As we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, it seems there’s an anniversary for everything. So why not add one more — the 200th anniversary of the publication of the Mills Atlas? What’s that, you ask? It’s a blast from South Carolina’s past, an extraordinary compilation of district survey maps assembled and published
Many folks arriving in the Lowcountry land with a bump and a tire squeak at Savannah International Airport. They’re all excited about heading to the golf courses on Hilton Head or the quaint charm and good food of Savannah itself. The Lowcountry pulls people in like moths to a summer porch light, but there’s a
Raising kids often seems like a blur. Changing diapers, hitching car seats, tending skinned knees, organizing the dreaded Christmastime school wrapping paper fundraisers, endless Little League and football games, college applications, and then they’re gone…until they need money. It is what it is, and the blur has an inherent joy, let alone the all-encompassing fatigue.
As we near Halloween and start thinking about witches, ghosts, and goblins, I thought it might be a good idea to offer some advice…or at least tell a story that provides a perspective on those otherworldly things we call “haints” in the Lowcountry. For a long time, I didn’t pay much attention to haints, even
Many people seek fame and fortune. They are thrilled when they see their names in lights. Think some “Jumbotron” video screen in Times Square, New York, flashing your image; you are starring in a blockbuster movie with a mega media star. For most folks, that’s never going to happen, but it’s fun to dream about…especially
Rice is such an amazing seed. It can be grown almost anywhere in the world, and there’s hardly a cuisine that doesn’t incorporate rice into its vision of food. Here in the Lowcountry, when we talk about rice, we’re usually referring to Carolina Gold rice (CGR), scientifically known as Oryza sativa. It gets its name
There are lots of ways to see the Lowcountry. You can bike and hike, boat and float, walk and gawk, ride with a guide, whatever suits your fancy. And you can fly. By flying, I don’t mean hopping in a jet and zooming off to some distant destination. I’m talking about low and slow in
One of the great joys in life is making an unexpected friend. And a life’s great sorrow comes with losing that friend, especially suddenly and without warning. Such a friend was Ben Joe Smith. Back in 2006, I acquired a tract of land in Grays, South Carolina, which was to becomeHoota Woods Plantation. Part of
People do some really stupid things, which includes trying to feed alligators. Life can get ugly when a human says, “Hold my beer,” and an apex predator sees the hand holding half a ham sandwich as lunch. In such situations, Bubba Human and Bubba Gator have one biological trait in common, namely a brain the
Oh Lawdy Lawdy, if’n y’all wanna kick up a fuss, start complainin’ that someone’s barbecue sauce isn’t as good as your momma’s, or your nana’s, or the one they serve at the Swamp Rat Café on Pocotaligo Street in your hometown. Sauce is a sanctified, near Eucharist, food embellishment in the South, and it has
