast The most scenic oyster roast this side of the Atlantic. Get your knives out on January 28, 4 to 7 p.m. at the Exchange Club, 201 Palm Blvd., Isle of Palms. iopexchange.org/oyster-roast

FEBRUARY 2017

Sullivan’s Island Fire & Rescue Oyster Roast Enjoy all you can eat oysters, hot dogs, and fish stew and support local firefighters on

February 4. Held at the Fish Fry Shack, 1459 Hennessy St. from 5 to 8 p.m. Tickets $30 in advance, $35 day of. sullivans-sc.com Doggie Day at the Rec A dog show, including cutest puppy, most attractive, and most ear’resistable, caps off this annual celebration of all things canine, held on February 4, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. iop.net/recreation, 843.886.8294 Southeastern Wildlife Expo SEWE is a three-day showcase of everything we love about wildlife and nature.

February 17 through 19. sewe.com Hunley Memorial Event Confederate Heritage Trust hosts a memorial to the Civil War-era Hunley submarine beginning with a parade to Sunrise Presbyterian Church, 3222 Middle St., Sullivan’s Island, on February 17.

MARCH 2017

Front Beach Fest This annual party on Front Beach celebrates the start of the season with local musicians, food vendors, jump castles, and other entertainment. March 4, 12 to 4 p.m. iop.net, 843.886.8294 St. Patrick’s Day The Town of Sullivan’s Island hosts a family-friendly event starting at 10 a.m. on March 18 at Stith Park on Middle Street. sullivansisland-sc.com Isle of Palms Annual Yard Sale Every year, residents of Isle of Palms sell their old and gently used items in an island-wide yard sale just outside the IOP Recreation Center. 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. on March 25. iop.net, 843.886.8294 Hope on Goat This annual fundraiser held on Goat Island benefits a different charity each year. goatislandgatherings.com

APRIL 2017

A Charming Beach-Side Hair Salon in the Heart of Sullivan’s Island

Isle of Palms Easter Egg Hunt The Saturday before Easter, April 15, come hunt eggs and get your photo with the Easter Bunny at 10 a.m. sharp!

Jump castles, face painting and balloon artists round out the fun at the Isle of Palms Recreation Center, 24 28th Ave. iop.net/recreation Isle of Palms Exchange Club Easter Sunrise Breakfast Enjoy homemade pancakes, sausages, eggs, grits, coffee and beverages courtesy of the Exchange Club members who serve up this hearty breakfast for free April 16 from 6:50 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Easter morning at the Exchange Club, 201 Palm Blvd.

WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 125

Photo by Brent Paape

LAST LOOK THE BAMBOO FOREST

A few blocks from the tranquil waves of the Atlantic and the warmed and worn sands of time is another world. A place to hide, to play in the shade, to look up into swaying shoots of grass.

The bamboo forest behind Stith Park is at the base of “The Mound”—a former mortar battery decommissioned in 1942. The forest may become part of a future park, for now it remains overgrown, well-loved and ripe for imagination for children of all ages.

126 | SiP

Welcome to the Isle of Palms Discover the “Secret Seasons”

JANUARY

A walk on the beach is a great way to start the New Year!

SEPTEMBER

We have great weather, wide beach expanses and Oyster Roast season starts!

September is the island’s best kept secret!

FEBRUARY

Plan your stay at the beach and enjoy the Southeastern Wildlife Expo. Bring your canine BFF and don’t miss the award winning event, Doggie Day at the Rec!

OCTOBER

Pleasant temperatures, spectacular sunsets and still daylight savings time. These are just a few reasons to choose October for a beach wedding.

MARCH

There is no better place to visit for Spring Break.

Be restored, and enjoy the Wine and Food Festival in Charleston.

NOVEMBER

Make IOP your choice for Thanksgiving! Golf cart parades, and lower vacation rental rates make it an irresistible time of year.

APRIL

The Isle of Palms Recreation Center has the best Easter Egg Hunt around!

DECEMBER

Holidays are best spent at the beach! Enjoy beautiful decorations, the Holiday Street Festival, Holiday lights and great shopping.

Please visit our website for a complete list of events. www.iop.net | 843.886.6428 WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 5

building on your priorities

7X GRAND PRISM AWARD FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

structures.net 843.856.6901