Way down south, past the Mason-Dixon line, down where you see more Waffle Houses and fewer IHOP’s, you’ll find South Carolina. And just 30 miles south of Charleston, along a series of winding roads of willow trees and old churches, you’ll find the gated community resort of Kiawah Island. It is ranked as one of the top golfing resort destinations in the United States for its sheer size, ambiance, beachfront views, and championship courses. I, however, was not here to hit the links. I was here to celebrate the blissful nuptials of my cousin’s wedding down south.
The journey from Charleston to Kiawah was part of the adventure. Being from New York, I love whenever the open road brings me down south to the land of the cotton gin and NASCAR. It is always the little things that fascinate me the most whenever I drive through a state I rarely get to see. Like when the gas stations change from national brands to regional ones. Or when you see fast food franchises that are less well known and more of a regional specialty. It is these minor notices that make the journey all the more interesting. While on the way to Kiawah, my family and I drove down a small highway, Bohicket Road, that was blanketed by rows of weeping willow trees and old churches that seemed to be seen every hundred feet or so. No surprise as South Carolina sits in the bible belt; many of the churches ran the gamut from small schoolhouses to ones that look like ramshackle wooden houses that have been around for over a century or so. I wonder if there were any synagogues; what, no Temple B’Nai Grits and Gravy?! Only a handful of homes dotted the area; their mailboxes sat at the edge of the road while their homes sat shrouded behind a small thicket of trees and shrubs. It wasn’t exactly a trailer park tableau but it did come with plenty of unmowed lawns; Jeff Foxworthy would no doubt be impressed.
From the wooded landscape of Bohicket Road, we made our way to Kiawah Island along the Atlantic coast. From the outset, it felt like being a high-end Disney resort where each condo felt like a giant hotel room, the condos were pretty spread out, and you were merely a stones throw from the beach. Kiawah Island is widely hailed as one of the premier golf destinations on the East Coast. The island features seven award-winning golf courses designed by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Fazio, and Pete Dye who also lent their creative linksmanship design to the Osprey Ridge and Eagle Pines golf courses in Walt Disney World. The courses snake along the narrow island, moving from the dense wooded interior of the island to the breezy oceanfront. Five of the courses are owned and maintained by Kiawah Island Golf Resort. These are the Ocean Course, Turtle Point, Osprey Point, Oak Point, and Cougar Point. Two courses are owned and maintained by Kiawah Island Club. These are the River Course and Cassique.
