Some things in life are just plain special, and farmers markets are special in many ways.

It’s not just the fresh, locally-grown produce in abundance in the soil of our rural neighborhoods, but also specialties like jams and pickles, sweet honey, the distinct fragrance of herbs, cultivated flowers, organic eggs and more.

Farmers markets on Hilton Head Island and in Bluffton possess a unique spirit that transcends the physical presence of food stands, rows upon rows of fruits and vegetables, and the strumming of local musicians.

MUSICIAN DAVID WINGO REMEMBERS A WILD AND SOMEWHAT LAWLESS UNINCORPORATED HILTON HEAD BACK IN THE LATE 1970S WHEN HE ARRIVED FROM ATLANTA WITH A BATCH OF ORIGINAL TUNES AND DREAMS OF CARVING OUT A FULL-TIME LIVING MAKING MUSIC IN AN EMERGING PARADISE.

Bales of contraband would wash up on local shores courtesy of waterborne area smugglers and an ensuing massive drug bust (Operation Jackpot) was followed by word that one of the crooks had buried a sizable cache of cash somewhere in Spanish Wells. So it became local sport, usually after a few drinks, to make like latter-day pirates and go on early morning hunts for buried treasure.

“It was like a Jimmy Buffett song back then,” smiles Wingo, who would soon go on to become the island’s first rock star.

LIVE MUSIC MEN
From left; Mark Ruplinger from the Old Post Office Emporium, Jesse Watkins of the The Mundahs, John Cranford of Cranford Hollow, Tristan O’Grady of the Big Bamboo Cafe, musician Martin Lesch and Thomas Reilley of The Boardroom.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE DAILY LIFE OF TOURING MUSICIAN JOHN CRANFORD

I’M sitting in the last row of the Cranford Hollow tour wagon, a 12-passenger Ford van with a 17-foot trailer attached to it. We are somewhere east of Dublin, Ga., heading home to our favorite place on Earth. This tour started about two weeks ago on St. Patrick’s Day weekend with a slew of local shows — the Boardroom’s Fat Tuesday Party, the Wine and Food Festival, the Hilton Head St. Patrick’s Day throwdown in the Wild Wing Cafe parking lot and Monday in Savannah’s City Market, playing to a sea of thirsty green revelers. The Savannah show was so rowdy, Savannah-Chatham Police police got onstage at one point and threatened to shut it down, due to the 50-person mosh pit and excessive crowd surfing.

We left immediately after our Savannah show and headed to the panhandle of Florida for a week-long Spring Break run in the Panama City area. Then we moved westward. We camped out in St. Augustine, trying to lay down eight tracks in four days at Retrophonic Studios.

WHO SAYS you can’t do it all?

MONTHLY SALUTES LOCAL MOMS WHO BALANCE FAMILY WITH BUSINESS

Career or motherhood?

Do you have to sacrifice one to be truly successful in the other? For many women in the Lowcountry, the answer is an emphatic “no.”

So, how does one balance the ever-so-delicate dance between work and home life?

We asked 10 working mothers in the Lowcountry to share their secrets of success. Here are their responses.

“ Proof of Santa will come on Christmas Day, offline, in real time”

When I was a kid, Santa became real to me every Christmas morning with a simple kick of my foot.

I don’t know how it all went down at your house, but in ours, Santa would fill our empty stockings in the living room and then leave them at the foot of our beds to find in the morning. The stockings had been crocheted by my grandmother using a grandmother’s generosity and some sort of elastic yarn, so each elephant trunk stocking easily stretched across the width of a twin bed. (“Favorite Grandmother” status: Secured.)

YOU MAY THINK YOU ENJOY THE FINER THINGS IN LIFE. AND TO SOME EXTENT, THAT'S PROBABLY TRUE.

YOU MAY SLIP YOUR FEET INTO FINE ITALIAN LEATHER, DRESS YOURSELF IN CUSTOMTAILORED SUITS, DRIVE AN EXOTIC EUROPEAN SPORTS CAR, AND CONSIDER THE HIGH LIFE LIVED. But even the concept of luxury living isn’t safe from that most elemental concept of the sea: There’s always a bigger fish. For every beachfront mansion, there’s a beachfront compound. For every pricey meal, there’s one served in a restaurant that only a handful of people can afford to enter. The scale of luxury climbs to dizzying heights, creating a level of opulence that those of us below the clouds can only dream of. We ventured to the highest spires of luxury and are pleased to present our findings on how the other one percent lives.

A resource and a reminder about why we live here

• ACTIVE ADULT LIVING
• BEACH
• BEAUTY
• BUSINESS
• CRIME (LACK OF)
• CULTURE
• FAMILY
• FUN
• LIFESTYLE
• WEATHER
• RECREATION
• SCHOOLS
• HEALTHCARE

Editor’s Note: In celebration of the 350th anniversary of the sighting of Hilton Head Island, and the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Town of Hilton Head Island, a group of volunteers are organizing a 350/30 year anniversary blowout to commemorate both events with a town open house Sept. 30 and a beach party Oct. 5. Monthly proudly presents the following, the second in a series of historical articles leading up to the event. 

After crossing the bridge to Hilton Head Island, you will find yourself on Jenkins Island. It extends to mile marker 1, where Hilton Head Island actually begins. Located in what is the “tongue of the shoe” that is Hilton Head is a separate island, home to Jenkins Island Cemetery. This native islander cemetery is tucked away down a little-used road. Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church maintains this cemetery as well as Talbird Cemetery, located in Hilton Head Plantation by Skull Creek Marina, and Elliott Cemetery, also in Hilton Head Plantation, in Dolphin Head Park. 

The stories of Miss Hilton Head Island Maegan Garner and Miss HHI – USA Amanda Woods are as different as their respective pageants. Garner was involved in an automobile accident with a motorcyclist — who unfortunately succumbed to his injuries — and is now on a mission to raise helmet safety awareness. Wood, the product of a rough childhood — in which both parents spent time in jail — is on a mission to reach out to at-risk kids. Garner’s pageant, Miss Hilton Head Island, is part of the Miss America system, while  Woods’ pageant, Miss HHI – USA, is part of the Trump-owned Miss USA/Universe system. We sat down with both of these beauties to get the tale of the tape.