Hilton Head & Bluffton Lifestyle

Luxury is cheap. Luxury is easy.

Luxury, as it is all too commonly defined, is simply a transaction wherein an obscene amount of money is traded for something that exists solely to justify its price tag. It’s the yacht that harbors an onboard bowling alley, helicopter landing pad and full-service personal Starbucks (complete with barista who actually spells your name right). It’s the solid gold Italian sports car with built-in shiatsu massage and 20,000-carat emerald gear shifter.

FROM SALES EXEC TO LEADING MAN, SUN CITY RESIDENT FINDS NEW OUTLET FOR SPEAKING SKILLS

For years, Bob McCloskey pooh-poohed the suggestion that he take his deep, resonant voice to the stage. As he rose through the sales and management ranks of Kimberly-Clark, his colleagues would tell him that he should act.

“In my 32 years, guys would say ‘McCloskey, for goodness sake, you should have been on stage,’ whether it was following a sales presentation or an address to the group,” he said. “And anytime the boss said that, you’re wondering, wait, you’re saying I should be on stage because I’m a lousy sales manager?”

CYPRESS COUPLE MAKING SURE THEIR GRANDSON’S MEMORY LIVES FOREVER

When longtime philanthropists Ned and Suzie Allen got involved with the Make-a-Wish Foundation more than 20 years ago, they knew it would be a personally rewarding endeavor. But they had no idea how much it would eventually mean to their own family.

SEABROOK RESIDENT HAS A PASSION FOR ISLAND HISTORY

Jim Fannon, a resident of The Seabrook of Hilton Head, lectures once a week at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn on two of his favorite subjects: the 1861 Battle of Port Royal during the Civil War, and Gullah culture.

He speaks from memory to his audience because he knows the subjects so well, but he does keep note cards handy, just in case.

TIDEPOINTE COUPLE SPENDING MUCH OF RETIREMENT ON THE ROAD

Lee and Liz Niner love TidePointe almost as much as they love their British MG autos — it’s close. Let’s just say the Niners love retirement here and their MGs in equal measures.

“We’re drivers,” Lee said. “Serious, serious drivers and rallyers.”

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE? SEA PINES WOMAN HAS THE TROPHIES TO PROVE IT

In 2012, James Dout approached his wife, Jackie, with an idea. Their son was getting married, and James wanted the parents of the groom to take a few dance lessons to prep for the big day.

Three years after that first fateful trip to the Hilton Head Island Fred Astaire Dance Studio, the Douts are still dancing — and Jackie has the trophies to prove it.

A visit to Daufuskie Island can feel a bit like being transported back to a time before bridges and causeways opened the Lowcountry's Sea Islands to both development and the outside world. Despite the presence of a luxurious resort and four gorgeous golf courses, the largely undeveloped residential island maintains a blissfully rustic and intoxicatingly timeless feel that attracts as many as 150,000 visitors each year.

In my opinion, PR people have never done right by Bluffton. Bluffton needs to do what my mother once admonished me to do after I had quit a pretty good job on Hilton Head to do something that I thought more important. I was explaining that to a puzzled acquaintance while my mother was with me, and with a stage whisper that could be heard from the lighthouse to ships at sea, she coached me, “Tell him who you used to be!”

That’s kind of how I feel about Bluffton. Do you, the passing average reader on the street, even know who Bluffton used to be?

It’s a great time to live, work, play and love Bluffton. As a town, we know who we are and where we are going. Bluffton has recently been recognized as a municipal leader in areas such as financial management, economic development and revitalization. National and regional media outlets, such as Money Magazine, continue to bestow titles on our town as one of the best places to retire and live. Garden & Gun Magazine recently named Bluffton  “A Southern Dream Town.”  As a municipal leader, I am proud of our town and the people who work so diligently to create a place which many want to be a part.