Once a year, come rain or shine, Bluffton Rotarians have an oyster roast, except during COVID, when public socializing in the Lowcountry came to a screeching halt. The much-anticipated …

Friends keep telling me it’s time to leave my cave of sadness and re-enter society. My husband and I separated over a year ago, and apparently the world needs to meet Single Tracy. The problem …

“I got a dollar in my pocket, there ain’t a cloud up above…” One of the major adjustments we had to make when we decided to uproot and relocate a thousand or so miles from friends and …

In 1773, England imposed a tariff known as the Tea Act, which placed a tax on various goods imported by the American colonies, including tea. The colonists were not exactly excited about this new …

Day 28: Samburu, Kenya (Samburu Simba Lodge) We slept late, up at 6 a.m. That extra half hour felt like a wonderful luxury. By 7:30 a.m., our safari jeep was rolling out for a day of wildlife …

For many people, the word “trust” brings to mind wealthy families or complex tax planning. In reality, trusts are one of the most practical estate planning tools for ordinary families, including …

In 1973, on the north end of Hilton Head Island, there was a small neighborhood people called Stoney. Not Stoney Village in everyday conversation. Just Stoney. If you were from there, you didn’t …

Normally, I would never go to a stranger’s house alone. I watch enough true crime to know that’s how you end up the subject of a documentary called The Ring Camera That Knew Too Much. But the …

We are roughly at the halfway mark of the second year of this two-year session of the South Carolina General Assembly. At the end of this session in early May, any bill failing to pass both the House …

“You’re going to need a few new crowns.” His spelunking light blinds me as he delivers the fabulous news. “I know, right? I’ve been telling my ex that for years,” my shaky retort. …

As we move deeper into 2026, one clear trend is shaping residential real estate transactions across the Lowcountry: financing is back in the driver’s seat. More than 50 percent of real estate deals …

I realized most people are just winging life. They don’t have a plan. They are gambling on a wish and letting the day happen to them, over and over again. There’s a large difference between …

As we move into the heart of the spring selling season, the Bluffton real estate market is sending a very clear signal. Inventory is not building the way it typically does this time of year, demand …

More than 338,000 Americans relocated for retirement last year – a 44% increase from 2022 – and about a quarter of those retirees moved to a different state. According to the online …

A few days back, I was finally able to get out and fish with a friend of mine who had asked me to show him the ropes of saltwater fishing. He was quick to admit that pretty much all the fishing he …

A tribute to Mr. Sinh C. Vo 1941-2026 Some people live in a place. Others become part of it. Mr. Sinh Cong Vo belonged to that second group. If you spent any time around Bluffton, …

Winter came to the Lowcountry and decided to stay for a few days. To make sure we really understood she was serious, there was more than just a dusting of snow. Not serious snow, mind you. Not …

Airports are weird. They’re tiny, fluorescent-lit microcosms of society, where people whose lives would never otherwise intersect, are forced together by a shared desire to leave. A woman dressed …

In an earlier column, I talked about what it was like growing up here in the Lowcountry way before development changed everything. So why am I taking this bumpy ride down the dirt road called memory …

Sunny bright is an often perfect description of a lowcountry daybreak, usually followed up by pale moonlit nights. One of the things that continues to strike me, even after almost five years here, is …