Hilton Head: A 52 Year History of Things To Do & Hidden Gems To See with Island Events!

What was Hilton Head really like in 1973?  In this episode, we sit down with Erika Hayes from Island Events Magazine — the go-to guide for visitors and locals alike for over 50 years. Erika shares insider tips on the best fireworks viewing spots, the secret magic of biking Hilton Head, and what it’s like to grow up on the island she still calls home.

We also explore hidden gems you need to see (locals and tourists alike), how to avoid the tourist traps, and why Hilton Head is more than just a vacation—it’s a way of life.
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Leave a comment if YOU want a relocation guide or a copy of Island Events Magazine!

🔗 Full digital version: https://hiltonhead.com
📬 Request a relocation guide: https://www.daviddale.com/moving-to-hilton-head-free-guide
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📍 Learn more about The David Dale Team: www.DavidDale.com

#HiltonHead #IslandEvents #RealTalkHiltonHead #LowcountryLiving #HiltonHeadFireworks #HiltonHeadRealEstate #VisitHiltonHead #LowcountryLife

Transcript

welcome to the show Erica thank you for having me thank
0:07
you thank you for coming on we've been so excited for you to join us in this episode and some exciting things we have
0:14
ahead yeah it's very exciting i mean well we're Let's just jump into it what do you say so Erica we want to start you
0:21
know obviously Island Events magazine that's what we're here to talk about tell us the origin story of Island
0:26
Events and what inspired its creation and what's the core mission behind the magazine so Island Events magazine if
0:34
you're not familiar is that digest size publication some people call it the tiny magazine yeah so Asher pay attention
0:40
here so that is the tiny and we'll put it up on the screen yep and um we are a
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11issue a year publication the only combo issue we have is for January and February but we are a visitor
0:55
predominant publication we're a visitor guide to Hilton Head and the Low Country
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so our origins is we pride ourselves on being the original guide to Hilton Head
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we started in 1973 wow wow what was here in 1973 um Charles
1:14
Frasier theater it was really just sea pines
1:20
then for the most part just sea pines and just people who were already living and working on Hilton Head um but I
1:27
don't even know if the bridge was the current bridge was operational when Island event started so we're in our
1:33
52nd year which is a huge milestone it is so our our mission really is just to
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be an informational whether it's for visitors or locals with visitors being our primary but we just want to get
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information about Hilton Head in the greater Low Country just to make it free and accessible to anyone wow well that's
1:54
awesome so do you know how many people I curious what the population was back then and what the visitor Did you know
2:00
right now we get how many visitors a year probably it's in the millions so it's um I believe the estimate is like
2:06
around 2 million per year i'd have to double check those statistics yeah yeah yeah yeah no we won't hold you to it but
2:13
it's um the how many actual residents were in the 70s that one I do not know i
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know it's definitely not what it was today yeah it is today for sure that's fascinating though that you guys
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I mean 52 years 52 years and it's um some of our staff have been there from
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the beginning which is really So you have people that have been there nearly 52 years someone who um who does not a
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lot of work because she's semi-retired um she started in accounting and she
2:47
still proofreads the magazine wow every single issue what ownership right yeah
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and it's um and I think having a singular owner who's um been here for a very very long time it's it makes that
2:58
difference yeah that's amazing truly a local local originated magazine yeah
3:04
it's for for a tourismbbased publication we really are locally rooted do you find
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do do you have any way of measuring do locals use it and utilize it do you
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think from a local perspective we do utilize especially in our evergreen
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material like you're going to find the tide chart you're going to find just um bike path information you're going to
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find just generic information for locals and also our calendar of events going to
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be very popular yes that's a huge part of the magazine yes and it's island events like we are event based as our
3:41
really our prominence and so you're going to find more activities than anything else and I think that from a
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local perspective too is that locals if you live on Hilton Head you get visitors
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yes you do not have someone come see you every month so
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sometimes when you live here and you get out of the swing of being on vacation you kind of forget what's happening so
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we do find that a lot of locals use it in that perspective too is just to kind of reconnect to being more on that and
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that's how I honestly I've used it when I've picked up the magazine when we know we have people coming in or if you're
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looking for things to do different with the kids in the summertime or just with family i thumb through that all the time
4:23
like whoa I didn't know that was happening or great you know sometimes it's it's just so easy to to fall out of
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that when you're working your 9 to5 when you're just you're in you're out of the
4:34
hospitality industry even though the entire island is hospitality based it's It's a little It's easy to kind of fall
4:40
out of being connected and the what's going on on Homeland yeah and get into your little routine it's nice to expand
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it yeah for sure and we love to do that just because you can as a local you you
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have all your responsibilities while you're still living here you live in a beautiful place but you can get stuck
4:58
into what you need to do so we like to shake it up and we'll go down to Kignney and get into the the vibe of vacation
5:05
and this is just another avenue to do it just to shake out of your normal routine
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and I think to remind yourself that you live in a one of the premier vacation destinations in the world so place you
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live on vacation even though sometimes it doesn't feel like that correct it's what a beautiful rut to be in if it's in
5:24
a rut it's like wow you're surrounded by pomemetto trees like what a rut but it's
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it is kind of a rut if you start to get just where you're only doing your routine yeah i went for a bike we went
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for a bike ride yesterday and Dale was heading back to get to work and I was like I'm just going to keep going and I was biking down um um
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High Bluff oh High Bluff and just going off into the little neighborhoods you know and all that and just literally it
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hit me like "Oh my gosh." Like I'm about to go to work which is fine but I'm like this is like my life like pinch me
5:56
Forest Gump how did I get here you know every time I cross the bridge the bridge oh the bridge how big this is this is
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what I do this is cool this is a great thing well it's funny on a sidebar i
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want to get back before we skip the the island events it's for um we send this
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to our meet uh uh clients that are coming in as well oh you're welcome well we've done it for years cuz to your
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point they come in and I've always found it as one of the best resources we put together a little itinerary for them and
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we we put together our own little sort of um you know uh relocation guide but it that is a lot more real estate
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information but we always tell them like you've got if you're going to come and visit it's not about the house
6:41
experience it you've got to you got to dig in and this was one of our go-tos that we send in the package and they
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always get so this is a really great tool you know um we're used that way a
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lot and particularly because of the size yeah because we fit in envelopes purses
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so it's um it's a lot easier to distribute that information versus like
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a coffee table style book which is um not what we are if I could just say something real quick
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to our audience if you would like a copy of the island events or if you want a
7:16
relocation guide because you're planning a visit please just comment relocation guide or island event magazine and we'll
7:23
get that out to you yeah absolutely contact we have a whole package if you want to come and visit and explore real estate explore the life yeah absolutely
7:31
that's awesome so speaking about that what makes Island Events stand out as a visitor's guide or an event resource in
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Hilton Head and why should somebody pick up the magazine so what makes us stand out is in my opinion is the fact that we
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are locally produced okay because there's a lot of information about Hilton Head and there's a lot of places
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whether it's blog style whether it's um just social media style and I think that
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sometimes you you miss the people aspect of of why you want to move somewhere why
8:04
you want to visit somewhere and I think that that's what we offer is having a local team with boots on the ground yeah
8:11
because we're we're from here i like I was born on Hilton Head it's you were Okay hold on you you were born with in
8:18
the hospital here i was born in the hospital i'm a doctor love baby oh my goodness so you couldn't get more local
8:26
than that wow i um I have never had the luxury of vacationing to Hilton Head
8:32
because I had no choice to come you know we have Well we've met a couple
8:39
billy we've have a few but it's very rare to get like our team um I'm I
8:46
believe I'm the only one born on Hilton Head Summer Savannah and Beaver
8:52
hospital babies but we're all whether we vacation here from Ohio or from the from
8:59
New England like people moved here for that reason and I think that's what separates us from just information that
9:06
you're going to find for a resource is that we're we're a truly a team and we're putting together 11 issues per
9:13
year and I think that we just really we love Hilton Head and we hope that that is just it resonates to the readers that
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this is we care about the community first and foremost yeah see it's so funny because this is why you're
9:28
supposed to be on the show right because we we have a passion and love but we we have it as someone who's discovered it
9:33
explored discovered it like "Oh my god we got to be there." But I I I think that that is a key point to park on for
9:41
a minute is because 52 years and and it's not just 52 years
9:46
it's 52 years of not only watching it change but watching it stay the same while it's changed that's what I was
9:53
going to say it's evolved over the 52 years and I was not around for all 52
10:00
we sort of figured that um but even going through our archives like cuz
10:07
we've kept every issue wow need to have that in like a mag a museum
10:13
somewhere or something yeah it's just like we honestly should donate it to a museum of like the original issues but
10:20
it's um at one point it was a weekly wow how did you keep up with the
10:27
production especially printing back then like printing was
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It was printed um so we print in South Carolina and then we're proud that we do print in state and we stayed as local as
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we could and so we were really we're happy and it's it really helps us for a quick turnaround and everything printing
10:47
if people are not familiar printing is a whole to do oh it is they that's a whole separate animal to just providing
10:53
information printing that's that's for another another day it is but uh we
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printing weekly I mean you had you had you were constantly in deadline that has
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to be 24 hours i mean because you hand curate these the it was more on a
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newspaper type so it wasn't the book you started it was still a book but it was
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not as long as you're going to find now but I think that we we still love that
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we're 11 issues versus having to create one yeah one like yearly resource yeah
11:27
yeah yeah it's so funny i just had a thought you know how we uh had the art center on um at Coast Carolina they had
11:34
that little display area i thought the same thing it would be so cool if you guys had like just a display
11:41
that would be like a fascinating journey at the art center to get in touch with them because I think it is honestly at
11:48
52 years you're part of the history fabric the fabric to say some of the
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things some of the things in our publication are older than things in the history talks of Hilton right it's
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really like you said the fabric it really is we're we're woven into and
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what would be neat would be go back to that first issue and say okay what were the events that were happening on the
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first issue you know and then how did it change 10 years 20 years i mean that' be
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a great episode this is a first right here on Real Talk this is a great idea i
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love it my team is like "Erica you're making it i'm starting new projects
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deadline soon stop you're talking to a new project guy all the time we won't digress."
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I'm like with all these ideas I'm like guilty animal of it anytime I'm bringing
12:41
the ideas they're like "We're in deadline just breathe
12:47
just take it easy." Mhm so because you're so proudly local and and produced
12:53
can you give us an example of a hidden gem that you would recommend so a hidden gem for me would be I think it's you
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mentioned it earlier is biking yes i think it is completely
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the most vital part is you need to see Hilton Head by bicycle my gosh if you're
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spending your entire vacation or your life here in a car just get get out of
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your car that like the fact that Hilton Head has some of the most extensive bike paths it is I mean we're so so so lucky
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and also you're in the shade so Yeah um but seeing and what you discover I mean
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just even being able to stop and take a picture of a roate spoon bill you're
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like wow that's so cool so I think that you're gonna have to put that on the uh on an overlay for people who don't know
13:47
what that is see spoon bill is I call a low country flamingo
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they're those pink birds the spoon bill and they're really only here yeah um and
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they weren't here actually even when I was younger they're kind of a newer they Yeah they migrated here and um being
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able to see them they're my favorite bird so I'm biased but that being able to just stop and see stuff like that to
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me is the hidden gem yes where you're just being able to get out of your car and stop take a picture just soak it in
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if it's just for you i think that that's kind of more how you're going to really see the island i agree can I Can I jump
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just two things so first of all you might be one of my favorite guests so far no offense to our previous guests or
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future guests but you know what just hit me is Island Events it feels like
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because of the depth of the history and and and the longevity and the continuity
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it almost feels like you're not only there to just say "Hey here's what's going on but you're almost historians of the island." Almost
14:51
Yeah well just listening to you and talking about it you it sounds to me I'm like gosh she has a historical
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perspective you have such a good perspective we really do too um I was talking about our archives earlier it's
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something that has really expanded versus it just sitting in our boxes is
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that we have our websites that go in tandem with Island Events so yeah let's talk about our website is not
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islandevents.com our our website is hiltonhead.com and hilton island.com there it is i was wondering how you got
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those amazing yeah our owner she um she was just very
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very bright of getting we actually have more than those we're bluff.com
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savannah.com island Hardyville St simon's Island um a
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few more that we don't even use that's gold that's like gold that's like digital real estate that's like
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priceless right now and what we do kind of what you're talking about of being preservationist is for example
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everything that you see in island events it doesn't just live there printed once and it's never seen again we post
16:00
everything on our website okay so you do so if somebody is at a distance right
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now they can go on to the website if you for example if you read about Rose eight
16:11
stone bells in like an October issue from 2019 you can find that article
16:18
that's crazy where would somebody go to So you're going to go to predominantly hiltonhead.com hiltonhead.com and you
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can just search in the search tab there for um we have a a list of all of the articles and some of our articles go
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back i mean we have thousands upon thousands of pages so you're not going
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to see that in the main menu but they exist on the site yeah it's a very it's
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a large site um so even if you don't see it on the main menu there's information that you we've been we've been producing
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and keeping for for decades that's awesome that's great um I wanted to touch base too on the bike thing it's so
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funny because we we're always trying to figure out as real estate agents how do we add value how do we especially most
17:03
of our a lot of our clients are relocation so it's educational side of things and it's funny we just talked
17:08
yesterday I said to her I said you know what I want to do is I because you do you see all these agents doing community
17:14
tours and this and that about whatever you know behind the gates and all stuff I was like I need to do this from a bike
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to go around and you know stop in front of a house or this house right here is this but let me give you a little bit of
17:28
backstory let me explain to you about what's around it because you're right until you see it from a bike path and
17:34
and get around it's you're actually seeing the island when you're seeing it from a bike because you all the little nooks and crannies and you are able to
17:40
stop in a car you're not able to stop or say "What's that path go to?" or "Where's this?" And also I mean the
17:46
signage it's it's already not very visible which I personally
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love that but um you're able to actually read the signs when you're on a bike
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that's where this road is yes or stop off and read something historic you don't realize how much history is around you had the plaques placards everywhere
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and the plaques the town has done an unbelievable job and we've um we've been promoting those for years because I
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really do think that the amount of effort that has been put into putting those out there i hope more people stop
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to read because I'm it is it answers so many questions it really does have yeah
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it does and you don't see them a lot of times when you're just driving through and going straight you everybody thinks I'm just going to the beach she's like
18:28
but if you stop on a bike and you sit and go "Whoa what's this?" And you read it like "Oh my gosh this is like whether
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it's a tree or a building." Yeah second vacation yeah it really is it really is
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so So um that's your hidden gem let's talk about an event that you would you
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would highlight coming is our July issue so um because we're event based um July is when you
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think July and Hilton Head busy it is busy busy busy minute it's there's a
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rhyme and reason to the madness there are very planned events um happening throughout the island so I want people
19:06
to not feel intimidated that there's just too much happening okay um really
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especially from a visitor perspective you're going to predominantly stay in what I call the core areas so you're
19:18
going to more be concentrated on Cove both the harbor and marina and the town
19:24
center that's going to be one kind of description on the PD little sphere home
19:30
dune insider talk home dunes main island
19:37
on the other one the more obvious is that you're going to find is like the sea pine yeah so those two um work in
19:42
tandem together they're the main hubs there's things going on throughout the entire island and you should read a copy
19:49
of Island Events yeah and but those two areas are where
19:56
you're going to find the most in my opinion generational fun there's something to do from everyone from baby
20:02
to grandma that's where you're going to find the real core of summer activity
20:08
okay um and that extends past just like the red white and blue of the Fourth of July celebrations because Fourth of July
20:15
is big on Hilton Head it really is we have multiple Well yeah let's talk about like let's dive into the Fourth of July
20:21
let's do that 4th of July is it is really Hilton Head has holiday it is
20:27
especially with aside from the RBC yeah the whole week but um Fourth of
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July um is it is kind of the the staple yeah um and if people are here during
20:40
Fourth of July lucky you because it's it really is there's there's nothing quite like an East Coast summer yes and it's
20:48
just it really why is it so special like east coast summer what east coast summers um I'm biased because I'm from
20:54
the east coast but there's something it's it's a little bit slower but it's a little bit magical there's just
20:59
something about it that you can't you can't describe the flavor in the air it's just electric yeah it's electric
21:06
yeah and I think too though it's it comes back to the heart like South Carolina most people just don't realize
21:13
it was such a fundamental foundational piece of the Union to begin with just
21:18
the United States and that history all the way back and it is it's southern it's traditional it's rich it's family
21:26
there's just so much about it kind of going back to that east coast summer is um versus like west coast summer but
21:33
it's the east coast is there's so many individual small towns and community
21:38
along the coast and I think everyone has their own flavor like for example for Hilton Head it's fireworks like that is
21:46
what you're going to think of when you think of Fourth of July on Hilton Head and the two shows that are done are out
21:53
of this world if you haven't seen them in person I'm just Well tell a plan yeah tell us about what are the Yeah and
22:00
that's next week just for the record we're being we're filming on June 26 this is coming out on the 2nd so we're
22:07
going to blast you get it but where do they go yeah what are the two events so your two firework big locations like I
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said are Seines and Pomod or across the street over
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so from the Sea Pines's perspective Harbortown is the center and there's
22:27
events happening with like Greg Russell DJ Allen you've got um recovered like
22:33
there's a lot of family activities but the fireworks show is the show on the fourth and that one it can get very very
22:42
crowded okay so plan accordingly like if you have the expectation that you're
22:47
just gonna show up 20 minutes before the show find parking immediately like that's not the reality get there 8 in
22:54
the morning bike around enjoy the day yeah also um I don't know about 8 in the
23:00
morning but hyperbole the same thing with um with Shelter Cove
23:07
um Shelter Cove's um show being exceptional there's things like Summerjams over in the town center
23:12
there's Harbor Fest in the marina there's so much going on that you really can spend all day and there's activities
23:20
throughout the week in both places but for Fourth of July the big shows you're
23:25
when you think about it you think you're going to be either in Harbortown or you're going to be in the marina and that's the only place you can see them
23:32
and you're wrong that is not the only place you can see the fireworks um the best best best way to see fireworks in
23:39
Hilton Head is on the water all right the the little hidden secret right there
23:44
cuz you there's um there's ways to see it with less crowds like if you're if you're seeing the Shelter Cove show you
23:52
think of people think of Hilton Head like you think of the sneaker shoe shape yeah is that a lot of people don't
23:59
realize that there is a massive section of water cutting through cutting the island in half broadreek Broad Creek is
24:07
really kind of the main highway of Hilton Head like 278 what like it's it's Broad Creek so Broad Creek you don't see
24:14
a parade from just one side of the street you see it from both sides so you can see the fireworks from Broad Creek
24:20
Marina you can see it from the landing so you don't have to be in the core core crowd if you don't feel comfortable with
24:27
it and the same thing from the Harbortown show you don't have to be in Harbortown to see the show you could be
24:33
on DeFusky Island and still see it yeah and that's like a quiet quiet experience
24:38
but you have to get there by boat yes but being in a boat when the fireworks are going off
24:45
so funny we had not thought about that until you had told us i mean and I like
24:51
second nature that you But you were born in hospital do you know if if we could have the
24:57
boats out after dark no we can't so we're works in the boat club we We're a
25:03
member of the boat club so yeah the Carefree Boat Club yes and that's the reason why I mean the boat captains and
25:09
the companies of Helton have explain if you don't have a boat if you don't have a boat or access to a boat it is do not
25:16
think that being in a boat is unobtainable and there are price points
25:21
from everything from $40 to a private boat rental where you're getting in much
25:28
much higher luxury rentals and you also think that you don't have to even be in
25:33
a boat you can be in a kayak tour oh wow and see you and they do that there's companies that will do kayak tours
25:39
there's firework exclusive kayak tours so you're out there safely with a guide okay watching the fireworks from a kayak
25:46
it's unbelievable that sounds fun actually actually we may have to do that i think that would I mean I think that
25:52
would be it's going to run risk um of things selling out of course but less than the boat because the boat has a
25:59
certain number of passengers that it can accommodate right okay um whereas there are more options for kayaking um but to
26:07
to be on the water to see the reflection and you just like feel the vibration cuz
26:13
you're in it you're like in and that happens both in Harbortown and Shelter
26:18
Cove wow for the 4th of July okay and then on Tuesday night fireworks and Shelter Cove that one you can do boat
26:25
tours every Tuesday okay so every Tuesday that's a good point can I ask a quick
26:30
question about the packing before we be open would you recommend anybody
26:35
you can find them in Island Events there's a shout out so um both Kayak
26:42
Hilton Head Outside Hilton Head just to name a few okay um they have kayak um
26:47
tours one's leaving from Broad Creek one's leaving from Shelter C so you have multiple options of being able to get
26:54
there on Tuesdays from June through August and then at 4th of July you're going to have the um and some companies
27:00
don't go out on 4th of July so really just check their schedules they're also great about posting the schedules ahead
27:08
of time um but I do recommend booking early so if you have like right now you guys are thinking about going out on the
27:13
kayak just pull the trigger and go for it because you don't want to think about
27:18
it on the third and then you're like I have a I have a better idea actually
27:25
what's your idea i think we just go buy a couple jet skis and uh he's been wanting a jet ski for so long do I see
27:33
people go out on jet skis as well so that is not um No it's and there's no
27:39
tours um more Well I was just talking about personally i would not recommend it um just because
27:46
it's night time it's dangerous um there's a lot of nooks and crannies all
27:51
right there goes my jet ski go with a professional some of these people have been doing it as long as Island
27:58
events nearly has been around so it's it really is they this is the this is what
28:03
they do because they take you out safely they make sure you have a great time and some of them some of the boats even have
28:09
bathrooms it's so comfortable it's really the way to see it and I think that if you if you have any chance to
28:16
see fireworks on the water just just go out to it i love it i think that's great
28:22
we have We always go to Shelter Cove that's sort of our and and it's funny because you used to be able to from
28:27
Hilton Plantation used to be able to see them they would have some off of a safe harbor you could see it somewhere yeah
28:34
but can we pick it up down there anymore i don't know i don't especially um it's just not as
28:41
dependable as the main one we're going to see yeah we always get on Shelter Cove but I would love to get out on the
28:47
water that'd be a good idea um people coming in or people who have not done say shelter code let's give them a couple tips um like parking wise so
28:55
looking is a big topic throughout Hilton yes it always and that's the reason why
29:01
I say if you're coming to Hilton Head especially by car try try your best to
29:06
leave your car parked at your hotel or your villa or wherever you can and walk
29:12
and bike when available and biking has become so much easier with ebikes and
29:18
that really try to leave the car parked at home if you can because it can get
29:23
extremely competitive and especially for that like I was saying that multigenerational like save the spaces
29:29
for small kids and for the older crowd um so if you can get there and also they have the trolley system so the um and
29:36
you can check free right greece trolley and so I think that just
29:43
um we're constantly trying to push the education to really not be so so car
29:48
dependent yeah i mean the island it's not that big and it's so bikable thing in one day like plenty of times
29:56
and it's so bike it is i mean it you can get anywhere virtually on the bike
30:01
highway you're biking in a comfortable bike path and you can bike all day cuz the temperatures on those bike paths are
30:09
fraction of what you're going to be in the sun you're you're feeling comfortable that you can be out there
30:14
but for if you do intend on bringing your car to whether it's Harbortown or Shelter Cove for Fourth of July or the
30:21
Tuesdays is get there early okay like what is early so mine is always plan to
30:28
be there for lunch yeah okay i think that's a good plan and support the local
30:34
lunch establishments if you can like just really make a day of it and um you
30:40
can go shopping you can you can walk around you can leave the area but if you're wanting to have your car there
30:47
lunch is really kind of that raking point in my opinion of when to have your
30:53
car there because um yeah if you it's unrealistic expectations to pull into Harbor Fest at when the music's already
31:01
started you're like "No it's way too late." We have small parking lots which is great because look at our trees it's
31:07
magical but yeah there's not a lot of parking available from that modern ideal
31:12
perspective so um I don't want anybody to have those kind of expectations that there's just going to be immediate
31:18
parking I think it touch base on that because that's a good point we do have small parking lots but there's a reason
31:23
why Yeah parking lots um you're going to notice they have a lot of grass um for
31:30
runoff and for to kind of really reduce and you're going to see lots of tabby in the road if you don't know what tabby is
31:37
it's that mix of oyster shell mixed with concrete so it's more porous so it's going to absorb some of that water
31:43
because we don't want toxins running into Broad Creek we don't want toxins running into the Atlantic Ocean y we
31:49
want to try to keep our oceans and our waterways clean but you're going to find
31:54
that parking lots are kind of it's engineered in a style that you're not just having a drain sending out things
32:03
are getting more absorbed and that's another reason why just to kind of reduce that carbon footprint of having
32:08
cars because the island was not it's not I mean no place is designed for cars but
32:13
it really is not designed for cars yeah exactly well and I love it too because we it's preservation of what makes it
32:19
special is the utmost importance it's not commercial development it's not you know it's it's preserving oysters you
32:26
know like dolphin it's like that's what really makes this place what it is yeah so
32:32
aside from the parking what should people bring with them so the other thing is if you're spend if you're
32:38
spending all day wear sunscreen sunblock
32:44
how many sunburns I've seen in my lifetime is falling these people I've
32:49
seen on the beach i'm like honey you should not be on the beach today you need to
32:54
hour every hour just put it in your bag um the other thing is you need to wear
33:01
bug spray yes because when dusk hits those mosquitoes and um gnats they are
33:09
very very aggressive and they they do not care who you are they are going to
33:14
come for you so um I recommend bug wipes if you want to keep something in your bag because it can be rude to be don't
33:22
spray if you're in a crowd yeah but um just having bug spray stepping aside
33:27
spraying yourself or having bug wipes um it really is helpful um just because I
33:32
mean yeah they they're merciless they just don't care they they will get you
33:38
so that would be my advice is just um and remember whether you're living here or you're on vacation just just be
33:44
patient give it time it's sometimes you just get into that the grind of things
33:50
and it's just just enjoy it for how incredible it is and the fact that
33:55
you're sitting on this island yes well and it's the slow country and that I think to your point is a lot of these
34:02
folks are coming from very busy things they busy to get here they drive 12 hours and you're right just a beautiful
34:08
part about this place there's a vibration allows you to settle in and when you do it's really there's
34:14
something about it and that's I think what makes a lot of people who say I don't want to leave makes you know it's
34:20
always a visitor transition from visitor to to maybe part-timer and then full-timer and retire it really is that
34:27
because it it's addicting the slow country um you you touched something it wasn't on our question but I I thought
34:33
it was a good point to draw on feel like the Low Country and you being with Island Events and meeting so many of the
34:39
businesses we're not a big national brand i Let's talk about that because
34:45
you said support the locals right because it is the lifeblood and and without the tourists and without the locals supporting it so talk about you
34:52
know who is who's in this and their their local stories local people share a
34:57
little on that i think that um it really stems from our connection is we're a
35:02
local business we gas up our island events vans at Parkers and Market and we're like we're
35:09
here we're we're a local business and national chains do exist on Hilton Head
35:14
but they don't thrive head i think that's a big difference is that you're not losing some conveniences and comfort
35:21
but they're not going to be your prominence they're not going to be what you're really seeing what you're really
35:27
feeling on Hilton Head you're going to see smaller businesses you're going to see mom and pop shops and you're going to just through through my experience
35:34
working with Island Events I've been able to connect with those business owners and so I've had meetings at their
35:40
house some of them have like you're in their restaurant you're in their place so you really do feel that connection
35:46
and even if you're not talking directly with the business owner I am every
35:51
single issue of Island Events so there's there's never a month of non-cont so if
35:57
you're looking at someone's listing in Island Events like we wrote that the
36:03
business owner contributed to that you work in tandem with it yeah we're just um their information is being put out
36:10
there it's not AI generated it's their story and even though we don't do as
36:16
much more of like um just profiles of individual business owners um that's kind of more on a seasonal perspective
36:22
but it's we're you're going to feel the local business even in their advertising
36:29
space okay it's a representation of who they are because they've got that input yeah they're they're some of them are
36:35
designing their ads some of them Yeah exactly like writing their listings some of them are they're they're contributing
36:40
all of their event submissions it's that's you're you're seeing the people
36:46
of Hilton Head contributing versus it's not just our team that is producing well
36:52
and I think that's important for our audience to know because we are so our heart is to bring Hilton Head what is it
36:59
like to live here to be here permanent so this is such a great representation of if you want to know who the
37:04
characters are the who the business owners are this Yeah who is here on the
37:09
island this magazine does such a great job i think you can even find like even if it's um two like entities they each
37:18
have their own flavor yes so it doesn't matter if they're in a different shopping center or a different marina
37:24
it's um even if they're so even if they're in the same arena or the same shopping center like everybody has their
37:30
own little little sightes to it they do and I think that's one of the things as we've done the podcast we've really
37:36
learned so much more dealing with with the individuals is how hometown Hilt
37:43
Head is it truly is just this hometown feel that's part of the place that gets
37:49
millions of visitors exactly it's a hometown exactly but what I love though is it's not only a hometown feel but
37:55
there's a richness because some so many people are You're rare yes breed right
38:01
like there's probably way more that are not born here you know that live here but what I love about it is they bring
38:07
this richness and depth of life because their backgrounds their stories the thing you know some they've been in you
38:13
know we have a good friend who was um worked at the Department of State for four countries and was an ambassador
38:19
right but is our neighbor and you know play you know just we go hang out play tennis whatever normal person but you
38:25
talk about a richness and they they also bring a perspective and when they start these businesses to your point they're
38:31
bringing part of that flavor as well but they're not trying to change the island they're blending in and bringing that
38:37
keeping that hometown feel you know does that make sense adding you're contributing versus replacing yes
38:44
correct so it's a real contribution system and I think that that's where you're just it's from it it's a hometown
38:51
i mean there it's main street our main street looks different than other places main Street USA and what I love is
38:58
within the different parts of Hilton Head each of their main streets are a representation of what that part of the
39:06
island looks like like Polygy Plaza feels entirely different the main street the main street over here Shelter Co
39:12
Town Center and but at the end of the day all of those locations are small
39:18
businesses that's the real That's the They all feel like Hilton Head yeah you know even if it's like you're finding
39:25
it's a like an exotic food or it still feels like Hilton Head
39:30
so sorry go nope wanted to go back to the event ah you're my twin that's
39:36
exactly like let's because that's what that's what the audience wants like it's July we talked about Fourth of July but
39:42
what else what What else are the I wanted to ask chairs should they bring chairs for these events or leave those i
39:49
recommend to not bring chairs um they can be very cumbersome okay don't bring
39:55
coolers okay um it's um especially if you're in the areas with crowds and then it also takes away your flexibility like
40:02
if usually they're sold out come come time for like various firework tours or
40:07
tours but if you're if you're lugging around chairs or cooler you can't hop on the So don't bring them to Shelter
40:13
Shelter Cove or I don't recommend them unless um if you're seeing the show more
40:20
from like South Beach or from Broad Creek or like the Marshall Landing yeah that's more in my opinion an appropriate
40:26
place to bring a chair yeah that's a good point yeah so those the the places that you've just recommended are
40:32
alternate spots so can we touch on a couple alternate spots so if you don't want to be in the hustle and bustle of
40:38
Sea Pines or Shelter Cove where else can people go so always be on the boat first and
40:45
boat from Harbor Pay yes yes
40:51
from Harbortown if you do not want to be in the hustle and bustle of Harbortown
40:56
secondary if you're in Sea Pines I would recommend going to South Beach okay um
41:01
on the beach on the beach itself on the beach itself you see a beautiful view of the show so you're a little bit further away but it's a beautiful view of the
41:07
show the downside is there's no access to restrooms okay so unless you know a
41:13
homeowner or you're staying close by so just don't and there's um and you're not
41:18
going to be able to to buy food and things like right there so you can kind of that's where more you bring a cooler
41:25
snacks um and then the other side for Harbortown is being at Elm Deuski okay
41:32
is exception that one is It is so so Would you be in the H point or would you
41:38
be We're about on You're going to be facing Harbor Town hartown yes okay on
41:44
this side so like Bloody Point up there that would be a good little spot so it's um but you can be on the beach and watch
41:51
the show okay the Defusky Beach yeah and um cuz Defus is an island it's all a beach but you can see it really right
41:57
there and that is going to be That's a great idea that's wake no crowds right
42:03
there that is no crowds that is you're going to be by yourself it's a little
42:08
bit darker over there as well so that is really like if you want a more private
42:15
experience and you have a way to get to Deuski but remember if you're there for
42:20
the show make sure you have your transportation already cuz you don't
42:26
want to be stuck spend the night you can spend the night find an Airbnb yeah yeah
42:31
um but it's it's such a small community on defy so um do your due diligence and
42:38
really kind of if you're going to go for that really low-key experience kind of plan and then um back to what you're
42:44
saying for the Shelter Cove side is Broad Creek Marina across they have restaurants they have the marina you can
42:50
see the show from there and you're going to have less crowds okay um and then the
42:55
other one is the public boat landing on Marshlin Road so that one um is open to
43:01
the public you do not have to have a boat you can just be there yep um you can see the show do those get pretty
43:08
packed too those um it especially I mean it's Fourth of July yeah everywhere's packed really the only place that's not
43:14
truly packed is Defusky okay so we and we'll put overlays as you're
43:20
saying i'll just do overlays with maps we'll point people where they are working on if you're listening to the
43:25
podcast you can check it out on YouTube yeah yeah or hit hiltonhead.com
43:33
or the other and um with the um with the boat tours we have um a full you can
43:38
scan a QR code in the July issue to see all of the ones available and that just takes you straight to an article on our
43:45
website that will list everything and then you can go ahead and book oh wonderful that's great that's good so
43:51
what did what else did you want to add just so real quick sure sure
43:58
got it yeah well thank you for sharing so much about the 4th of July that's
44:03
just such great info um do you want to talk a little bit more about some other summer activities yeah so outside of the
44:09
4th of July and Tuesday night fireworks there are summer activities happening every single night of the week so if you
44:16
are ever bored on Hilton Head especially during the month of July just say something wrong yeah go read some events
44:22
exactly it's pick up that magazine pick up pick up a copy um there are activities within Sea Pines every night
44:29
of the week there's wagon rides there's like there like like they said the DJs there's activ there's face painting
44:35
there's tie-dye activities there's so many fun horseback riding yeah horseback riding and also from like from for adult
44:42
couples there's a lot to do that it's um you can go make candles you can go do like there's a lot of activities
44:48
happening within even just sepsines and then same thing for shelter cove there's summer jams and then super summer jams
44:55
is for the more for the fireworks perspective but um there's there's things happening in Shelter Cove Marina
45:02
every night of the week for Harvard Fest it's not just Tuesday night fireworks so that's I just want people to not think
45:07
that the only thing to do on Hilton Head is fireworks fireworks yeah and and then
45:13
you think about those core areas that's what I was talking about that's where you're going to find the bulk of visitors and then the other section
45:20
being kind of the Kgnney circle okay is where a lot of that south end of the island is where you're going to find a
45:26
lot of concentration of activities and there's things happening at the Sandbox there's things happening in Kiggnney
45:32
Plaza what's the Sandbox so the Sandbox is a children's museum okay and they have summer camp activities they have um
45:38
I mean it's a great place to take kids and then across the street um at Kney Plaza kney Plaza is the original It's
45:46
the original shopping center it's really it's it's the unofficial downtown
45:52
it's our big mall and there there's a stage in the center
45:57
of Kney Plaza sometimes you may miss if you're only seeing it from the parking lot perspective and don't park there if
46:04
you're going to the beach can I ride my bike there you can ride your bike there so yes but do not use Kney Plaza's
46:10
parking lot if you're planning on going to the beach you will get towed yep for sure and that is very very inconsiderate
46:17
yeah so like those businesses and those people need those parking spaces but Kney Plaza they have um they have music
46:24
happening every single night of the week they have things they have activities in the kiosks they have various shops have
46:30
specials during the summer so I think that that is um kind of what I was saying is slow things down and just
46:37
really absorb every area you're in don't just get there you don't if you don't immediately find something to do don't
46:43
give up like you're just walk around just take a beat and really kind of just soak in what every place has to offer
46:50
yeah and we didn't even mention Celebration Park just do you have a cover a lot of the because they have a
46:55
ton of events there all the time yeah Celebration Park especially through um like Island Rec Center and various like
47:01
seasonal events in Celebration Park celebration Park has been a wonderful addition to this so beautiful and I
47:08
think that um that's really kind of that magic of what you were saying not the overdevelopment it really is a more
47:15
careful contribution versus it just being like "Oh we're going to clear cut some trees and put a park." It's It was
47:21
really really thought out yeah it was yeah of note when was it two years ago
47:26
three years ago that celebration park opened you have to look up the exact date um it's fairly new i mean it's that
47:32
recent and that pirate ship i've been with Island Events for for 10 years and it was definitely during my tenure that
47:39
it's um it so it's within the last decade that it's been added so that's um
47:44
new on Hilton Head it is just wild yeah that's Well when we first moved here in 2018 I mean because it's funny you
47:50
mentioned the uh sandbox we used to go to the sandbox when it was in that little house behind the first one yeah
47:56
we took him there actually but but you're right yeah and it came
48:02
after that cuz we were so excited cuz I mean it was like you wondered what they were going to do and what was there you
48:08
couldn't really even tell it was just trees right it was an empty lot i think it was like an old pup golf course or
48:13
something it was one of um Legendary Golf's courses and um and that's another thing is there's activities like you
48:21
should go mini golfing you can go disc golfing you can do so many things um that you really get out of that digital
48:29
fatigue and that doom scroll like where you're just like don't be on your phone the whole time you're on vacation
48:34
there's so much to do there really is so speaking of digital digital sorry golf
48:40
courses disc golf courses do you know much about that new park that they're starting to develop um by Court Royal
48:47
yeah so um it used to be a golf course one is uh it's still in development and
48:53
um but we're definitely going to include information about it in future issues yeah we just um we always just want to
48:59
make sure we're putting out the information kind of as we get it and because you don't want to um the only thing about print is it is permanent yes
49:06
so you can't you can't do an edit or you have to do a disclaimer later so we're more careful on um releasing when it's
49:14
ready information that is yet to come because uh we do take the dogs you can
49:19
go walk there so if you want to go walking you can go walk there but there is a disc golf course in there when you
49:25
mentioned that I'm like that's a great location for it are there any other courses on the island that you're aware
49:30
of for dis golf or for the area for the area yeah the best way I would say is
49:35
just use our website yeah it's because um I don't want to speak on the wrong I'm not a disc golfer personally so that
49:43
one is um but you always just look up ahead of time and our like I said we
49:49
have thousands and thousands of articles and postings on our sites on hiltonhead.com
49:55
start there yes so that's a great Yeah it's a I would always say use that as your first and foremost resource awesome
50:02
so um are there Let's talk a little bit more since we talked about the website about your digital outreach can people
50:08
sign up with you so our digital outreach like it so we have Island Events
50:14
Magazine Hiltonhead.com and Hiltonhead.com they're all separate entities okay but they all work together
50:20
so we're putting articles from Island Events on the site but we also have individual content on each site you'll
50:26
see mirrored material but they are two separate functioning sites and whenever
50:33
you go to our website you're going to see an email prompt to sign up for our email list i highly recommend signing up
50:38
for our email list because we send events every month to our email list
50:44
where you're going to have you're gonna see features you're going to see like little highlights and you have a full digital copy right there um and it's
50:52
just a easy way to kind of stay connected and we also put a lot of offers in there so there's um vacation
50:58
rental offers there's activity offers that you're um if you're an email subscriber you're really getting just
51:03
that one more conion okay to the island good to know and um you can sign up on both websites um very easily but it's
51:11
going to prompt you immediately okay and copies of Island Events and um our other
51:18
publication in Savannah Savannah Scene are on the websites on the bottom of every page okay so and you're going to
51:24
be able to access full digital issues and it's great because if you see something that you love in the magazine
51:30
like if you see you're like I want to go to Colling Plaza you can just tap Clingy
51:35
Plaza and it takes you straight to their website oh that's great wonderful so it's really just a way to um to add
51:42
digital we see our digital presence as a distribution point correct because
51:49
distribution is what we excel in we are we have physical copies throughout the
51:55
entire area but that digital perspective is just that one added element um and
52:00
sometimes like you clip a coupon from the book and you're like it's I'm not using it as much anymore that you still
52:06
have the reference point on the digital copy okay do you are you guys on social we are so um you're going to find our
52:12
branding on social is under hiltonhead.com okay got it so Facebook Instagram facebook and Instagram as our
52:19
um prominence and um we we post um just a lot of community pictures and stuff
52:25
there and we link to events um but it's just another way to stay connected it's
52:31
a very wise choice the the magazine where can people pick
52:37
up a magazine the magazine can be picked up especially if you're flying into Hilton Head um you can get it at the
52:44
airport you can get at the airports but you're going to be able to find them in vacation rental company packages at all
52:50
of the hotels because we own and operate rat car distribution on Hilton Head so oftentimes we're the only publication
52:57
permitted in hotels oh wow oh wow um and vacation rental packages because of the size of our publication it's very
53:03
convenient and you're just going to be getting that directly to you and other hot spot locations you're going to see
53:09
outdoor boxes and coign plaza shelter cove we were going to um just see like
53:14
access points and even some grocery stores like Harris ter you can pick that's where I get it get that on main
53:21
street Harris ter but uh and we often even um people who
53:29
if they're not some of the bigger vacation rental companies where we're not delivering them magazines directly a
53:36
lot of people who are like smaller boutique agencies they'll pick up several copies from places like Harris
53:41
theater yeah and sometimes our because our distribution staff are full-time sometimes they just meet up in the
53:47
parking lot and they're like "Here's half a box." Oh that's great we need to get that well it's funny because that's what I do i go to Harris ter
53:55
and then that's what we send out we can always tell when um we call Yeah the chunks are taken the chunks are taken
54:02
like this realer was there i'm a chunker i was saying
54:08
I see the fac And that's even in my um aspect like
54:14
even though I'm not a distribution team member I'm so involved with distribution it's um just that really again that's
54:20
that added element of being a small business on Hilton Head is that I see my
54:25
physical racks and I'm like "Oh this this issue sun bleached and I'll just replace it." And so it's really a team
54:32
effort um to make sure that we keep ourselves clean we keep our current um but you can find them throughout Hilton
54:38
Head Bluton um locations um and Bluffton the grocery stores you'll find them more at like Food Lions okay um but really if
54:46
you're in doubt you can always find them in a hotel if you don't feel comfortable in a hotel there are plenty of locations
54:52
throughout the island well um I know we've talked a lot about island events you have other publications too in the
54:59
area do you want to talk a little bit to that we like I mentioned we do rack card distribution what is that cards are
55:07
those um like cards that you see um with visitor information we do not produce
55:12
the card oh so like in the hotels when you have like the book stand almost they're all in the UK so that is a
55:19
separate entity from Island Events you'll find Events in all of our stands okay um but that is we do the
55:27
distribution for those businesses so that's another added element where we're connecting with local businesses exactly
55:34
they they print their cards but we're the ones who put them out there okay
55:39
it's a big effort to put them out there because we're talking to the concieres we're getting in with the hotels and
55:45
it's um we've built that relationship for decades and decades so we're often
55:50
the only people permitted and if I could just plug that for you with our local
55:56
businesses if you're looking for that service can they reach out to you yeah so um because that's a great way to I
56:02
mean every time we go into we picking off the So it is um it's a great resource and um you can contact us
56:09
through um our website just if you go to hiltonhead.com that'll a way to contact us for more information up yeah for
56:15
local businesses can advertise more with you we like I said we put island events in our rat distribution um because it's
56:23
our rack yeah um but we also put in a lot of locations our Savannah publication which is called Savannah
56:29
Scene Magazine it's an identical size to Island Events it's produced six times a year so it's bim monthly and that is our
56:38
Savannah side because we own Savannah.com as well so that is um more
56:43
that side because as much as it's a state over it's the low country and the
56:49
great in the the coastal Georgia empire it's like it's like a metro area i mean you think about a town like Charlotte
56:55
right like you got you know Lake Norman all the way down to Rock Hill for all intent and purposes that's how I view
57:01
this area it's like it's sort of one big sort of metro if you So that's why I always um kind of what I touched on
57:06
earlier like the real highways of this area are the waterways because it is
57:12
faster to get to Savannah by boat it is actually we we go out of Skull Creek
57:17
right and we can go have dinner in downtown Bufort in 40 minutes from Hilton Head Plantation versus the drive
57:24
whoa yeah we just go over by boat it's just way easier you can just cross you know the sound there to get to Savannah
57:31
like you just passed a buskate and you're there you can see Savannah the Savannah Bridge on a clear day right
57:37
there's also options like through Vagabond Cruise they'll and through outside Hilton Head they take you to
57:43
Savannah so they can they'll drop you off on River Street and they and you get
57:48
a ride home so and that's found in Island Events magazine that's a great that's a great way to do
57:54
it for the day can we can we repeat that what is it again yeah so if um especially on listings on Hilton Head as
58:00
well Vagabond Cruise and Outside Hilton Head got it they both are a water taxi
58:06
to Savannah so if you want to take that day trip to Savannah you don't feel like driving you're not familiar you can just
58:13
you can take a ferry essentially um and it's just a really nice ride you're going to see a dolphin yeah I was going
58:19
to say you're going to see so much more of the ecos those are comfortable clothes okay yeah they're big more of a
58:27
ferry service while also still being an intimate boat experience um because
58:33
driving to a place for a day trip sometimes can be a little bit cumbersome so it's and nerve-wracking if you don't
58:39
know where you're going and um and you can even find some Savannah information in island events like you can you can
58:46
take a trolley tour which I highly recommend if you go over that way heck yeah yeah if you use our publication a
58:52
lot of times there's an offer code so you can save money as well okay so talk about day trips a little bit so day
58:58
tripping is like I mean like you said it's really this is our metro area which
59:04
is doesn't look like what you're going to find where it's a big city in the suburbs right our metro the low country
59:10
metro country the name out a name for that it's a low country metro
59:15
as much as there is physical Hilton during July you're able
59:23
to take a step away from that if you don't want to be in that little bit of hustle and bustle kind of like I
59:28
mentioned day tripping to Deuski if you haven't been over to Defusky what you doing like it's right there it is and
59:35
again you take a ferry right yes it's only accessible by boat but you can take um a lot of those businesses that do
59:41
those firework tours they also do Defusky tours defusky ferry services
59:46
like Island Head and Outside Hill like those H2O water sports like they will take you over to Defusky so you don't
59:54
have to to be boat club members right um and then you can once you're there you can rent golf carts you can rent you get
1:00:00
the whole island on a golf cart you know it's so fun it's And then so that's a
1:00:05
day trip option only accessible by boat um you can get to Savannah by boat or more commonly by car and you think um
1:00:14
especially for people who've never been here they don't realize how close it is um because sometimes you see the mileage
1:00:20
and you're like that's far that's far away but it I mean it's from a highway especially you're moving pretty quickly
1:00:26
like you can get from you can get from Bluton to downtown Savannah in depending
1:00:31
on where you are like 15 20 minutes really not that far well we play baseball over there our son does um
1:00:38
we're always in Savannah or Rink Effingham County out there honestly I play for about an hour if I'm out in
1:00:44
Effingham I can be to the field i grew up in Blton and I really split my time between Hilton Head and Savannah so it's
1:00:51
really I have such a connection to both places because that was um and then be as well less of Charleston um Charleston
1:00:59
is still the further away but I do think it is an option so if you want to go but
1:01:05
I highly recommend if you do go to Charleston don't skip Bufort on your way like you should stop in Bufort
1:01:11
and um and we have Bufort.com you that's the other thing so you have bufort.com yeah and I resources and um on our
1:01:19
websites we we have um tabs to individual um sites that you can access
1:01:25
just to get a little bit more info of how to get there where you're going um
1:01:30
just to kind of get that baseline so if any suggestions in Buford
1:01:36
should visit um definitely I mean what they've done on the waterfront is
1:01:42
exceptional it's um I think even from my lifetime of seeing what it is now it is
1:01:48
really special and it is kind of like it's like a micro Charleston
1:01:54
it's a perfect but very micro butic but as has the similar charm yes
1:02:00
that that beauty and it's kind of more the more of a southern experience i want
1:02:07
to say there's a lot more influence of outer influence in Savannah and Charleston whereas Bufort really does
1:02:13
feel like it does like I start to my accent always comes out further
1:02:18
i'm in Bufort suddenly I'm like oh South Carolina really feel the I can feel it coming out
1:02:26
because the southern it's a southern place what's funny from a real estate perspective if some if I'm doing a
1:02:32
debrief with a a potential client and if they need a little more I call it rural
1:02:38
it's like a it feels especially when you get to Ladies Island and St do you say
1:02:44
is it St helina or St helena i say Helena so do I okay um but it's um it
1:02:50
really depends on sometimes it's kind of like I say pecan and peanut
1:02:55
well and then you got Harbor Island so that whole area though but it does feel like a totally different vibe which is
1:03:03
so funny because you can see Hilton Head from the island really not far so it's
1:03:09
um kind of like what I was saying for Tusky like you're you're looking right at it but you're also standing next to
1:03:15
like a deer oh okay this is a very different kind of experience so it's um I think the fact
1:03:21
that visitors and people who once upon a time were visitors now locals or people
1:03:27
who are like me from here the fact that you get to experience those kind of things in such an accessible way is
1:03:33
really cool it's like you don't have to be this it's not so high ticket where
1:03:39
it's unobtainable for a family to experience that kind of magic i think
1:03:44
that's really what separates um us as a vacation destination is that it's just it really is for everyone which is a big
1:03:52
difference where you're not just like okay only going to get to like little shopping centers and a beach like you're
1:03:59
getting a really a full package without you don't have to be the the wealthiest
1:04:05
person in the world to experience those really incredible experiences yeah and I think aside from the activities the the
1:04:12
area presents itself in such a different way like you said Buford is is very different than Hilton Head well it's not
1:04:18
very different but there's differences i would say I would say as far as it is
1:04:23
very different even from just my more familiarity with like Savannah versus Hilton Head are so different yeah funny
1:04:31
because um when I talk to people and businesses and it's it's just like you
1:04:38
look on a map and you think it's all one area and but I mean it couldn't be more
1:04:44
diff personality versus the hillside island person i mean because for us I mean I
1:04:51
always relate it back to the real estate you know somebody's looking for a place
1:04:56
where they fit in and you're trying to connect with them and understand them and you're like "Oh you know what you're actually probably going to be Savannah
1:05:02
might be a much better fit for you than say a Hilton Head because based on who they are and and you're right they're
1:05:08
just it's a different vibe sort of a different tribe it's still a little
1:05:13
country." Yeah and I like it's when you live and work here or even vacationing
1:05:19
here you're able to get the sampling yes so you can stay in Bluton and you can
1:05:26
commute to Buford you can commute to Hilton Head and Savannah and do a whole you can go to a different place every
1:05:32
single day and it's like you're getting a separate vacation yeah entirely from those places but it's also if you want
1:05:38
to live in Bufort for that more slower pace on your dayto-day but you want to
1:05:44
go into Savannah more for like if you want to go to the arena there you want to for the night life you want it's it
1:05:50
is not so far that it's not a drive away and get a totally different like walking
1:05:56
down Brotten is very different than going to Shelter Cove you know what I mean or Kney right and it's I mean it's
1:06:03
you I mean even even streets in Savannah you walk Brttton versus like you go up onto Oathorpor and they're different
1:06:09
totally you're 100% right you know say it's like everything just shifts and I think Hilton Head's the same way like
1:06:15
you're going to get a very different experience in Hilton Head than you're going to or in Ki Plaza than you're going to get in Main Street and even
1:06:22
though like you said it feels like Hilton Head it you're just getting a different bin and I think that's what I
1:06:28
mean I just I couldn't be more biased if I tried great well we're sort of the same way we're just like that unabashed
1:06:35
like we love it and I do things like in my own like personal social media
1:06:40
presence and through my work and stuff it's just like being able to kind of get those samplings it's just really really
1:06:47
cool and it's like where else can you do that i just think you're a great ambassador
1:06:53
yes you really are for the area and actually um you mentioned ambassadors something that is um really great that
1:07:00
um I love the Savannah Hilton Head International Airport i think it's just I agree i am so happy we have such an
1:07:08
exceptional airport um in the area and they have ambassadors there during the
1:07:14
summer and during peak seasons okay and those um ambassadors are great they pass
1:07:19
out copies directly to people of Island Events and Oh good okay okay and if you
1:07:26
fly into Savannah when you go down those escalators to Baggage Flame we're right there on the front desk so you don't
1:07:32
have to you don't have to leave the airport to get that information you can
1:07:37
get it right there and sometimes the ambassadors are coming up to you and just supplying information wow um just
1:07:42
to make it and they answer questions and they're great so we really like I said we just we value the concierge staff of
1:07:50
the area so much because they work so hard and they really really make it um a
1:07:56
place that you want to be well listen so we we're probably pretty deep in this what if we other ones i
1:08:03
have a couple rapid fire i think Well it's because there's some rapid fire
1:08:09
okay well we want now this is we're shifting to you and your experiences my experience yeah because now you've done
1:08:16
a great job we Island Events I think we've highlighted but now we always like to switch gears to you you're obviously
1:08:22
a lover of the area right because you left you came back so we always like to get your story and your perspective a
1:08:28
little bit so that's what these are designed to do awesome you fire away all right best time to hit the beach well as
1:08:33
you can tell um I get burnt looking at a picture so um I love to go to the beach
1:08:41
very very early um and I think that it's um one of my favorite times to go to the
1:08:46
beach is actually Friday mornings and Saturday mornings because Friday mornings people are sunburnt all week
1:08:54
and going to the beach every day so Friday mornings is a little bit slower okay and then Saturday mornings is
1:09:00
check-in time so people are not hitting the beach yet so I really like kind of
1:09:06
um more morning for me I'm I'm not a afternoon beach girl
1:09:11
it makes sense that's good good point favorite place for that sunrise so my
1:09:17
favorite place um it's not something that I can you really can mimic is there
1:09:22
is nothing like a sunrise when you're driving over one of the bridges on
1:09:28
Hilton Head that's true something about driving over the cross island sunrise so
1:09:34
you're on Hilton Head that early in the morning um to me it like touches on my soul even more than seeing it from the
1:09:40
beach i don't know why it's just something about the the reflection in my car for that sunrise and same thing for
1:09:48
sunset for dusk like I think it's really when you're on those bridges you're seeing that reflection of the water and
1:09:53
I think that's why I like boat being on a boat so much for those experiences because it's just it's it feels more
1:10:00
magical it does it does overrated versus an underrated activity so I think
1:10:05
overrated um I'm gonna use Hilton Head as an example is I think it is overrated to
1:10:12
come here for a week and only do beach and pool okay I agree there's only so
1:10:18
much sand and sun i think we as humans can tolerate yeah um so I think that um
1:10:24
if you're if you do literally nothing else besides just sand and sun um you're
1:10:30
really missing out okay it's just I agree what about overrated underrated
1:10:36
underrated sorry that would be underrated kind of going back to what we originally talked about is really seeing Hilton Head on a bike okay i think it's
1:10:42
like I couldn't be talking about it more it's like um and you don't have to own a
1:10:48
bike you can rent one so easily but um cuz I don't personally have a bike so I just I just rent one every time I go do
1:10:55
you have recommendations for a rental oh no no we already have one okay he's going to be on the show they were on the
1:11:01
show sorry sorry we can have you find We
1:11:07
have really good friends i'm an island of There you go sorry but for me um personally I love I
1:11:15
love being on a bike on a bike and we we agree with you on that yeah 100% so where is your favorite go-to place where
1:11:23
that like you strike me as somebody who like it touches your soul where is that place you go to when you just want to
1:11:30
bear just by yourself recharged connected that you say this is my spot
1:11:36
so sometimes especially um within my personal and professional schedule it's
1:11:41
very busy and I think a lot of people really kind of sometimes you just need to not talk to a person you really need
1:11:48
a separation and I think in your guys's field same thing and that's why we're asking the question so when I'm on
1:11:56
Hilton Head a place that I often stop is Jarvis Creek Park oh yeah um and I don't
1:12:03
know why something about seeing an alligator just staring at me it just
1:12:09
they make freak out visitors yeah it's the same do not go near them do not feed them do not approach them but you are
1:12:16
going to see an alligator yes you are um the pathways are very safe if you see
1:12:21
them on the path do not approach but um they have pavilion space for birthday
1:12:27
parties and they have tables but sometimes if I just need to sit and
1:12:33
stare off into a place there's something about it and it's so quiet there like it's just really really nice i don't
1:12:39
know why seeing an alligator seeing an alligator resets me i'm like "Wow." I think it makes you feel so like young
1:12:46
and small vulnerable like a dinosaur cool that's awesome what's your favorite
1:12:54
restaurant go to my favorite restaurant um is probably
1:13:02
I really love Hudson's okay um I really that's spoken like a true local though
1:13:08
like for real um and um I've had birthday parties there and things are
1:13:14
just um and but I really I I like to try a new place often and I'm big on
1:13:22
switching up the cuisine like I love that in this area you can get Greek food
1:13:28
you can get Asian food you can get Mediterranean you can get all these different some of them are fusion places but um I if I'm wanting to go to a
1:13:37
restaurant just I sometimes just sit and I'm like just to be local just to be there and just to kind of experience
1:13:44
that a little bit but that's more just on a personal side no that's all right last one all right on the water if you
1:13:51
had somebody says you get a boat we're going to do this when would you go out where would you go what would you do so
1:13:57
if it's your first time on the water um I would say prioritize
1:14:04
um sunset i think that that is um it's something that you you just fe and it's
1:14:12
also it's less hot it's like a little bit more relaxed but sunset is I think if it's going to be your first time on
1:14:18
the water you should go out on at sunset if possible where would you go where
1:14:23
would I go i would go over to Jusky okay well you can't beat it that's like We do sunset cruises with our clients we go
1:14:30
around Pikney though and it's kind of fun but we cruise up yeah yeah but yeah
1:14:35
the fusy is sort of a go-to we love going over there docking and sitting there um at at the you know while the
1:14:42
music's playing grabbing a drink just overlooking it i think sometimes um and I think you kind of have to build that
1:14:49
tolerance for a boat day yeah i think that that's a it's not um it's not for
1:14:55
everyone if kind of you kind of get into the rhythm of both being on a boat and
1:15:00
and every boat is different because sometimes you're on a big yeah a big boat versus you're on a little tiny skip
1:15:08
it's full range so I think that um if you're going to just get your little toes wet I would go out on sunset
1:15:15
and I do have one last question before they keep one last question so
1:15:20
summertime very hot water sports are really big right any any that you would
1:15:26
recommend for water sports wise and so and what do we have maybe first one
1:15:32
what's really cool is that there's water sports at all of the prominent marinas
1:15:37
yeah so everything ranging from the smaller marinas like you're going to find on Hilton Head Harbor like over
1:15:44
there you've got like Seaman's and Island Head and then you What do they do so they do jet ski rentals boat rentals
1:15:50
parasailing like every water sport you can think of they're they've got it
1:15:57
they've got kaying they've got paddle boarding like and all of the marinas have that presence so you have it from
1:16:03
everywhere from Hilton Harbor to you go over to Broad Creek Marina you've got Island Skip you've got Sky Pirate more
1:16:09
Island Head um Kayak Hilton Head so there's just so many partners Dolphin Tours um and then you go to like the
1:16:16
larger arenas when you get to Shelter Cove again just countless amount of
1:16:22
different water sport activities but they all like I said even if they have direct offerings like you you're going
1:16:28
to get a very different experience jet skiing out of the Harbor Marina on the
1:16:35
north end than you're going to get from jet skiing out of Broad Creek Marina yeah for sure and you go a different
1:16:41
route times too so you're seeing different things and that's why some people parasailing like don't consider
1:16:50
it that you've just checked off that box and you're never going to do it again because you can go parasailing on a
1:16:55
different section and it's a different experience that's a great point that's a really really good point yeah that's the thing when you get deep into the
1:17:01
waterways you do you realize like it's just it's all different it's a totally different because I mean some places
1:17:07
you're not going to be able to see the whole island right there and you're not going to be able to see left hand and like you can see Pom Bluff so there's
1:17:14
different depending on where you are and I think that's the nice thing about having such prominent marinas in the
1:17:20
area is that you can kind of cater it more to your own personal taste and
1:17:26
where you're staying in the location so like for you guys like you spend more time more on the north end of the island
1:17:31
in your personal life like you can use that marina or creek and you don't have to go into Shelter Cove and Harbor Town
1:17:39
as much yep you have the option if you want to go there yeah absolutely good point well Erica I just got to say like
1:17:46
I feel you're you're amazing you know you're a historian you're an ambassador you're a lover of Hilton Head you have
1:17:52
such a presence with this business i mean it's been an honor to have you on we really appreciate for having
1:17:58
Absolutely um I love what I do and I love it's just it it is a bias it's a
1:18:05
It's a total um we get to do this as jobs
1:18:11
and I'm um trained professionally in like marketing and advertising but I have such a different experience than
1:18:16
some of my cohorts who are in a very traditional office or work from home
1:18:22
experience like it's you get a really different perspective and I think it's just um no I'm so happy to be here i I
1:18:29
love promoting what I do and just I mean I couldn't talk about this area more if I tried well we're going to have you
1:18:35
back again to talk some more yeah bring bring because the events are always changing the calendar is always changing
1:18:42
always changing and like I said we do produce 11 issues per year so there's always more to talk about cuz sometimes
1:18:49
things that you find in our July issue you're going to not see in our winter issues so it's it's a difference and I
1:18:55
mean even even changes in content from like beaches change cuz like you can bring your dog to the beach in the offse
1:19:03
it's It really does change per month so um there's always something to talk about of what's happening in the area
1:19:10
awesome so Asher put it on here so listen if you um want to get a hold of
1:19:15
Erica we're going to put her contact information on overlay right now on the screen if you're listening to this just
1:19:21
watch it on YouTube but hiltonhead.com that's where you want to go if you are a business owner a local and you want to
1:19:27
be involved and you want to get into this magazine because of its reach its history its impact again contact Erica
1:19:34
Hayes at Island Events which is at hiltonhead.com and uh and for anybody's watching we
1:19:40
want to do this ongoing down the road so come back often we want to have the events are always changing so be sure to
1:19:46
check back in but thanks for watching and thanks for being on the show and for the these updates please like and
1:19:52
subscribe and obviously comment we would hear your thoughts yeah absolutely awesome thank you