When Spoleto Festival USA trumpets in its 39th season in May, the focus of the art world, both nationally and internationally, will fall directly on Charleston. From its humble beginnings to becoming what many consider the premier event in the top-ranked tourist city in America – and number two in the world – is a breathtaking rags-to-riches transformation. While Spoleto … [Read more...]
A National Vineyard Visits Mount Pleasant: Wine Under the Oaks 2014
Lary Petterson never tires of telling the story of Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards. Petterson is the southern regional manager of L&L, a family-owned business based in Solvang, California. The vineyard stretches 400 acres across Santa Barbara County, with 25 different grapes in the soil right now. The business is named for its founding owners: Louis Lucas, one … [Read more...]
Y’all Ready for Some (Wando) Football?
Six years ago, Jimmy Noonan accepted the head coaching position at Wando high school. He'd come from Spring Valley High School in the midlands, where the football culture is ingrained into kids’ minds at an early age. Noonan accepted the challenge of bringing his own brand of football philosophy to a community that was not necessarily a football town. Yet Mount Pleasant is a … [Read more...]
The Guiding Life: Siren Song of the Salt Water
For people passionate enough to scrape together a living by fishing, it’s more than just a job. Guiding is a way of life – a tough, wonderful life. For the rest of us, fishing is just occasional recreation, the once-every-so-often chance to spend time with our kids or maybe get away with the guys. On the surface, the lure of fishing for a living sounds romantic, but, every … [Read more...]
A Ride to Remember: The Carolina Coast Surf Club
I stood on the rain-soaked deck at The Windjammer on the Isle of Palms, my hands tightly gripping the wood handrail. I was fixated, entranced even, by the sheer power of the ocean. A late-spring storm surge had kicked up waves; they rose gradually then crashed violently in an avalanche of foam and white water. My mind returned to a state of reality when I … [Read more...]
Homes Away From Home: Local Families Host Tennis Pros
When I got on the phone to chat with international tennis professional Melanie Oudin, I was not the least bit surprised to learn that just minutes before my phone call, she'd been practicing her swing. Oudin, one of the many tennis players who grace Daniel Island during the Family Circle Cup, scheduled this year for March 29 through April 6, is a native of Marietta, Ga., and … [Read more...]
Brushstrokes of Genius – SEWE Artists in East Cooper
I was pleasantly surprised at the opportunity to meet with local artist Vicki Robinson inside her home at Remley's Point. It's not every day that I'm invited into the private studio of a gifted painter, where bowls of eggshells wait on countertops to be hand painted and brushes, both large and small, catch sunlight through windows in the artist's kitchen. Robinson has been a … [Read more...]
Up, Up and Away – Mount Pleasant’s Own Airport
If you weren’t actively looking for the Mount Pleasant Regional Airport, you’d be hard-pressed to notice that it even exists. Its somewhat remote location is marked only by a modest green sign with white lettering along the U.S. Highway 17 roadside, just north of Park West. Mount Pleasant has its own airport? What’s that all about? Where did it come from and where … [Read more...]
Third Time’s the Charm
Make Plans to Attend the 2013 Business and Community Expo. In its first two years, the Mount Pleasant Entrepreneur and Business Expo gave local companies, professionals and organizations an excellent opportunity to market their products and services to residents and visitors. Throughout the day, attendees and vendors exchanged ideas and contact information with one goal in … [Read more...]
Go Fly a Kite …Board
The sun was shining for the first time all week during this year’s Cooper River Bridge Run. It was high noon and I, unlike the rest of Charleston, was not enjoying the post-race festivities of beer drinking, bacon eating and band listening. Instead, I was sitting on the beach at Third Avenue on the Isle of Palms, waiting for Dr. Joe Gillespie to give me a … [Read more...]