the bluff Spring / Summer 2021
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the bluff
the bluff Spring / Summer 2021
ON T H E COV E R :
S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 2 1 3/1/21 9:34 AM
PHOTO: Alexandra Trujillo de Taylor. The signature bar, a 72% dark chocolate finished in an edible gold finish, is created from turn of the century Victorian pocket door hardware.
PHOTO: Krisztian Lonyai
ta bl e of con t en ts
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IN E V ERY ISSU E
B L ACKSHEEP 2 CREDITS 3 LET TER FROM THE EDITOR 4 CONTRIBUTORS
Tucked into 900 square feet with a menu that changes biweekly, Blacksheep is quickly becoming one of Beaufort’s hottest new dining spots (and we’re not just talking about the wood-fired oven).
6 E YE CANDY Marie Antoinette meets Alice in Wonderland. Welcome to Chocolat by Adam Turoni in Savannah, Georgia—where the chocolate looks like a work of art (and tastes even better).
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ALL DOGS GO TO HE AVEN This small plot of land alongside the May River honors four-legged friends of the Bluff. Learn the tale of one of the most well-known inhabitants in this pet cemetery.
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80
TRU E B LU E
FEESH
LOCAL CHARACTER: CHEF NATE BERIAU
With a motto of “Bespoke, Be You,” every pair
Writer and outdoor enthusiast David Sewell
A New England native, Montage Palmetto Bluff
of Blue Delta Jeans is made using raw denim
recounts fishing adventures near and far that led
Executive Chef Nathan Beriau began his career
hand cut and sewn in Tupelo, Mississippi.
him to big “feesh” and even better “feesh people.”
at some of the top restaurants before arriving in
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the Lowcountry.
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CHAM PION HE ART
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SOUTHBOU ND 17
Retired Hall of Fame horse jockey Eddie Maple may
THE PLIG HT OF POLLINATORS
Charleston-based band Southbound 17’s second EP,
be known for his numerous wins on the track, but
Go beyond the butterflies and bees and learn the
Somewhere in the Neon, introduces listeners to a
it’s his love of horses, dedication to the sport, and
importance of other native pollinators, including
“warm East Coast spin on a classic Western sound.”
devotion to wife, Kate, that define this champion.
how we can help these essential workers.
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50
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B E AU FORT'S B ELOVED PRINCE
BILTMORE, BARB ECU E & B RE WERIES IN THE B LU E RIDG E
THE ENDLESS E VOLUTION OF PANHANDLE SLIM
honors the writing and teaching life of one of
Grab your picnic basket and hiking boots and
Known to many as Panhandle Slim, skateboarder-
America's best-loved storytellers.
escape to Asheville, North Carolina—the beautiful
turned-artist Scott Stanton is quickly becoming a
mountain town known as “the Paris of the South.”
Savannah institution.
Founded in 2016, the Pat Conroy Literary Center
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SAVANNAH B EE COM PANY
H EN NY PEN NY
RETAIL THER APY: DERBY PART Y
Grown from Ted Dennard’s passion for bees and honey,
With a mission to support the parent tribe, Henny
From stationery to serving dishes to derby-
Savannah Bee Company’s mission is to bring awareness
Penny delivers by offering coffee and sweat treats in
worthy attire, we’re here to help you plan the
to the important role bees play as pollinators.
a unique art space—perfect for both kids and parents.
perfect Derby Day party.
PHOTO (left): James Acomb, PHOTO (center): Courtesy of Benne on Eagle
SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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&
c r e at e d b y f or t hose w ho l ov e t h i s sp ec i a l l owcou n t r y i dy l l
{
}
PUBLISHER AND EDITOR IN CHIEF
Courtney Hampson
MANAGING EDITOR
Kristen Constantineau
PHOTOGRAPHERS
DESIGNERS
WRITERS
James Acomb
Amanda Davis
Kristen Constantineau
Johnny Autry
Heather Dumford
Courtney Hampson
Bob Coglianese
Katie Gates
Justin Jarrett
Molly Hayden
Barry Kaufman
William Keyserling
Patrick Kerrison
ILLUSTRATOR
Maggie Kimmett
Allison Lane Amanda Davis
Allison Lane
Anna Mintz
Krisztian Lonyai
Lydia Moore
Paul Mitchell
David Sewell
Milton Morris
Mary Socci
Alexandra Trujillo de Taylor
Tim Wood
Photography by Anne, Inc.
Christine Wrobel
PA L M E T TO B LU F F. C O M
R E A L E S TAT E S A L E S
I N N R E S E R VAT I O N S
800-501-7405
855-740-3272
LET'S BE SOCIAL
/PalmettoBluff
2
P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
@PalmettoBluff
@PalmettoBluff
f rom t h e edi tor
2020 challenged us and changed us. Many of us couldn’t wait for 2021 to start. Some of us (me!) welcomed the new year with a cracked pipe bursting in the ceiling
Ultimately, we all learned a lot about patience, people, and ourselves.
2 02 1
VISIT PALMETTO BLUFF in Bluffton, S.C., for workshops and classes hosted by G&G’s favorite featured artisans, makers, and chefs.
April
STEPHANIE FEES Scratch Pasta Co.
DOROTHY SHAIN
and flooding the foyer. Somehow, I was
Contemporary Artist and Designer
able to laugh. I don’t think that would have
As we began to plan for this year, we focused
happened in 2020. Ultimately, we all learned
on telling stories and offering experiential
a lot about patience, people, and ourselves.
programming that will enrich lives. In this
Painter and Designer
We shifted our focus toward what we could
issue, we introduce you to artisans who’ve
June
control and what makes us happy.
followed their passion, including a newto-the-Bluff writer who interviewed his
As spring became summer and summer
childhood hero. Our digital issue (scan the
became
became
QR code below) includes video and audio
paramount for our physical and mental
content so you can dig a little deeper. As
health. At Palmetto Bluff, we have long
you peruse our 2021 Artist in Residence
believed that it is our wide open spaces,
calendar, you’ll find that our programming
conserved land, and the undeveloped gems
centers around connection—to home and
of this place that set us apart. In 2020, the
self. Home-cooked meals, family dinners,
world reminded us that our focus here is
perfecting your cocktail game, making
indeed important and impactful.
your own art, returning to letter writing.
The silver lining for Palmetto Bluff in an
As this spring becomes summer, we hope we
uncertain year was that we were able to
can inspire you to get outside, explore, work
create unique spaces for families to call
with your hands, and try something new.
fall,
getting
outside
home. Being known as a safe haven for those seeking a tranquil escape has kept Palmetto Bluff busy and blossoming.
Breathe deep. Be well.
May
ANNIE MORAN
ANNE BLACKWELL THOMPSON Blackwell Botanicals
July
CASSANDRA RICHARDSON AND CARLENE BROWNER BR Design Co.
August
RICHARD PATRICK Cathead Distillery
September
QUINTIN MIDDLETON
Middleton Made Knives
October
BROOKS REITZ
Chef, Restaurateur, and Entrepreneur
November
ERIC MCKAY and PATRICK MURTAUGH
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
December
ELISABETH CONNOLLY
Elisabeth Rose and Aesthet
Scan to view our interactive issue.
In compliance with state COVID-19 protocols, Palmetto Bluff kindly asks guests to wear a mask, avoid gathering in large groups, and maintain a safe social distance in all shared spaces.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
m eet som e of ou r con t r i bu tor s
...captures the stories of working artists and engaging communities, offering a glimpse into these vibrant cities and the locals who color it. Molly Hayden
1. Molly Hayden
4. Allison Lane
Photographer, “The Endless Evolution of Panhandle Slim” (page 91)
Allison is the marketing manager for
Molly has spent well over a decade
Palmetto Bluff and the newest contributor
traveling
creative
to The Bluff. A Lowcountry native with the
endeavors worldwide. Through her work as
gift of gab, Allison has a passion for good
a photojournalist, she captures the stories of
food, inspiring design, and a great story. In
working artists and engaging communities,
her free time, she can be found behind the
offering a glimpse into these vibrant cities
lens of a camera, with her nose in a book,
and the locals who color it. She currently
finishing a watercolor painting, or planning
resides in Savannah, Georgia.
her next home remodel. She is an amateur
and
documenting
2. Justin Jarrett 1
2
4
P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
5
at the same time) and lives in Bluff ton with her two perfectly misbehaved dogs, Bertie
Justin is a journalist and entrepreneur
and Otis.
who has lived in Bluff ton since 2005. He
5. Tim Wood
LowcoSports.com and a volunteer youth
Writer, “Savannah Bee Company” (page 30)
sports coach and community organizer.
Longtime journalist Tim Wood moved to
Justin lives in Bluff ton with his wife and
the Lowcountry in 2004, when he was hired
two children.
as the general manager of the Savannah
3. Barry Kaufman
4
cheese and wine connoisseur (preferably
Writer, “Southbound 17” (page 20)
is the founder of Lowco Media LLC and
3
Writer/Photographer, “Eye Candy” (page 6)
Sand Gnats. He later became one of the founding editors of the then daily version
Writer, “True Blue” and “The Endless
of Bluff ton Today, a position Tim said was
Evolution of Panhandle Slim” (page 14, 91)
his favorite job in a quarter century of
Barry has been writing professionally for
newspaper, magazine, TV, radio, and online
nearly 20 years, when he first realized that
reporting and editing. Wood went on to
every other vocation involves actual work. He
be the first paid writer for Bleacher Report
lives in Old Town Bluffton, where he can often
and was soon promoted to managing editor
be found cruising around with his wife and
of the national sports website. He has
three children in Bluffton’s slowest golf cart.
had a wide-spanning career that includes
In addition to writing for The Bluff, he is the
earning a World Series ring from George
owner and sole employee of local copywriting
Steinbrenner and playing Xbox games with
firm Kaufman Copy and the host of B-Town
Bill Gates, but he has always most coveted
Trivia, appearing bimonthly at Cole’s.
being entrusted to tell local stories.
welcome home
PA L M E T T O B L U F F R E A L E S TAT E C O M PA N Y 1 - 8 0 0 - 5 0 1 - 74 0 5
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PA L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
Obtain the Property Report required by federal law and read it before signing anything. No federal agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property. This does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy where prohibited by law. The complete offering terms are in an offering plan available from sponsor. File no. H-110005
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
E Y E Choc C AN D Y In a city whose story continues to unfold and evolve with every passing day, Adam Turoni is working hard to pen his own chapter in Savannah’s storied history books.
Written and photography by:
Allison Lane
SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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PHOTO: Courtesy of Chocolat
A darling of the chocolate industry, Turoni’s journey began more
mentality about a lot of things. I’d rather fail but fail forward. And so
than two decades ago as a young boy, baking cookies with his
why not? I packed up my car the day after graduation, drove down
grandmother. A memory as sweet as homemade frosting, Turoni’s
here, and I’ve been here ever since.”
unrelenting passion for baking is a tribute to the special bond between a grandmother and her grandson. “It came from a very loving place,”
And this, folks, is where our story starts to really get interesting.
Turoni says. “I grew up with it, and I didn’t know anything different.”
A decision by 19-year-old Adam Turoni to attend a dinner party led to a chance encounter between our main character and what would come
“But I was also very realistic. I knew [baking] was my goal, and
to be one of the leading ladies in his life.
I knew what I needed to do it, so I was always very pragmatic.” Enter Alexandra Trujillo de Taylor, co-founder and vice president This practical mindset would come to serve Turoni well over the
of Chocolat by Adam Turoni. The dramatic fig and cognac truffle
years, especially as he sought to convince his mother, an ER nurse
to Turoni’s sweet and fiery crème brûlée, Trujillo de Taylor was
with a by-the-book mindset, that he wanted to work in a kitchen and
instantly drawn to Adam the moment she met him. “The passion
that she should help support him in this dream. Turoni addressed his
and drive that he had ignited a passion in me to get involved and
mother’s hesitations about a future in the culinary arts field head-on,
start something together.”
and whether it was the determination in his eyes or one pragmatic personality recognizing another, she came around to the idea and
Turoni fondly recalls going to Trujillo de Taylor’s house where the two
helped Turoni secure his first job in a kitchen where he worked to
would have tea and chat, noting, “I didn’t know how to get here to this
wash dishes.
point, so we would just sit and talk.” These teas led to lunches where Turoni and Trujillo de Taylor, seated side by side in a circular booth at
An apprentice program at his high school further cemented his
Gryphon, would hash out the future company and their plans.
passion for the culinary arts and eventually led Turoni to a spot at the
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prestigious Culinary Institute of America. After finding his niche in
Today, Trujillo de Taylor handles the business side of Chocolat by
chocolate in the last year of school, Turoni felt the pull of Savannah
Adam Turoni, allowing Turoni the freedom to focus on his art and
and made the move official following graduation. “That’s kind of my
the story he’s working to create. This partnership has allowed them to
P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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For me, [my goal] is to have your attention for as long as I’ve asked for it when you’re in my store. I think that’s saying something, especially when we’re so distracted day to day. If I can grab your attention and have it for those moments that you’re in my store, that’s a good goal.
continue to flourish since opening Chocolat by Adam Turoni and their
chocolate and being like, ‘What is this?’ I can’t tell you how many
fi rst retail store in 2011.
people at the very beginning say, ‘What is this? Is it soap?’”
Now, boasting a flourishing e-commerce site, an achievement Turoni
Turoni laughs, recounting the confusion his stores occasionally create,
attributes to Trujillo de Taylor’s foresight, and a second Savannah
“At the Library, we get asked, ‘Do y’all sell the books?’”
location just off Chippewa Square, the pair has doubled down on the consumer experience and continues to redefi ne what it means to be
Inside their fi rst store, the Chocolate Dining Room, an interior
a chocolatier.
outfitted in antique candelabras, china, and sterling flatware instantly envelops patrons. A saturated green faux grass floor anchors the
Their two locations, the original Chocolate Dining Room (323 W.
opulent interior, where a chandelier intertwined with butterfl ies hangs
Broughton Street) and the newer Chocolate Library (236 Bull Street),
over a French banquet table laden with packaged goods. Beside it, a
are testaments to Turoni and Trujillo de Taylor’s exacting attention to
floor-to-ceiling china cabinet is home to individual truffle chocolates
detail and their shared commitment to creating unique experiences
in rich reds, greens, browns, and whites.
for their patrons. And unlike most chocolatiers who display their confections behind a “For me, [my goal] is to have your attention for as long as I’ve asked
glass case with a prominently placed name card, Chocolat believes in
for it when you’re in my store,” Turoni says. “I think that’s saying
drawing patrons in with their eyes fi rst.
something, especially when we’re so distracted day to day. If I can grab your attention and have it for those moments that you’re in my
“Traditionally, you go into a chocolate shop and you point at what you
store, that’s a good goal.”
want. It’s one cityscape of shades of brown and an average of two or three shapes, and what catches you is the description. Oh, this one has
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Trujillo de Taylor underscores this focus on capturing the consumer’s
this or that,” Trujillo de Taylor says. “Ours are completely different.
attention, “It’s all visual. It starts from the outside of the street being
Before you even read what’s in it, you look at it, and you say, ‘Oh gosh,
drawn in by wondering, ‘What is this store?’ to then looking at the
that’s incredible.’”
P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
PHOTO: Courtesy of Chocolat
Incredible indeed. Inside the china cabinet, green and white mini-
Only a few blocks away at their second location, the Chocolate Library,
Versailles pistachio topiary truffles, initially designed for the
the trademark faux grass floor and Dior gray walls persist, but instead
Savannah Garden Society’s 50 anniversary, sit in neat, straight lines,
of a showstopping French banquet table, patrons find themselves amid
reminiscent of a classic French garden. A dehydrated matcha genoise
floor-to-ceiling bookcases overflowing with antique leather-bound
crumb sits atop a white chocolate and pistachio combination, and
encyclopedias and novels. Within the glass cases, confections such
after one bite, it’s easy to imagine a young Marie Antoinette finding
as the “Let Them Eat Cake” truffle and “Dark Chocolate Silk Filled
delight in a similar treat.
Bullets” easily catch the eyes (and appetites) of consumers.
When it comes to creating the flavors, Turoni laughs and says that’s
“We all have those experiences when we shop, and we just connect to a
the easy part, “That just comes naturally. I don’t have to work at that,
brand mind,” Turoni says. “When I go to the Paris Market, for instance,
or if I am, it doesn’t feel like work.
it just inspires me. The experience is so beautiful, and they’re doing
th
something so different. It’s amazing to see that our brand is doing that “Sometimes, I find an inspiring or delicious flavor I want to try. Then
for people.”
sometimes I’ll go to the museum and I see something really inspiring artistically or a texture somewhere. In fashion, they’ll sew it on the
Guided by Turoni’s artisanship, Trujillo de Taylor’s knack for business,
dress like this, and I think, oh my gosh, I could do the same thing but
and the pair’s shared dedication to their patrons’ experience, Chocolat
with chocolate and kind of carry over that composition.”
by Adam Turoni remains a darling of the chocolate world, promising to delight new and returning customers alike. And while the next
A corkboard wall serves as the landing spot for all of Turoni’s ideas,
chapters of Adam’s story remain to be penned, there is, without a doubt,
allowing him to organize his thoughts and further underscoring how
a large group of supporters waiting to see how his story unfolds. •
important the visual aspect is to this talented chocolatier. “I can see the full picture of all of those separate things in my head and be able to connect them all very easily. That’s the way my brain works the best; I have to have everything out.”
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TA S T I N G N O T E S (p the oce-lovg wrir)
Versailles Topiary Tru�fle
Let Them Eat Cake Tru�fle
Beautiful on the outside, and even better on the
Not all truffles are created equal, and this
inside, this is a top pick and is not to be missed.
buttercream-infused delight with cake and
Fans of pistachio gelato will find the balance of
funfetti sprinkles is an easy standout. Fans of
pistachio puree, white chocolate, and crisp matcha
Jeni’s Ice Cream’s Gooey Butter Cake will fi nd
particularly delightful. Pairs well with French
this one especially delectable. I challenge you
gardens, hoop skirts, and lavish spending.
to eat just one.
Lemon and Mint Tru�fle
Raspberry Chambord Tru�fle
This one left me speechless. The candied mint
A refreshing take on the classic raspberry
on top is initially overpowering but is quickly
truffle, this combination of milk and dark
tempered by the white chocolate mousse center
chocolate butter ganache infused with a
infused with lemon zest and locally sourced
raspberry puree and Chambord will satisfy
mint. It’s balanced and light in all the right
even the most stalwart of sweet tooths.
ways and a refreshing departure from the smorgasbord of chocolate-heavy truffles found elsewhere. 10/10 would eat again.
And please don’t take my word for it; try them for yourself today. Or better yet, order a box online at chocolatat.com.
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
Memory Ingredients Usually with sunlight, water, maybe some music. The best ones stay nice and crisp. We make ours fresh daily.
mon tag e . c om
D E E R VA L L E Y
di s c ov e r l i f e , w e l l l i v e d
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(855) 774 -1286
L AG U N A B E AC H
( Opening in 2021)
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
xx
MADE IN THE USA x x
Blue Delta Jeans introduces old-fashioned custom fitting to the rough-and-tumble world of blue jeans. WRITTEN BY:
BARRY KAUFMAN
There is something so essentially American about the feel of denim. More than any amber waves of grain or purple mountains, it’s the deep indigo of jeans that has helped defi ne this country. And it’s the rugged comfort of a pair of jeans that unites us. Whether they are being dressed up with heels or a blazer or being dirtied up on the farm, jeans are quintessentially American. And like all things American, we go to great lengths for comfort. Flex fit. Comfort stretch. Extreme motion. And, of course, the ever-so-comfortable jeggings. Sadly, all of these terms are simply marketing gimmicks to paper over Big Denim’s greatest shame: they don’t make jeans specifically for you. At best, they make jeans for someone of roughly your dimensions, or at least as large a swath of your demographic as they can profitably cover. It may not fit you perfectly, but it will fit well enough. And as Americans, we hold one sacred truth above all others: Well
enough is
never enough. Rather, we seek out that which has been made specifically for our contours, a garment that offers the ideal fit for us. And only us. That sort of bespoke customization is what spurred Josh West and Nick Weaver, two childhood friends from rural Mississippi, to launch Blue Delta Jeans. The concept behind it is as simple as it is brilliant. West and Weaver simply took London’s Savile Row philosophy of custom tailoring and craftsmanlike needlework and applied it to that most American of garments, blue jeans.
SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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When you make a jean one at a time, what can you pick? Everything. —Josh West
“We are a gentlemen’s jean. We always went with class. People can wear our jeans with a sports jacket, but they’re tough enough to wear out in the field,” West said. “It’s the Southern tuxedo.”
Each pair of jeans is individually fitted by one of the company’s 110 tailors around the world , with clients having the option of choosing from more than 50 weights and colors of denim and 18 thread colors overlaid on a customized pattern made specifically for them. From there, your imagination is the limit. Unique rivets, custom-set belt loops, monograms, and even customized pocket placement, coupled with 19 different measurements, make your jeans uniquely yours. For men and women, it’s bespoke comfort made with you and only you in mind. “When you make a jean one at a time, what can you pick? Everything,” West said. “It’s one size fits one.” During their visit to Palmetto Bluff last summer as part of the Artist in Residence programming, the pair were able to wow residents and visitors alike with their custom-tailored creations. “It was super cool. We were the first event back after COVID, so we did it all outside,” Weaver said. “The property, the feel . . . it’s definitely our clientele.” It may seem like an odd juxtaposition—the discerning attitude of a custom tailor projected onto the pedestrian attire of the working man or woman. But then, designer jeans are nothing new. Bespoke tailoring is nothing new. Combining these almost seems like a natural next step. Of course, such exquisite attention to detail comes at a designer price. “Our jeans are expensive, but if you had asked me in 1999 if I’d spend $1,000 on a little green grill, I would have thought you were nuts. Look at those YETI coolers, I have 12 of those,” Weaver said. “This generation is willing to pay for quality. It’s not about price, it’s about value. Spending $300 on a cooler—is it worth it? Yeah. It’s going to last 10 years.” The genesis of Blue Delta was a conversation over cocktails between the two
PHOTOS: James Acomb
friends that grew quickly, despite one stumbling block.
Neither of them knew
the first thing about making blue jeans. “We knew what we wanted to do: make the best jeans in the world. We just had to discover how to do that,” Weaver said. Fortunately, they were in the right place at the right time. Tupelo, Mississippi, had once been a major hub for the garment industry, and at its center was a plant that churned out Levi’s 501 jeans. “When they left in the ’80s, all of these areas lost all of that sewing talent,” Weaver said. With Blue Delta, West and Weaver put them back to work on 22 sewing machines they’d purchased in the suburbs of Memphis. “Our first hire had been sewing Levi’s jeans for 30–40 years. We had a lot of institutional knowledge.”
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
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ARTIST IN RESIDENCE x x
Nick Weaver, chief operating officer, and Johnson Benjamin, chief design officer, visited Palmetto Bluff in July 2020 as part of the Artist in Residence series. Along with two hands-on workshops, participants had the chance to be fitted for their own pair of bespoke jeans.
PHOTOS: Krisztian Lonyai
SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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“It allowed us to create a really good culture,” West added. “We let them do what they do better than everybody. Our lead seamstress, Sarah Richey, started sewing back in the ’50s. . . . We have over 200 years of experience in a young company.” Putting the area’s talented seamstresses back to work and jump-starting the area’s textile industry was just a part of the mission. Each
pair of blue jeans
is handcrafted with American-made materials, a local-first ethos instilled in Weaver over three generations of family cotton farming. With a product that speaks for itself, the pair got busy getting the word out. Theirs was an almost viral whisper campaign, building the company over eight years by bending the right ears. PHOTO: Paul Mitchell
“It’s kind of like if you’ve ever burned a field off, you don’t start a big fire. You start a lot of little fires,” Weaver said. “We didn’t have daddy’s money. No bank would give us a loan. We bootstrapped it, worked nights, borrowed
We bootstrapped it, worked nights, borrowed from each other at times. It took a long time, but one person led us to another. —NICK WEAVER
from each other at times. It took a long time, but one person led us to another.” Eventually, to borrow Weaver’s metaphor, the field was ablaze. Major League Baseball caught first, with more than 250 active MLB players now wearing Blue Deltas. The music industry came next, with everyone from Alabama Shakes to Vince Gill rocking a pair on stage. (“My whole Spotify playlist wears our jeans,” said Weaver with a laugh.) Now, you’ll find a pair of Blue Deltas on everyone from Archie Manning to the Ryder Cup’s Team USA.
“We’ve been blessed to have some really big champions take us places. To think we had Morgan Freeman in here sipping on Tito’s ordering denim; I can’t make this [stuff] up,” Weaver said. “It’s been awesome.” Expanding also meant branching out, taking the signature Blue Delta approach to blue jeans and applying it to the resort casual classic chinos. Made with stretch cotton twill but cut like a pair of blue jeans, these “Jhinos” as they are called bring together the comfort of soft khaki and the custom tailoring. And it’s not the only innovation coming down the pipe for Blue Delta. “We are also coming out with a technology piece to allow us to get your measurements,” West said, adding with dry Mississippi humor, “We’re trying to sell on the internet because I hear things are going that way.” They may be on to something. Just as jeans are the great unifying force of Americana, Blue Delta is bringing together people of all stripes. The same bespoke jeans worn by A-listers and famous athletes are just a few clicks away at bluedeltajeans.com. x
PHOTO: James Acomb
Opening Fall 2021
Citadel @ Palmetto Bluff is a mixed use storage development centrally located within Palmetto Bluff and will offer a variety of convenient storage solutions including:
Climate Controlled & Drive Up Storage Units Perfect for: Furniture and Household Goods Seasonal Items Family Heirlooms and Art Seasonal Cars and Golf Carts Recreational Equipment
Convenient, on property storage for furniture and decorations while your PB home is under construction Homeowner Storage During Seasonal Home Rental Decluttering Your Garage
Secure Wine Storage Units In a variety of sizes, each maintained at the optimum temperature and humidity.
Plus More Amenities Secure gated access, HD security cameras for 24/7 surveillance, and free box truck available for customers.
Community Services The development will feature several small businesses that serve the community such as a car detailer, dry cleaner pick up/drop off station, dog groomer, moving company, and more…
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Written by: Justin Jarrett | Photography courtesy of: Southbound 17
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
THE STORY OF SOUTHBOUND 17 BEGINS WITH A BANJO. A LONG-FORGOTTEN BANJO PASSED DOWN TO JACOB SIMMONS FROM HIS GRANDFATHER AND STASHED IN A CLOSET. WHEN SIMMONS CAME ACROSS THE INSTRUMENT IN 2014, HE STARTED PICKING. HIS BUDDY JACK AUSTEN PLAYED A LITTLE GUITAR, AND THEIR MUTUAL FRIEND KATIE BAILEY HAD SOME SINGING CHOPS. MAYBE IT WAS TIME TO START A BAND. More than six years later, the Charleston-based trio is fi nding
and following up a 2017 self-titled EP, released while the trio was
its footing. College is in the rearview, and the three longtime
studying at the College of Charleston, with a new EP early in 2021.
friends are making their way in the world trying to chase their dream of making music together while the industry scrambles to
The new recording was due out in 2020, but we all learned a
reinvent itself during a public health crisis that has devastated
lot about best-laid plans last year. The COVID-19 pandemic
what was left of the revenue model.
decimated the touring music industry, providing a major setback for fledgling bands trying to get a foothold like Southbound 17.
Through months of canceled shows—including an April 2020
The trio focused on their day jobs—Jacob is a construction
date as part of Palmetto Bluff ’s Chapel Concert Series—and
project manager, Katie is a bridal consultant, and Jack works in
delays releasing their second EP, Southbound 17 has plugged
a specialty toy store—while searching for ways to keep pushing
ahead, cranking out a self-produced music video for “No
their music career forward.
Vacancy,” the band’s fi rst single off Somewhere in the Neon, and planning for what’s to come.
They followed the industry-wide trend by getting a livestream up and running, exposing a suddenly captive audience to their
With a foothold in Charleston’s rich, grassroots music scene and
unusual “East Coast Western” sound, and setting out to shoot a
a polished new recording under their belt, the trio hopes to be
music video for their fi rst single off the new EP, “No Vacancy,” a
poised for a big year in 2021.
feel-good bluegrass romp with Katie on lead vocals.
I’m wishin’ and hopin’ we can hang on tight
The title track, “Somewhere in the Neon,” leads off the new
It’s only a moment and maybe it’s only for tonight
record with a more classic country tune featuring Jack singing
But if we don’t grab this moment it’ll be gone
about heartbreak with distinct drips of sarcasm. If you notice
Somewhere in the neon
some Eagles influence, it comes honestly.
It all started with a banjo, but Southbound 17’s sound has evolved
“People keep saying it reminds them of the Eagles,” Jack laughs.
in the intervening six-year span since Jacob started picking,
“I think I listened to the Eagles for like a month straight.”
layering in Katie’s mandolin to deepen the band’s bluegrass vibe
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I’ll be your place to lay your head at the end of the day
At the heart of it is the new music, which has a fun energy that
I’ll be your sweet silence when there’s nothing left to say
will translate well on stage but also reflects the individual band
You better believe that you can always stay with me
members’ growth, both personally and professionally. The
When all the other lights are flashing “No Vacancy”
writing on the new EP is stronger all around (though the Bonnie and Clyde “Wanted Sign” and bluegrass rocker “Reckless Love”
The vision for the band’s fi rst proper music video took a bit of
off their debut recording have the potential to become signature
a turn thanks to the pandemic, as the trio scrapped plans for a
live songs) and hints at the kind of personal experiences that
road trip out West and stayed closer to home. They sought out
lead to deeper songwriting.
classic, vintage motels throughout the Southeast, trekking to the Mountaineer Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, the Sunset Motel
Takin’ shots and I ain’t talkin’ ’bout the whiskey
in nearby Brevard, the Waikiki Village in Myrtle Beach, and the
Wanna kill me, wanna kiss me, I don’t know
Thunderbird Inn in Savannah, among others.
Should have called it quits three rounds ago Breakin’ promises, breakin’ dishes, breakin’ down
The vibe links perfectly with the title track, as images of the
I don’t think we can go another round
neon signs at every stop on the road trip pop up throughout
It’s time to sober up, it’s time to stop
the video. “No Vacancy” turned out to be a rather topical single
Takin’ shots
during the pandemic, as Katie belts out her vow to always be a port in a storm.
The trio grew up on country music, noting the Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) and Johnny Cash among their early inspirations,
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The band’s ingenuity has kept the momentum going during the
and those influences are apparent in their sound, along with a good
downturn, and Southbound 17 started playing live shows again
mix of more recent influences. The Avett Brothers were a natural
in November as Charleston’s music scene began to come back to
inspiration for Jacob after stumbling onto the seminal banjo,
life with outdoor or limited-capacity events. Now, Southbound 17
and fellow Charleston roots rockers Shovels & Rope have helped
is poised for a big 2021.
shape the band’s current sound.
P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
What one wouldn’t gather from that list is that Southbound 17
over Valentine’s weekend 2020. It’s a break from the overall tone of
thrives on slower songs—even sad songs—and while they do it well,
the record’s first three tracks.
their best work has a bit of an edge. “Altogether, we were really happy with how all the tracks were Jack and Katie have developed a good rapport sharing the mic, and
different enough, but all captured the same kind of feel,” Jack says.
it shines through on “Takin’ Shots,” a fun, upbeat track that comes
The band likes to joke that it all started when Jacob and Jack moved
in like a pop-crossover a la modern Nashville before taking a twist
to Hollywood—South Carolina—as kids, a punchline that might fall
toward John Prine and Iris DeMent’s “In Spite of Ourselves.”
flat outside the Lowcountry.
“‘Takin’ Shots’ was born from our love of songs that fake you out,”
In truth, though, Southbound 17 has come a long way since Jacob
Jack says. “Whenever you listen to a song and then they twist the
dug that old banjo out of the closet, and it all comes together on
meaning on you, that is always the most satisfying thing. It makes
the EP’s final track, “The Moon, The Stars, and You,” Katie’s major
you want to listen again and hear it through a different lens.”
songwriting contribution and a dreamy harmony that evokes her singing to a big, star-filled sky as she contemplates her place in
All the songs on Somewhere in the Neon share that quality, because
the world.
the band has created a recording heavy on hooks and catchy tunes with a fullness the first EP lacked. Part of that also comes from
All my friends think I’m crazy
the band’s maturation personally, inviting deeper, more relatable
Got my head in the clouds
themes into their music.
But the thought of you, baby Destroys all the doubts
The writing process usually starts with Jack, who works on the
I’ll always want what I can’t have
lyrics and chords until he’s satisfied and ready to share with Katie
You know that it’s true
and Jacob. The group then workshops the material and collaborates
So every night I’ll wish for the moon, the stars, and you
to develop the full arrangement. The songs often start with a title in mind—as was the case for both “No Vacancy” and “Lucky You”—
As I go through life
and blossom from there, Jack says, picking at wounds, some of
It gets clearer to me
which are still fresh.
That there are some things you can touch But some things you just see
Jack’s clever writing flair shines in “Lucky You,” one of the band’s most personal and heartfelt songs to date. It hints at heartbreak
The track showcases her voice, honed in the Charleston Children’s
that is still fresh enough to be laced with anger and resentment,
Chorus, where Katie jokes she overstayed her welcome (“I was not a
something just about everyone has experienced at some point in life.
child anymore by the time I left,” she laughs) as well as a deep, rich musical arrangement that provides an ethereal feel.
Part of me keeps hoping that you’re happy And part of me still hopes that isn’t true
“As I go through life, it gets clearer to me,” Katie sings, “that there
’Cause that would mean that you don’t think about me
are some things you can touch, but some things you just see.”
And I’ve been wastin’ all my time thinkin’ of you If you’re busy moving on
Southbound 17’s vision has become clearer over the past year, even
If you’ve found where you belong
as chaotic as it was, and the band’s sound has certainly grown up in
If forgetting me was that easy to do
the three-plus years since the self-titled 2017 EP. The unexpected
Well, lucky you
downtime last year also provided an opportunity to keep working on new music.
“The heartbreak was less of a specific occurrence and more of a conglomeration of lots of things,” Jack says, but he perfectly
“We’re gonna have to hit the ground running,” Jack says. “We’re
captures the jilted lover trying to turn the page but unable to let go.
ready to get out there.”
The song is set to a haunting melody created by the session players
You can listen to Southbound 17’s music on iTunes and Spotify. You
at OmniSound Studios in Nashville, where the new EP was recorded
can also follow their journey on Instagram @southbound17. •
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“Here is all I ask of a book—give me everything. Everything, and don’t leave out a single word.” wor ds of pat conroy, MY READING LIFE
How the Pat Conroy L it er a ry C ent er pays tr ibute to a L owcount ry t r e a sur e by cultivating a communit y in its wate r f ront t own a nd be yond.
Written by: Justin Jarrett
SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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Designated a Literary Landmark by the American Library Association, the Pat Conroy Literary Center offers educational programs and special events that celebrate the transformative power of story.
PHOTO: Milton Morris
S o m e f ou r y e a r s a f t e r t h e Pa t C o n r oy L i t e r a r y C e n t e r b e g a n t o c o m e t o f ru i t io n, a l i n e f r o m t h o s e e a r ly d a y s s t i l l l i ng e r s o n t h e c e n t e r’s w e b s i t e :
“The ta l e of t he inc ipien t Pat Conroy L i t er a r y C en t er is st il l e volving.”
During a stirring commencement speech at The Citadel in 2001, Pat Conroy invited the graduating class of cadets to his funeral. All they needed for entry was to show the church usher the date on their class rings and say “I wear the ring.”
But the Conroy Center has found a way to adapt and thrive, presenting virtual programming that has extended its reach far beyond the “literary pilgrims” who numbered more than 3,000 a week before the novel coronavirus entered the zeitgeist. The pilgrims are still trickling in, though certainly in smaller numbers,
That simple sentence says so much about the 4-year-old center that
but they’ve been joined by a far-flung audience that is learning about
serves both as a living tribute to a legendary author who called
a Lowcountry treasure from afar, perhaps setting a future pilgrimage
the South Carolina Lowcountry home and as the setting for his
when the pandemic is in our past.
beautiful stories aimed at fostering a community of writers and readers he inspired.
“It’s been remarkable to see how many people we reach now who probably never would have been able to visit us in person under any
And haven’t we all learned a bit about evolving in the past year?
circumstances,” said Jonathan Haupt, the center’s executive director. “Now they can take a virtual tour or participate in a workshop or
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In an unprecedented year in which many retreated into books to
author discussion. The programs that have really become central
escape their quarantined realities, it was a tumultuous season for non-
pieces of what we do here are all things we’ve been able to translate
profits and the publishing industry alike.
into this fascinating new virtual world of ours.”
P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
Creating fascinating worlds was kind of Pat Conroy’s thing—or more appropriately, painting a picture that turns the mundane into something magical. The first of seven children born to a Marine officer from Chicago and a Southern belle from Alabama, Conroy found his voice in Beaufort, South Carolina. After growing up on military bases throughout the South and graduating from The Citadel, a common theme in his writing, Conroy returned to Beaufort High School to teach English and psychology at his alma mater. In 1969, he made the decision that forever changed his trajectory and reputation. A young idealist with a flair for adventure, Conroy took an assignment teaching in a one-room schoolhouse on Daufuskie Island, a remote island opposite Calibogue Sound from Hilton Head Island and accessible only by water. Most of the students were descended from previously enslaved people and had virtually no connection to the world beyond Daufuskie, save for a rare boat trip to Hilton Head or Savannah. After one year of teaching on Daufuskie, Conroy was fired for his unconventional teaching practices, refusal to allow corporal punishment of his students, and clashes with the school’s administration over the degree to which the children’s education had long been neglected.
“My heart sings when a kid refers to me as his teacher and it always has. I’ve honored myself and the entire family by becoming one.” wor ds of To m Wingo, t he m a in c h a r ac t er in Conroy’s THE PRINCE
OF
TIDES
But it set him on another path, captured in the heart-wrenching and inspirational 1972 memoir The Water Is Wide and the 1974 fi lm adaptation Conrack, a nickname from his Daufuskie students. It was not Conroy’s first book, but it was the one that introduced the world to the author who would become a Lowcountry institution. Even as his legend grew, with many of his passion projects becoming inspiring novels and his most successful work, The Prince of Tides, adapted into an award-winning fi lm starring Barbra Streisand and Nick Nolte that earned Conroy an Oscar nomination, Conroy never lost that everyman charm. It became common over the years to bump into Conroy in a Beaufort coffee shop or eatery, and he was even known to stop by a table where a young writer was laboring over a keyboard and drop a bit of wit and wisdom and a sly wink or grin.
A lwa y s a t e a c h e r . A lwa y s g o o d f o r a l aug h .
PHOTO: William Keyserling. Always a teacher: Pat Conroy helps a student in the one-room schoolhouse on Daufuskie Island in 1969.
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Visitors from all over the world leave notes of hope, gratitude, and inspiration to Pat and other fellow authors in the form of Post-It notes.
the ability to better accommodate workshops and tour groups, as well as expand upon opportunities to engage the next generation of readers. The Camp Conroy summer camp for kids was one of many programs that went virtual in 2020, attracting a dozen students from five states in three time zones, most of whom never would have had the opportunity to attend in person. The same has been true for virtual tours and workshops, which have attracted Zoom-bound groups for whom the Conroy Center might not have been on the radar pre-pandemic. Even the annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival went digital in 2020, and the four-day celebration of Conroy’s legacy was an online success. They’ll replicate the model for the annual March Forth event remembering the day of Conroy’s passing, using the virtual format to bring in additional authors and speakers and expanding the event from a one-day affair that attracted about 120 people to a three-day celebration with a global reach. Pat Conroy’s storytelling has a way of wriggling into one’s heart and mind in a way that isn’t easy to shake, which is why all of those literary pilgrims were flocking to beautiful Beaufort by the sea in the time PHOTO: Milton Morris
before COVID-19 and why they’ll be back as soon as they can.
The tale of the Pat Conroy Literary Center is still evolving, as the website’s history section reminds us. It’s stated mission is to “cultivate
One Conroy aficionado from Florida was so bummed about missing
a passionate and inclusive reading and writing community in honor of
her yearly trip that she signed up for five virtual tours. Then she got to
Pat Conroy, who dedicated his life to spreading his love for literature
make the annual pilgrimage after all and brought a friend. “I just stood
and writing to future generations.”
out of the way and let her show him around,” Haupt says with a laugh.
The center began to take shape after Conroy’s death from pancreatic cancer in March 2016 and officially opened the next year. It continues to carry on Conroy’s legacy as both a writer and teacher on two fronts—through the interpretive center that serves as a museum of sorts for locals and “pilgrims” alike who want to immerse themselves in Conroy’s life and legacy and explore how deep his Lowcountry roots go and through a robust community of writers, editors, publishers, avid readers, and others who want to connect with one another and help each other develop their voices, much like Conroy did as a younger man. Achieving both aims simultaneously will become more feasible when the center moves into its third—and hopefully final—home at 601 Bladen Street in Beaufort’s historic district. The move scheduled for early 2021 will include a classroom and meeting space separate from the interpretive center, allowing for expanded programming and
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
Along with Pat and Cassandra King Conroy’s books, visitors can find a wide assortment of books penned by Lowcountry authors in the Literary Center.
“Good writing is the hardest form of thinking.” wor ds of Pat Conroy
PHOTO: Milton Morris
PHOTO: Courtesy of the Pat Conroy Literary Center. Pat’s Fripp Island writing desk where he wrote many books longhand using a legal pad.
It ’s n o t j us t t h e C o n r oy c o n n e c t io n t h a t k e e p s p e o p l e c o m i n g b a c k , t h oug h . It ’s a l l t h e sa m e t h i ngs t h at k ep t h i m h er e a n d i n s p i r e d h i s b e au t i f u l p r o s e .
Conroy used his words to export the Lowcountry’s charm all over the globe, and the Pat Conroy Literary Center continues to do the
I t’s t he smel l of sa lt m a rsh a nd pluf f mud, t he wa r m t h a nd k indne s s of t he L owcoun t r y, a nd t he c h a r ac t er of t his pl ac e a nd t he peopl e i t produc e s.
same while fostering the next generation of authors who can carry on Conroy’s spirit of caring camaraderie. “People are so happy to come to Beaufort to visit, to learn about Pat Conroy and immerse themselves in Pat’s story and the lessons that one can learn from Pat’s experiences as writers, readers, teachers. He was this human being who lived a life of service,” Haupt says. “We are continuing Pat’s legacy as a teacher by having all of these wonderful workshops we’re able to do online now, hopefully back in person again soon, but also the lecture programs and shining the spotlight on other writers, who have good stories to tell and good lessons to teach, whether they’re Conroy-connected or not. More often than not, they have no overt connection to Mr. Conroy, but they’re the kinds of folks that I think Pat would be supportive of if he were here. He’s not, but we are, and we’ll continue on in that way.” �
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
Savannah BEE COMPANY THE BUZZ BEHIND THE BEE CAUSE W R I T T E N BY: T I M WO O D P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E SY O F : SAVA N N A H B E E CO M PA N Y
Ted Dennard knows what most people see when a bee invades
More than 40 years later, he’s become one of the country’s
their personal space. They are the enemy of relaxation, a pest
foremost bee preachers and has built an unlikely yet ever-
that must be expelled before it becomes a stinging assassin.
growing business and education empire around a hobby that became a life’s passion.
If not for meeting an elderly beekeeper on his native St. Simons Island, Dennard might feel the same way. Once the teenager
“I’m the first to admit that this path was far from intentional,”
was exposed to the heritage beyond the fear and stereotypes,
Dennard said. “I had great parents and an easy life growing up,
he saw these marvels of nature in a completely different light.
so I knew I wanted to give back and create positive ripples like the bees, but it has been an incredible journey in finding how to
“They are amazing role models. Bees have a relentless work
achieve that mission.”
ethic; they are so giving to the world around them,” said the founder of the Savannah Bee Company. “One beehive will visit
After he graduated from college in the late ’80s, Dennard
more than 500 million flowers in a year. The sheer volume of
joined the Peace Corps, using his tutelage from Hightower to
their positive ripples on the plant world is epic. They are a vital
teach beekeeping in Jamaica at a time when the world’s bee
resource, and I knew early on in life that it was just as vitally
population was nearly eradicated by a mite pandemic.
important to show others that bees are heroes to be celebrated.” “These Varroa mites, they decimated beehives in the US and His mentor, Roy Hightower, believed in beekeeping as a way
around the world. Over 90 percent of the world’s feral hives
of life. As much as he learned from Hightower, Dennard never
were destroyed,” he said. “Teaching the Jamaican people to
imagined that he’d be able to build a career around spreading
care for, protect, and rebuild the hives, that’s really where I first
that gospel and extracting the fruits of the bees’ labor.
learned how much I was benefiting by giving.”
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The honeybee garden at Savannah Bee Company’s Wilmington Island headquarters is open to the public for guided tours.
Fresh biscuits with Savannah Bee’s popular Acacia honey.
When he returned stateside and moved his handful of beehives to Savannah
“She thought it was a perfect thing to sell in her store, so I gave it a go,” he said.
in 1997, a then 30-year-old Dennard struggled to pay rent, let alone find his
Dennard convinced his dad to pay for a beekeeping workshop in Vancouver,
life’s purpose, after a failed wildlife-focused business venture.
where the Savannah Bee Company name was born.
“I just couldn’t believe I didn’t have my life figured out by then. What am I doing?
Dennard’s hives came from groves of Southern Georgia Tupelo trees that
Why did I study religion in college? I got past the self-pity by taking out a pad of
led to a sweet, buttery honey fl avor and lower Appalachian sourwood tree
paper and writing down all of my interests that I could see being a profession.”
groves that yielded what he called a “rich orchestra full of gingerbread, maple, and licorice fl avors.” The recipes became a hit with Grayson’s
At the top of the list was his dream job, directing movies. Then came health and
customers and became the talk of the budding downtown district. A fellow
wellness, medicine, and massage therapy.
upstart entrepreneurial family by the name of Parker wanted to sell the honey at their new convenience store in town.
BEES BARELY MADE THE LIST. “We put the Tupelo and sourwood honey in a tall wine flute, so I think the “I’d made some tonics with honey and herbs, but I didn’t want to adulterate my
packaging and the quality and unique taste really stood out,” Dennard said.
passion,” he said. “And no one cared about craft honey. People were used to one taste. I wanted to innovate, but I didn’t think there was any money in marketing
Over the next three years, Dennard worked a handful of jobs while growing
unique flavors.”
his nectar side hustle. Honey addicts sang his praises far beyond Savannah, and as demand grew, Dennard bought 50 beehives as he fi ne-tuned his honey
He was inspired as he watched his equally broke roommate, Jennifer Grayson,
and crafted lip balm and candles for wholesale customers around the US.
take a $5,000 loan to open her One Fish Two Fish boutique on Whitaker Street
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in 1998. As it turned out, Grayson was equally impressed with Dennard’s
“I was still deep in debt. The bees were just one of many gigs, but I saw the
honey-making skills.
interest and the fan base growing,” Dennard said. “I incorporated and set out to
P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
BEES ARE HEROES TO BE CELEBRATED. truly create a business. I maxed out credit cards, went all in, decided that I would give it everything, all of my focus, for one year in 2002. If this was going to fail, it would not be because of my lack of effort. “Niche categories were being built around beer, wine, and cheeses. I went to my fi rst trade show thinking, ‘Why not create a romance around honey like the bees deserved?’ And it was a big hit there. After that fi rst trade show, I knew this was my path.” Dennard did just enough sales in that first year to prove to himself that there was real potential. Website and wholesale revenue grew incrementally over the next five years, especially when WilliamsSonoma added the honey to their catalog mailed to 40 million potential customers worldwide. That led Dennard to his fi rst storefront, opened on Savannah’s Broughton Street in 2008. Twelve years later, the Savannah Bee Company opened their 15th store in Greenville, South Carolina. Dennard was fi rst to market,
Worker bees filling a section of raw honeycomb.
and Savannah Bee is now one of the kings of a rapidly overcrowded scene of honey-focused sellers, bringing in $20 million in sales in 2019. He works with 100 beekeepers worldwide to create his company’s signature honey recipes, with all the honey still bottled by a threeperson crew at his Wilmington Island beehive base. After hiring a CEO to continue growing the business in 2012, Dennard turned his focus to educating people about the plight and importance of the bees. Beginning with educational bee garden tours on Wilmington Island, he then partnered with Sullivan Island Elementary School to place an observational beehive in the school. “I’d go in to the schools and give a whole lesson around the importance of bees and how they go about their magic,” he said. “To see the kids’ eyes light up, to see them give their own presentations about the honeybees, I knew we were on to something and we had to grow it.” Dennard launched the not-for-profit Bee Cause Project in 2013 and brought on Tami Enright, a parent from one of their first schools, to be the project director. The organization now has 500 hives in schools in 50 states and four countries.
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“The kids are so excited; they teach their parents, and soon, we’ve impacted a whole new generation,” Dennard said. “The work Tami and our crew of volunteers has done, it’s just amazing. We’re going to get this into 1,000 schools and beyond.” He has also partnered with the Exuma Foundation to help bring hives to the bee-barren Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas. Over the past five years, alongside Enright and foundation director Catherine Booker, the Exuma Project has grown from 11 imported hives to more than 200 beehives cared for by 16 native beekeepers educated by the foundation. “Catherine Booker and the Exuma Foundation, they are doing revolutionary work. Those projects rarely work, so to create this self-sustaining colony, they’re selling honey and keeping bees healthy. This is how we save the bees, one movement at a time,” Dennard said. “The bee population, it’s dying a death by a thousand cuts. Pests, diseases, chemicals, climate change, it all screws up flowering patterns. The mites are the worst; they transmit viruses. The bees are stressed and infected, and the hive collapses. So, we have to stay ahead of the fight, and that’s all about education and advocacy.” Bottled honey is still the core of the business behind that advocacy, but Dennard and his crew continue to find new ways to share the honey romance, from soaps and salves to hand and body care creams. He predicts one of their newest inventions, a Tupelo honey hot sauce infused with Jamaican Scotch bonnet peppers, is “going Savannah Bee’s founder and president Ted Dennard inspects honeycomb from a beehive on Great Exuma Island, where he worked closely with local residents to restore the island’s honeybee population.
to literally knock your socks off.” The company is also launching a Peace Honey brand, with sale proceeds directed to Savannah’s Frank Callen Boys & Girls Club to help educate beekeepers of color.
EVERYTHING WE DO, IT’S ALL ABOUT BEING SYMBIOTIC WITH NATURE. The 54-year-old is still in awe that he has been able to continue his mentor’s mission, to make beekeeping and education a way of life for wife, Carolyn, and his four kids. “Everything we do, it’s all about being symbiotic with nature and contributing positive ripples to the world,” he said. “I feel like the luckiest man. I love what I do, and I feel like I’m making a difference. How lucky is that? That’s the gold right there.” For more information about Savannah Bee Company, including a list of products, and to learn more about The Bee Cause Project and Exuma Project, visit savannahbee.com.
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
W R I T T E N & P H OTO G R A P H Y BY: DAV I D S E W E L L
December 31, 1999. The world stands on the precipice of the muchhyped Y2K millennial shift. I, however, stand on the bow of a flats skiff staked out on a channel pass in Belize waiting for one of the most elusive fi sh on the planet. I imagine the intensity to be akin to hunting German U-boats in the Caribbean during World War II. My expectant wife sat in the jump seat eating delicious peanut butter cookies. How we got here is a long and winding story that started in Montana. The guide stands disinterested on the poling platform staring into the azure middle ground. Time inches by painfully slow. “Feesh . . . “Where?” “There . . .” “Where exactly is there?” “11 o’clock coming toward you . . .” (Could we have not just started with the clock hand designation?) The “feesh” were a pair of large permit cruising through the channel. The sickle rapier of a dorsal fin and an all-knowing eye that resembles the moon. Multiple years, flight transfers, and boat rides had brought us to this moment in time. I held the crab fly between my thumb and forefinger feeling the punch of the hook tip. Some epoxy, deer hair, sillylooking bead eyes, and crazy legs were going to fool this thing into eating? Apparently, the imitation of life. All I had to do was make the cast as they slid into range. So very simple in theory. Like lassoing a submarine. “Cast, NOW.” False cast, set up the double haul, feel the rod load, the leader unfurls behind, apply the power, drop the line hand, shoot the line, and . . . What happened next still remains one of the greater mysteries of my life. I did not see the crab gently touch down as anticipated in 2 feet of clear water 3 feet ahead of the lead permit. I, instead, felt the crab fi nd purchase in the small of my back in my expensive fi shing shirt as I completely blew the cast. The “feesh” didn’t care; they glided by in a phantom-like suspension, and I think one rolled his or her eye up at me. I looked at the guide. He looked away and simply said, “beeg feeshes.”
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
“What now?” I asked.
back toward you at an unexpected high velocity. Then, there is the hookset, jump, tail walk, color display, drag sing of the reel, head and
“Nothing, they leave. Now we leave.”
shoulder shake, fi nal surge, wallow, and submission into the net or hand. Then the release if you so choose. And I, for the most part, do.
Blame it on the wind, blame it on a myriad of things. I simply screwed up the cast. And, I am okay with that.
However, one of my earliest memories of fishing involved a glorious fall weekend at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. The bluefish “were
Peanut butter cookie? We caught multiple permit the next day, but not
in” as they say, and my father had us in the right place. Two heavy surf
on a fly rod. Not quite the same, and they weren’t big “feeshes” like
rods—one baited, the other armed with a hammered silver Hopkins
these behemoths.
plug—brought what seemed like a hundred bluefish to the beach, which I was then instructed to bury in the sand to keep cool and fresh. I grew
Just as with water fowling, I can offer no true advice except to maybe not take up the sport of fly-fi shing, with the exception that it will probably lead you to some great people to spend time with
tired of reeling fish and resorted to simply running backwards up the beach, in essence extracting the fish from the water. We put them in buckets and rolled newspaper and dragged them back to a
on a boat or wading in a stream or saltwater flat, either in your
Volkswagen Bug. Then, seemingly hours of cleaning and burying
own backyard or the far reaches of the world.
guts in the garden, then baked bluefish, hushpuppies, slaw, and grits for a week. However, what I still recall most vividly about
Fly-fi shing is an equally awful obsession as water fowling. All
that experience is not the quantity of fish in hand but the sight
the pretty colors of fly lines, gaudy saltwater and bass fl ies,
of hundreds, if not thousands, of fish chasing bait and free
subtle trout fl ies, shimmery graphite rods, the sheer artistry
jumping. Each time a wave crested, the water turned into a
of bamboo fly rods, unimaginable colors of trout and tropical
shimmering mass of silvers, greens, and blues, of fins and scales.
species, mid-Atlantic false albacore, local redfi sh, and backyard
Fish intend on only one thing: eating to the point of gluttony and
bass and bream. The sunrises and sunsets, the pastel and gray skies,
completing the circle of life as they migrate down the coastline. And the
the endless big skies, calm water, tepid fl ats, and angry inlets. Salt
resultant frenzy of birds marking every school. And the sound of predator
spray, humidity, wind, heat, rain, cold, and more wind. Insects, snakes,
and prey locked in combat. I see it still; it will never leave me.
windburn, sunburn, chapped lips, cramped hands, fatigue . . . it’s all there. Road trips and trailering boats, blown transmissions, clutches
There is a hotel now at the site where we stood so many years ago—
and trailer bearings.
reddened from October sun and wind, exhausted from dragging bluefi sh across high dunes that I wish I could now attack on a motorcycle. No
I grew up fishing the way I imagine most young boys raised in the South
one was wearing any specific technical fi shing clothes that breathed or
did: a bamboo rod in the form of a cane pole, a piece of 20-pound test
provided UPF protection. My dad was wearing khaki pants, an oxford
monofi lament, cork, worms, and crickets to fool the sunfish that lurked
cloth shirt, a windbreaker, and canvas tennis shoes with holes cut in
in the shadows of boat houses and tree branches. That tackle collectively
them for drainage. I was wearing Toughskin jeans and a Washington
may have cost $3. Then, the bream lost favor to the bass that inhabited
Redskins sweatshirt. Once sufficiently wet, that outfit translated into
the same waters. Field & Stream magazines fi lled my head with all sorts
a chafe-inducing suit of armor. It was a simpler time. There wasn’t
of things that I thought I both wanted and needed. Slowly, catching fish
another person in sight. But I was with my favorite person.
on worms, crickets, bread, hot dogs, and dog food paled in comparison to all sorts of tempting artificial and plastic lures. I could ride my bike to
Then, during college, came the job in an outdoor retail store that sold
catch these fish with my friends. People to the feesh.
fly rods and a friendship with a true duckaholic and fly-fishing master. I eyed the graphite offerings daily, sold them to other unsuspecting
Soon, the seductive action of topwater fi shing would become a lifelong
fools, then finally gave in. That first fly rod led me to Piedmont
obsession and would lead into the dark underworld of fly-fi shing. It’s
North Carolina bass and bream and Western North Carolina trout. I
visual and audible and savage and subtle. The strike leads to a spray of
foolishly traded it like I have done so many times with guns and now
water, an audible slurp, and sometimes a heavily hooked lure hurtling
want it back.
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Then “the movie” arrived and suddenly everyone wanted to be Brad Pitt and fish in Montana. Since I find myself equally as handsome as Mr. Pitt, there was no envy there, but I did want to experience Montana. Somehow—and I still am not sure how this transpired—I managed to marry extremely well and then dupe her into a honeymoon in Montana. On day three of that trip, we met one of the most special people of our lives. Luck and fate had led us to a friendship that has spanned decades and generations. We returned for several years and had the greatest of times: I witnessed my bride dive into a frigid alpine lake to retrieve a drift boat that slipped out of the collective grasp of a world-class guide and less-than-semi-competent angler (me). Our yearly trips were suspended by 9/11, work, life, and raising children, but years later, we found ourselves sitting on the porch of his home with his children, our children, and another guide we met on our honeymoon. The funny thing is, I really don’t remember the fi sh now, but I remember lunch on the spring creek, the photograph that sits on our bathroom counter to this day, the wine, the strawberry chicken salad, the chocolate chip cookies, and the tea with milk. I remember the teal that flew up the spring creek, the geese that winged over Paradise Valley, wandering into an art gallery in downtown Livingston, helping the artist set up for a sidewalk art show, and the artist giving two newlyweds a couple of lithographs. (I knew who the artist was and am still somewhat star-struck by that occurrence.)
Feesh friends
I remember the cheeseburgers at The Sport and the gazpacho at Livingston Bar and Grille. All because of the feesh and the people. Those days and relationships fostered in Montana led us to Belize on the cusp of a new century. We have also been fortunate to fi sh with other really good guides (one in particular in southeastern North Carolina) who have become friends. I always come back to the experience rather than the take—the conversations, the musings, the complaining, the food, and the hope with a new tide. Sometimes you forget the fi sh entirely. You get to step on a boat or into a stream
David's daughter, Laney, and son, Hampton
or fl at and step away from everything else. I have been fortunate enough to experience a fair number of fi sh successfully on a fly rod, from saltwater fl ats species to trout, bass, local redfi sh, and the humble bream. They are all different and all the same: the colors, the feel, the smell. We are fortunate that we can experience really great fly-fi shing right here in our collective backyards—either saltwater or fresh. I will offer no tackle, knot, boat, or casting advice other than to choose wisely, whether it be a cane pole, a graphite fly rod, or a $3,000 bamboo fly rod. The feesh won’t care. But more importantly, choose your feesh people well.
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Heart CH A M PION Written by: Patrick Kerrison
When you drive to the famed shorelines of South Carolina, you’ll often see two-, three-, or four-rail fences housing bucolic farmlands. Inside those gates, you will find acre upon acre of lush, bright, green grass roamed by some of the most magnificent creatures ever to take a breath.
T H I S I S HOR S E C OU N T RY. With spring events such as the Aiken Triple Crown and Camden’s Carolina Cup, plus the Lowcountry’s Steeplechase of Charleston in autumn, this region is no stranger to the thrills of thoroughbred horse racing. Of course, where there are horses, there are horsemen and women like Eddie and Kate Maple, a pair of Northeastern imports who made Bluffton, South Carolina, their home 15 years ago. If, for some reason, you find the surname familiar, it may be because Maple is a Hall of Fame jockey.
PHOTO: Bob Coglianese
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PHOTO: Courtesy of Keeneland
You may also know him as the last jockey ever to pilot the great Secretariat in the champion’s fi nal race of his career: the Canadian International at Woodbine Racetrack. However, that was just one of thousands of victories in a long, brilliant career as a horse jockey. Fast-forward 25 years from that day to a warm afternoon in May 1998. Maple was about to receive the Mike Venezia Memorial Award (given to a rider who embodies great sportsmanship and citizenship) when he decided it was time. He announced his retirement from racing. The news came as a shock to those around him, but his mind was made up. A riding career of 33 years that included 4,398 career wins was coming an end. “After I retired from riding, my wife, Kate, and I opened up a garden specialty shop in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island.” Things went well, and after eight years, they decided to sell the shop and fi nd a home closer to their two sons. It was 2006 and their boys, Iver and Edward, were building their own lives and careers in Atlanta, Georgia.
PHOTO (top): Bob Coglianese PHOTO (bottom): Courtesy of The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
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The Maples were unsure where to shift their tack. They traveled a bit looking at numerous homes and farms in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia before they settled in Bluff ton.
PHOTO: Courtesy of Keeneland
“We were looking at a farm in Hazlehurst, Georgia,” Maple said, “and someone else got to it before we did. The guy who was selling it told us about a place he had here in Bluff ton. So, we came out here, saw it, and bought it.” From the time they settled in, in 2006, Maple served as general manager at the Rose Hill Equestrian Center—a 50-acre fenced equestrian center that offered riding lessons and boarding services to the public. Born and raised in Carrollton, Ohio, Maple started riding at the age of 12 when he took a job on a thoroughbred farm. After a couple of years there, he took summer jobs at the racetrack. “I love horses. I love being around them,” he said. “If it weren’t a farm
Three months later, he won his fi rst race at Ascot Park in Akron, Ohio,
or a track that I learned at, and it was an equestrian center instead, I
and so much has happened since.
would have worked just for riding lessons.” He rode the Midwest circuit for a while then moved east. He rode in
BU T H E C U T H I S T E E T H AT T H E T R AC K , A N D ON H I S 17 T H BI RT H DAY, H E RODE H I S F I R S T R AC E .
Maryland and in New Jersey at Monmouth Park. That’s where he met Kate. “She lived in Long Branch where Monmouth is at,” he said. “She got a job galloping horses for trainer Jimmy Croll. She wasn’t a regular gallop girl; she had a lot of experience riding equestrian but not racehorses.” Maple started to laugh and said, “She got run away with a lot.”
“We ran fourth that day. She ran a good race, and right after it was over, I had to run to the barn and walk the horse. She needed to be
On December 27, 1970, Maple crossed the wire with his biggest win to
cooled out.”
date: he got Kate to the altar, and she said, “I do.”
SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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Three months later came another confidence boost.
He has won 4,398 races including 60 Grade I stake races—the highest level of thoroughbred competition.
“It wasn’t until [March] 1971 when I rode Eastern Fleet, and we won the Florida Derby. That’s when I opened my eyes and had an idea of what
He also rode and won the last race of one of the best horses to ever look
lay ahead for me in this business.”
through a bridle: Secretariat. He has a pair of Belmont Stakes wins on his résumé too.
They headed north to New York, and the competition was brutal. Every day he was up against some of the greats—Manuel Ycaza, Johnny
But he certainly didn’t do it alone. Kate’s support has served as a
Rotz, and William Hartack—all Hall of Fame riders. There were also
contributing factor in the construction of a Hall of Fame career. Part
his contemporaries—Ángel Cordero Jr., Jorge Velásquez, and Jacinto
of the exhausting drudgery in the career of a jockey is maintaining
Vásquez—also all Hall of Fame inductees.
a proper weight, which requires sacrifice and dedication every day. It is part of the sport no one sees or knows about when they see the
“I loved it,” Maple said. “I was just so happy to be in my shoes. I was
fanfare of the Kentucky Derby on television. But every jockey knows
more than delighted with what I was doing for a living and how I
it all too well.
was doing.” “Kate took great care of me. She cooked for me every night,” he said. “What about becoming Hall of Famer?” I asked him.
“We didn’t ever do takeout. Every meal there was at least one vegetable on the plate and a salad. We ate a lot of fish also. There was a market
“Not even in my sights,” he said. “Never thought of it.”
down the street from us, and Kate would always get us something fresh. Eating healthy was always the norm in our house.”
He began to reminisce on his first days around horses. “When I first started mucking stalls, I loved it. I would do whatever was asked of me
In Bluffton, those habits didn’t change. A lovely home, a temperate
just to be near them.”
environment, and great seafood doesn’t hurt, either.
The Hall of Fame may not have been in Maple’s sights but what a
“We like it here. The weather is to our liking. Just this morning, it was
highlight reel he has put together over the years. He has ridden in
30 degrees, and now it’s in the low 60s. It is seasonal here, and the
more than 33,000 races including nine appearances in the Kentucky
summers can get hot. There are the thunderstorms too. Sometimes
Derby. The closest he came to victory was in 1982 when his horse
they can be tough. Horses don’t like thunderstorms.”
Laser Light finished second to Gato Del Sol.
PHOTO: Maggie Kimmett
T H E M A PL E S A R E N ’ T J US T HOR S E F OL K , T HOUG H . “We love the bird life here, both Kate and me. We really enjoy that aspect of living here.” But on a late afternoon in July 2019, everything changed. “Kate suffered a stroke,” Maple said from his home. “When I found her, she was on the kitchen floor. I thought she may have fallen, but there was no blood. Her eyes were wide open, no blinking, and I asked her what happened. She couldn’t answer.” Doctors told them it would take anywhere from 12 to 17 months for the recovery process. Speaking to Maple in January of this year, they are now in month 18, and improvements have been made. “The wheelchair is collecting cobwebs now,” he said. “Kate is using a cane to help her walk. Her speech is better, but sometimes the connectivity of brain to mouth and getting the right words out is a struggle.” Eddie Maple is a full-time caregiver now.
PHOTO: Maggie Kimmett
F OR T H E
Love
OF A
Horse
“ NO HOU R OF L I F E I S WA S T E D T H AT I S S PE N T I N T H E S A DDL E .”
at Belmont in 1993. After two years racing at
– Winston Churchill
horse. After living with the Maples in Long Island,
Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga, Crandall retired in 1995 and became Kate’s pleasure Crandall made the move to Bluff ton, where now,
Although retired from the world of horse
at 30 years old, she is enjoying her days in the
racing, Eddie and Kate Maple will always be
pastures at Lawton Stables at The Sea Pines
horse people. And their beloved pride and joy,
Resort on Hilton Head Island.
Crandall, is a testament to that. And while Kate may not be able to ride her Bred in Lexington, Kentucky, by Kate Maple
beloved horse, Eddie jumps back in the saddle at
and fellow jockey Craig Perret, Crandall is
least once a week, and they both visit Crandall
the daughter of Clamoring and Bet Twice,
every time they’re on the island for Kate’s
an American thoroughbred racehorse with a
rehabilitation appointments.
Belmont Stakes win. With Eddie in the saddle, she began her racing career as a 3-year-old
Time well spent, indeed.
SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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PHOTO: Bob Coglianese
PHOTOS: C ourtesy of Keeneland
“I would say Kate and I have been closer these last six months than
13,249 times in the money, Classic winners, riding titles, and so much
we have in a long time,” he shared. “The fi rst year of recovery was
more—was to be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall
really hard for her. It was frustrating and very painful.”
of Fame. For me, it was long overdue.
Maple, however, is grateful to still be in good shape. “There are times
In my eyes, what made him amazing were also the 20,725 times he
I need to lift and carry her, whether it be to a chair, in and out of bed,
didn’t hit the board, yet he kept coming back.
or to bathe her. Of course, I keep telling her she has to get well in case I fall down one day. I’ll be expecting her to pick me up.” I swear I
It was the number of times he was thrown, had his ribs cracked, and
could hear his smile through the phone when he said that.
had his kidneys bruised, along with the countless ankle, wrist, back, and knee sprains that he muscled through.
Even before this interview, I felt like I knew Eddie. You see, I grew up in racing. Belmont, Aqueduct, and Saratoga. Every weekend I could,
It was the hard work of maintaining a healthy lifestyle for a 33-year career.
I went to the track and bet on every horse Eddie Maple ever rode. He was my idol. Other than my own father, there wasn’t a man on this
It was, is, and will forever be the genuine adoration he has for Kate
earth I wanted to be more like. He won big races, rode great horses,
and their relationship full of love and friendship that has lasted
and made me more than a few bucks.
throughout more than 50 years of marriage.
E DDI E M A PL E WA S M Y H E RO.
This wasn’t just a Hall of Fame career as a rider. This is a Hall of Fame life that Kate and Eddie Maple built together.
In 2009, 14 years after being declared eligible and 11 years after his retirement, the phone rang. Maple—along with his 4,398 wins,
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That, in and of itself, makes him more of a hero to me now than he ever was. •
THE PROMENADE | BLUFFTON, SC | 843.757.2529 | www.ksmid.com
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in the Blue Ridge
Get away to Asheville, North Carolina, the creative mountain town known as the
Paris of the South.”
“
I’VE BEEN A DELTA AIRLINES FREQUENT FLYER since 1993. By the time you read this article, 14 months will have passed since my last flight— by far the longest I’ve ever kept two feet on the ground. But after a year marked by COVID-19 travel concerns, Asheville, North Carolina—an easy three-hour drive from my hometown of Atlanta—has emerged as a literal breath of fresh air. I recently spent a wonderful birthday weekend eating, drinking, and hiking my way around Asheville; just a few hours north of Atlanta felt like a total (and much-needed) world away. Here are some of my top picks for spending 48 hours in this special mountain town. Too many places to go, see, eat, and drink on this list? Well, you’ll just have to plan a return trip for October, when Blue Ridge Mountain leaf-peeping season is at its peak.
WRITTEN BY: ANNA MINTZ
where to stay The Foundry Hotel is one of Asheville’s newest hotels (it opened its doors in late 2018). This Curio Collection by Hilton property beautifully references the historic building’s previous life as a metal foundry. The industrial-chic rooms feature luxury bedding and bath products, blackout shades (a must-have for any vacation getaway!), and turndown service with nightly treats. But my favorite feature might be its perfect downtown Asheville location—just a few blocks from some of my favorite breweries and restaurants in town, including White Duck Taco Shop, Rhubarb, and the adjacent Benne on Eagle. (More on those later!) If you’re up for an outdoor adventure but aren’t ready to go full-on camper, “glamping”—glamorous camping—might be the perfect compromise! At Asheville Glamping, experiences range from bell tents to domes to vintage Airstreams to adult treehouses, so feel free to choose your own adventure. Best of all? No matter which way you choose to “glamp,” air-conditioning and private bathrooms are included!
PHOTOS: Courtesy of The Foundry Hotel, a Raines Hospitality hotel
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What to Do My mother is a professional artist, and I’ve known since I was a child that her painting studio is a sacred space, a do-not-disturb zone of epic proportions—which is why I was shocked when I first heard that there was an entire neighborhood in Asheville devoted to artists opening up their working studio spaces to visitors and shoppers. One of my favorite artists in the mile-long River Arts District is Michael Hofman, whose Wedge Studios space showcases his beautiful earth-tone, lace-
Biltmore has held its claim to fame as
America’s Largest Home since the end of the 19th century.
stamped porcelain and pottery pieces. Plan to spend several hours and up to an entire afternoon strolling along the French Broad River and engaging directly with artists to learn about their craft. And if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll even bring home a piece as a souvenir!
No visit to Asheville is complete without a visit to the breathtaking grounds of the Biltmore Estate. George and Edith Vanderbilt’s family “country home” (I use that term very loosely), which has held its claim to fame as “America’s Largest Home” since the end of the 19th century, is open to visitors year-round. With the Biltmore Blooms celebration in full swing, spring is a particularly beautiful time to visit the property (perhaps second only to Christmastime!). Make sure to leave yourself enough time to enjoy a glass of wine at the on-property winery before or after your tour. There’s certainly no shortage of hiking options in the Asheville area. Trails range from the rigorous Linville Gorge (about 60 miles from downtown Asheville), to the short and sweet Skinny Dip Falls trail (1-mile round trip), to my personal favorites, Mount Mitchell—the highest summit east of the Mississippi—and Black Balsam Knob, where wildflowers and gorgeous views abound. Not into hiking but want to see the views (or snag the perfect photo op!)? Hop in your car and take the Blue Ridge Parkway through some of the most beautiful vistas in Western North Carolina.
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Pro tip: Plan ahead for lunch on the go by reserving a picnic basket for two from Chef John Fleer’s The Rhu. With locally sourced favorites such as Sunburst cold-smoked trout, pimiento cheese, and Benton’s prosciutto and a selection of bread, pastry, and dessert delights from Pastry Chef Kaley Laird, you can choose from one of several themed menus or build your own basket from a number of offerings. First opened in 1948 in a former library space, the Asheville Art Museum recently underwent a full and major renovation, reopening to the public in November 2019. The museum’s collections focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art with a special emphasis on North Carolina–based artists (including those from Black Mountain College), and its small size makes it easy to get a complete experience within a couple of hours. Asheville has earned the moniker “Beer City USA” for a good reason. With more breweries per capita than any other city in the country, there are about 100 local beers available around town at any given time. With so many options at your disposal, you really can’t go wrong, but many of my favorite breweries are conveniently located in downtown Asheville’s South Slope Brewery District within walking distance to The Foundry—another bonus of that hotel’s location! If you’re an ale lover, check out Green Man Brewery, one of Asheville’s oldest craft breweries, for one of their IPA variations. With head-scratcher brews such as Skillet Donut Stout and End of Plagues IPA served in a vibrant outdoor beer garden, Burial Beer Co. is one of the liveliest taprooms in town. Into something a little sourer? The aptly named Funkatorium from Wicked Weed is the East Coast’s first taproom dedicated to sour beer. (The indoor-outdoor space is also especially COVID-friendly.)
PHOTOS: Courtesy of The Rhu
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
Where to Eat Celebrating its 20 th year in business in 2021, Early Girl Eatery is a longtime staple for Southern comfort food. They’re open all day, but I’m partial to a breakfast visit. Their scratch-made buttermilk multigrain pancakes are hands down the best you’ll ever have. Blink and you’ll miss OWL (Old World Levain) Bakery! Great for grabbing a coffee and a pastry to go, this West Asheville bakery is small but incredibly mighty. I like to treat myself to a fancy latte and a classic chocolate croissant, but you can’t go wrong with any of the more creative seasonal pastries and breads, including cardamom buns, fig & coriander loaves, and lemon curd tarts. Don’t let the location fool you: even though Asheville is in Western North Carolina, Buxton Hall Barbecue specializes in Eastern Carolina whole-hog ’cue. A collaboration between pitmaster Elliott Moss and Asheville restaurateur and five-time James Beard Award nominee Meherwan Irani (whose Indian street food restaurant Chai Pani is another downtown Asheville winner), Buxton Hall highlights pasture-raised pit-smoked meats and local produce. The pulled wholehog barbecue is the star here, but don’t sleep on the veggies. I dream about their Southern stewed baby limas. I could eat tacos almost every day, and White Duck Taco Shop (which has three locations in the Asheville area) boasts more than enough affordable options to keep me coming back for more every time I’m in town. If I see fried chicken on any menu, it’s almost always a must-order for me, so I gravitate toward the crispy chicken BLT taco here. Other unique selections include the Korean beef bulgogi, banh mi tofu, and the eponymous roast duck with mole sauce. Order two tacos—three if you’re really hungry— at the counter, grab a seat outside, and enjoy. Whenever I recommend Rhubarb to people unfamiliar with the restaurant or its lauded chef, I start with one simple sentence: John Fleer is a vegetable wizard. Owner and executive chef John Fleer’s freestyle American cuisine is rooted in Appalachia, highlighting bounty procured from Asheville’s surrounding farmers and producers, with each produce-forward plate reflecting Chef Fleer’s ability to transform seasonal local ingredients into a world-class dish . . . like a wizard. The hyper-seasonal menu changes frequently (if you see ramps dishes on the menu this spring, order them all!), but the pimiento cheese hush puppies with comeback sauce and Sunburst North Carolina trout with seasonal vegetables are delightful constants. Make your reservation in advance and request a patio table for some fern-laced people watching in neighboring Pack Square.
Whenever I recommend Rhubarb, I start with one simple sentence:
John Fleer is a vegetable wizard. PHOTOS: Courtesy of Rhubarb
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At Benne on Eagle, Chef John Fleer (yes, he’s a busy man!) and rising star Chef de Cuisine Malcolm McMillian honor the culinary history of Asheville’s historically Black neighborhood with a menu of Appalachian soul food. Though the restaurant was recognized by TIME magazine as one of the “World’s Greatest Places” in 2019 and has been named to numerous “Best New Restaurants in America” lists, the vibe from the open kitchen is warm, friendly, and thoroughly un-stuff y. The menu changes monthly, but you can almost always fi nd melt-in-your-mouth short ribs, a variation on a purloo (a rice dish akin to jambalaya), and the restaurant’s famous baked macaroni and cheese. Finish the night with a slice of Pastry Chef Kaley Laird’s hummingbird cake and roll yourself off to bed. These are just a few of the people, places, and activities that make Asheville such a special vacation spot. Whether you’re traveling solo for a mental health break, reuniting with a group of friends, enjoying a romantic getaway for two, or seeking family-friendly fun for all, there’s an experience for everyone in this thriving mountain town. And best of all? This is just the tip of the iceberg. I’m off to plan my next visit! PHOTOS: Johnny Autry
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PO Box 1928 | Bluffton, SC 29910 | (843) 247-5452 | csthomasconstruction.com
COURTESY OF MONTAGE PALMETTO BLUFF
The way home.
Henny Penny Written by: Kristen Constantineau
Photography by: Photography by Anne, Inc.
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“The sky is falling! The sky is fal li ng Or so said little Henny Penny !” Being a right-brained creative with an artistic
in the classic children’s tale of the same name.
flair—not to mention a coffee lover with two
A beloved story more commonly known in the
children—it wasn’t long before I discovered this
United States as Chicken Little, Henny Penny is a
hidden gem in downtown Savannah. Located
European folktale about a chicken that believes
just a few blocks from Forsyth Park and offering
the world is coming to an end after an acorn hits
made-from-scratch baked goods, sandwiches,
her on the head.
and coffee from renowned Savannah-roasted
to express themselves . . . all while enjoying a
Perc Coffee, Henny Penny is a family-friendly art
little free time themselves with, perhaps, a sweet
And while it may have seemed like little Henny
space that caters to both parents and children.
treat, sandwich, coffee, or mimosa (yes, please!).
Penny was right and the world was indeed
(A win-win if you ask me.)
coming to an end in 2020, this story is not one of
And because I’m also all about their mission
morals or doomsday. Sure, it includes a familiar
With brightly colored paintings of the classic
of supporting the “parent tribe,” I wanted to
cast of characters, but this is a story where the fox
Henny Penny characters adorning the walls, a
introduce others to this unique stress-free
is not the villain, but more of a mother hen.
large chalkboard perfect for doodling, shelves
environment where parents can actually fi nd a
of crafting items including beads and feathers,
moment to relax or have that much-needed coffee
But enough about folktales. This story actually
and rows of tables covered in paint splatters left
break with a friend because your kids can wander
begins with a fox.
behind by petite Picassos, the art “side” of Henny
about, have fun, and just be creative (without a
Penny beckons little ones to drop their electronic
side eye in sight).
devices and create a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. And while they’re coloring or crafting or
So, I sat down with Jennifer Jenkins, owner of
doodling away to their hearts’ content, parents
Henny Penny Art Space & Café , over—what else—
are able to relax knowing their children are free
coffee to learn the story of her Henny Penny.
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Originally from Texas but a self-proclaimed
And according to Jen, finding a building with
And being a fairly new mom to son, Ison, she
Navy brat who was raised all over the United
a commercial kitchen already built out was like
also knew that she wanted this new space to be
States, Jen credits her grandmother Mildred
“trying to find a unicorn.” And so, she and co-
more of a kid-focused place where parents and
Fox (the original “Foxy Loxy”) with the
owner Anjelica Lee had to go with it.
kids alike could gather. So, what do you do when
inspiration behind her four Savannah-based
you’ve already got a successful business named
businesses: Foxy Loxy, described as equal parts
Head baker at Foxy Loxy Anjel “was going to
after a well-known storybook character (albeit
coffee shop, bakery, and Tex-Mex cantina; The
be managing all the cafés and the bakery team
the villain)? You delve further into the story and
Coffee Fox (with two locations), a chic coffee
. . . all of that very challenging work of being the
introduce the protagonist.
house offering espresso drinks and pour-overs,
general manager,” Jen says. And she was going
plus pastries, cheese plates, wine, and beer; and
to be doing it all from this new location.
the newest addition to the Foxy family, Fox &
Welcome to Henny Penny. It’s fun and playful (and a place where Jen can let out her “inner
Fig, a vegan café featuring a creative plant-
With Anjel managing the team behind an already-
Francophile”), and it’s the perfect companion to
based menu crafted from locally sourced and
established family of fox-named businesses,
her spicy sibling down the street, Tex-Mex café
seasonal ingredients.
Jen knew that she wanted to build on the brand
Foxy Loxy.
and keep the “fox” connection, yet she also knew “We started with Foxy Loxy and then we opened
that she needed to make this new space different
“I come from an art background and a lot of what we
The Coffee Fox, that was second, pretty quick
enough from Foxy Loxy just down the street.
would talk about is a piece being a slow read. And
back-to-back. And then I had probably a good
so, I think of Henny Penny as a slow read, where you
five years where I just stuck with Foxy Loxy and
first come in contact with it, but then gradually if
The Coffee Fox,” Jen says.
you get all the connections it’s like an aha moment.
But the foxes were growing out of their dens. “The initial driving force to open Henny Penny is that we were outgrowing our space in our kitchen, and we needed a place for our bakery team. We need[ed] to open a place for our bakers. From there it went to just finding the right building.
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“I come from an art background, and a lot of what we would talk about is a piece being a slow read. And so, I think of Henny Penny as a slow read.”
With Foxy and Coffee Fox established, I could take a few risks with Henny Penny,” Jen reflects. With a space and a name, it was now time for Jen to figure out how she was going to differentiate from Foxy and cater to the younger crowd. Enter Carrie Christian from Scribble Art Studio.
And it just happened to be that the right building
Fellow Savannah College of Art and Design
was four blocks away from Foxy.”
(SCAD) graduate and part of Jen’s mom tribe with
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two small children herself, Carrie was looking
rules and requirements, they found a way to
to add “something for the parents” to her kids’
continue their art activities and offer families a
art studio on 37 Street. Knowing Jen excelled
place where the parent and the child can enjoy
at coffee, she approached her with an idea.
themselves.
“Carrie’s idea solved the problem for me of
So, what’s next for Henny Penny? Well, I won’t
like ‘We’re super close to Foxy, how do we
give away the ending, but let’s just say that the
differentiate ourselves and have it still be needed
sky is the limit (perhaps figuratively and literally).
th
on this block?’ She was all for it,” she says. But for now, it’s back to a slow read. So, with Jen’s background in specialty coffee and Carrie’s in the kids’ art world, it was another
“The positive side of COVID is that everything
match made in storybook heaven.
got quiet for a second and peaceful, and I start[ed] questioning why everything had to be
And on April 7, 2017, Henny Penny hatched.
so much. Why can’t we just enjoy coffee and art . . . and a courtyard? I think for me personally coming out of this, I want to be very picky about what we reintroduce in that’s special [and]
And like with any new fledgling, it’s been a long
different. Aside from doing what we really do
growth process. After three years of building
every single day in a really good rhythm and just
their “slow read” with Henny Penny, it had fi nally
being good humans. Why can’t that be enough?”
clicked with people and become profitable. They
Jen wonders.
made big plans to celebrate their three-year birthday in April 2020 (with a Parisian/French
And while being a good human and tending
carnival theme), but then came COVID-19. And
to her young business is Jen’s priority, she’s
for some, it did appear that the sky was falling.
always looking for more ways to infuse art into the programming at Henny Penny while
“We never did shut down. The fi rst phase was
supporting the parent tribe and the local
ending all the inside activity and ending all
Savannah community.
the art stuff ,” she says. Food orders were placed inside while patrons then waited outside for their
Pop-ups with E. Shaver Booksellers. Collaborations
order. But what about the art? What about the
with libraries. Music. A train to Foxville. And
one thing that differentiated Henny Penny from
maybe even some puppets. •
all of her other businesses? Jen was scared that they were losing their mission of supporting the parent tribe. “Carrie would try different kits, and none of it
Visit Henny Penny at 1514 Bull Street in downtown
was working,” Jen says. “She then fi nally came
Savannah or online at hennypennycafe.com. In
up with ‘let’s try this outdoor studio time on
addition to their workshops, open studio, custom-
Sundays.’ And even that . . . everything takes
designed arts and crafts kits, and specialty food
a while to build and get people into their new
and drink items, including their staple kolaches,
habits, especially families, into new routines.”
paninis, vegan donuts, and wine and beer, it’s a great place for parents and kids to just sit . . . and
But it worked. Regulars began returning to the Henny Penny nest once again for that muchneeded creative outlet and outdoor family time. Even with mask mandates and social distancing
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
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An emergency room administrator walks away from a sixfigure salary for a six-dollaran-hour gig in a kitchen. Written by: Courtney Hampson | Photography by: Krisztian Lonyai
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An emergency room administrator walks away from a six-figure salary for a six-dollar-an-hour gig in a kitchen. After a decade in health care and despite the lucrative career trajectory, Matt Wallace’s heart was pointing him in another direction. So, he left the hospital behind and began a 60-mile commute to Athens, Georgia, and to Farm 255. There, the farm-to-table movement was in full bloom, and Wallace was hungry—for culinary skills and knowledge. “At Farm 255, I learned how to take care of things. Every employee had to work on the farm at least once a month. Your pay was what you picked.” From there, he headed to Woodfire Grill in Atlanta, where owner/chef Kevin Gillespie’s Top Chef star was just starting to sparkle. At Woodfire, Wallace learned technique—how to cut a fish, how to season, and, more importantly, the difference between season and spice. “I also learned that showing up early and staying late gains you favor,” Wallace said. From Atlanta, Wallace’s tour de Georgia continued in Augusta, where, among other things, he was responsible for Mercedes’ catering during the Masters, no small feat. Eventually, he made his way to Hilton Head and Clayton Rollison’s Lucky Rooster, a busy tourist-driven spot where he learned “how to serve 300 people in four and a half hours.” A few culinary consulting jobs followed as Wallace learned the business side of restaurants, every stop on his journey providing valuable lessons that brought him to today, where he stands behind the bar in his own restaurant tucked tidily into a 900-square-foot space. Blacksheep is a culmination of Wallace’s experience, dreams, and, frankly, life savings. A little brick building on Boundary Street in Beaufort, South Carolina, Wallace and his wife had driven by the spot dozens of times. “When I saw it was vacant, I finally got up the nerve to call, and the price was too high. A few months later, it was still vacant. I called again; price was still too high. A year later, the owner was finally willing to negotiate with me,” Wallace said.
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/-“
Blacksheep is a culmination of Wallace’s experience, dreams, and, frankly, life savings.
The star of the show: with no oven and no range, Wallace cooks every dish in Dolly — a 550-degree wood-fired oven..
Wallace spent a few months perfecting his concept, sketching
Instead, what has developed is even more special than Wallace
potential logos, and writing check after check from his savings
realized it could be. He knew this was not going to be easy; it
account when COVID-19 hit. Suddenly, he was planning a restaurant
would be different than anything he had ever experienced. To
opening two months into a pandemic with a 50 percent capacity
start, Blacksheep’s kitchen is likely smaller than yours, and there
guideline. Everything had changed. The original plan of a small but
is no oven, no hood, no range. Wallace is cooking every dish in a
loud place—where fi rst-come, fi rst-served tables abutted each other
550-degree wood-fi red oven. Now dubbed “Dolly,” this oven was
and patrons shared conversations and bumped elbows while eating
brought in by the previous restaurant owner and required a wall to
lots of different things—became a six-table restaurant with a nine-
come down to get her in. So, lest he divert the bulk of his opening
item menu, where reservations are required, you cannot reach out
budget to tear that wall down again, Wallace knew she was
and touch your neighbor, and Wallace is not passing snacks across
staying put.
the bar for you to taste.
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A mix of new and old, warm, and bright all set the tone for the sensory journey you are about to begin. A curated song list vibes in the background, and the glow from Dolly warms the space so you feel like you are dining at a friend’s home. And, in essence, you are. Wallace makes sure to stop by every table, delivering a course and explaining how it is composed in order to connect with each guest at least once during their meal. Krista Duffy, the only other Blacksheep employee, serves as general manager slash hostess slash dishwasher slash sommelier and remembers every customer, their drink preferences, and, more importantly, their story. Seventy-five percent of guests are making their next reservation before they finish their last course, and that is not just because the food is stellar; it is because everything is. Duffy’s attention to detail, such as knowing you will always order coffee but will need loads of cream and sugar to get it just right (guilty), is part of the magic. Blacksheep’s menu changes every two weeks and features seven mains and two desserts, along with a thoughtful collection of beer and wine. The concept is simple: for a prix fixe price of $45, you choose three mains. Or, you do it like my eating partner and I do and order absolutely everything on the menu. At this point, the menu is simply procedural for us, because it is impossible to choose. Oh, we tried it Blacksheep’s way the first time, reverse engineering the menu to try to eliminate dishes versus selecting our favorites. We failed that exercise epically but have gained so much. (We are not alone.) Wallace orchestrates a menu mixed with cold and hot dishes (a necessity given Dolly’s capacity), but the common denominator among every dish and each menu is flavor. Flavors you never knew existed, and flavors you could never imagine pairing together. You cannot overthink the menu or question, “Do I even like beets?” It does not matter. You will love beets when you are done. What Wallace learned at Woodfire Grill was how to exploit flavors. So, Dolly stayed, and Wallace built
“Kevin Gillespie taught me that salt doesn’t necessarily come with
his concept around her. Dolly requires
pepper. I use spices and herbs and acid to bring excitement to food.
Wallace to find alternate recipes in
Anthropologically, that is how food cultures are created. We have more
lieu of classics. When he wanted
in common than we do not, so be curious, be open-minded,” he said.
cheesecake on the menu, he researched and uncovered a Spanish Basque–style
If herbs were a love language, cilantro was Wallace’s way to my heart.
cheesecake (on menu number four and
The marinated octopus on menu number one was topped with crushed
simply divine) that he could cook at a high temperature. Turns out,
peanuts, a pile of cilantro and other herbs, chili, and sweet peppers.
Dolly is teaching him a thing or two, too.
A top-three dish of all time in my culinary Rolodex. At Blacksheep, you often find yourself trying something you would not normally eat
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While Dolly may very well be the visual centerpiece when you first
or may never eat again. Last month, I watched my better half inhale
arrive, you quickly notice the deep green walls, eclectic art, vintage
a bowl of mushroom soup. He hates mushrooms. He also did not like
glassware and china, irreverent light fixtures, and the pink buffet.
fish before Blacksheep but has happily converted since.
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Lorem ipsum caption
Shaking his head, Wallace tells me that a lot of people say to him, “You’re living the dream.” He pauses for a second, and his mouth shifts into a half-smirk as he continues, “Actually, no, this a colossal amount of sacrifice, decades of sacrifice. This is a marker for me. I cannot take it too seriously, but I also cannot take it too lightly.” As Wallace continues to cook for a full house each night, shrugging at his quick success, he remains grounded in the principle that Blacksheep is a reminder to him that the most important thing one can do is follow the things that are in your heart, be your true self. So, what happens next? There is a sign in the kitchen, visible only to Wallace, that reads, “Better every day.” And he says, “That is a model and a mantra I will not ignore. We will always ask, ‘What do we need to be better?’” “There is no limit to what I can learn here,” Wallace said. Wallace is a Southerner; he loves food. But this is a new concept, and he is realizing more than ever the power of food, saying, “We’ve lost a lot this year, and I believe it is my responsibility—all restaurants’ responsibility—to bring together community. I am working to drive human connection, not in a small way, in every way.” •
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/-*
Wallace and his wife’s first date was at a Waffle House. She impressed him by calling out her order to the line cook. Wallace said, “I’ d hire a Waffle House cook in a minute. They work a system that ensures that they are professional and don’t fold under stress.”
Wallace’s Waffle House order? The chicken melt plate, extra onion, scattered, smothered, covered.
Menu 14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1. Beef. Spicy Pickles. Cheese Sauce. Melted Onion. Bread. // 2. Carrot Cake. Ginger. Sorghum. // 3. Curried Apple. Almond. Brown Butter. Thyme. Cauliflower. // 4. Camp’s Honeycomb. Aged Cheese. Fruit. Crackers. Nuts. // 5. Ricotta Dumpling. Chicken. Chicken Sauce. Fall Vegetable. Chive. // 6. Chocolate Panna Cotta. Blacksheep Marshmallow Fluff. Grahams. // 7. Chili Oil. Egg. Miso. Sesame Noodles. Greens. Sesame Oil. // 8. SPAM. Caramelized Pineapple. Carolina Gold Rice. Peas. Scallion. Egg. // 9. Blacksheep Crème Fraîche. Scallion. Sweet Potato. Serrano Chili. Avocado.
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BUILDING TO A HIGHER STANDARD P.O. Box 902 • 33 Boundary Street • Bluffton, SC 29910 • 843.757.8220 (office) • www.genesis-construction.com
Written by: Dr. Mary Socci with an introduction by Kristen Constantineau
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ILLUSTRATION: Amanda Davis
Palmetto Bluff is a special place full of discovery and adventure. And while the land may come first, our love for dogs is a close second. And this love goes back centuries. Once a spectacular summer estate built by the Wilson family over a century ago, evolving into an exclusive hunting retreat a half-century ago, to the 20,000-acre residential community with a rich sporting lifestyle that it is today, dogs have a long-standing history—and a special place in our hearts—here at the Bluff. From our community full of green spaces to run and play and miles of trails perfect for exploring, to the canine ambassadors that greet guests at Montage Palmetto Bluff and our unofficial “must love dogs” policy within the walls of our offices, our love of man’s best friend can be found in and around every corner. But this story starts with one of the first four-legged inhabitants at the Bluff.
Adjacent to the May River, and just beyond the fi re pits at the River House, lies a special plot of land that may go unnoticed by passersby. Taking up roughly 100 square feet with small tombstones is a cemetery of some of the beloved dogs of the Wilson family. However, one tombstone stands out among the rest. The single marble monument in the pet cemetery by the River House marks the burial site of Tommy, “a fi ne terrier and much-loved companion” that died December 3, 1912. He is surrounded by dogs with less expensive, concrete headstones and simpler epitaphs. So, who was Tommy and why did he receive special treatment? Tommy’s story begins in the summer of 1900 in Newport, Rhode Island. That July among the wealthy Northerners who decamped to the town’s seaside homes was Marian Mason, a 25-year-old Bostonian, who arrived with her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. E. Rollins Morse. Marian’s family was well-to-do. Her father was a physician and lecturer at Harvard’s medical school, but her aunt and uncle were
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ILLUSTRATION: Amanda Davis
the ones with the cachet that granted access to Newport’s
that Tommy’s life (and likely their livelihoods) depended
social season. (E. Rollins Morse owned brokerage and
on their success.
banking fi rms in Boston and New York and served as president of the Boston Stock Exchange.) Shortly after
As the Savannah Morning News reported two days later,
arriving in Newport, Marian went to see a litter of smooth
the men arrived at Dr. Jasme’s home around 10:00 p.m.
fox terriers that had been born in May. A white male puppy,
They explained the situation and said he was to come at
“Tommy,” went home with her.
once. Dr. Jasme was understandably hesitant—hurtling down the Savannah River and across the tidal estuaries in
Over the next 18 months, Tommy was by his mistress’s
the dark seemed like a good way to hasten his own demise.
side as Richard T. Wilson Jr., a wealthy New York banker,
But Wilson’s men refused to allow him to decline their
courted her. Tommy was waiting when Marian kicked off
request. According to the newspaper, they had been “told
her boots following an afternoon of riding with her beau
to bring Dr. Jasme back, dead or alive,” and they would not
or when she swept in after an evening of dancing. Tommy
leave until he agreed to go. Jasme reluctantly acquiesced.
may have been the fi rst one to hear that Wilson had asked her to be his wife.
At 1:00 a.m., Jasme disembarked at the Wilsons’ dock and was rushed into the lit-up
In the spring of 1902, Tommy came to
mansion—no one was asleep in the house
Palmetto Bluff with the newlyweds
despite the late hour. Jasme found
on their honeymoon. Over the next
Tommy on the bed in one of the
decade, Tommy returned each
guest bedrooms, Marian and her
winter with the Wilsons, who
husband by his side. The family’s
enjoyed the mild weather of the
physician, Dr. Taft, was also in
Lowcountry and their mansion
the room, but he readily turned
on the banks of the May River.
his canine patient over to the veterinarian. Jasme’s examination
Tommy probably savored escaping
was brief; Tommy had pneumonia,
the confi nes of a New York City
he declared. For the next few hours,
home for walks in manicured gardens
Jasme and Taft stayed with Tommy
and romps with the hunting dogs. But in an era before paved roads and automobiles, the remoteness of Palmetto Bluff was not without its
until Jasme said there was nothing more he could do for him. Whatever Jasme did do—and this was well before antibiotics were discovered—proved
perils. On April 7, 1903, Tommy’s life was in jeopardy, and
to be enough. Tommy recovered. Jasme, the newspaper
he was hours from medical care.
reported, received a check in the sum of “three figures,” an extraordinary amount in 1903.
It was obvious that morning that something was wrong. Tommy had had a slight cough for a few days, but now he
There are few details of Tommy’s life after his illness. In
was listless. He seemed exhausted by even the slightest
1910, he appeared in American Kennel Club records as the
movement. As the day wore on, his condition deteriorated.
father of “May River Rollicker” and “May River Pixy.” The
By evening, the little terrier was struggling to breathe.
mother of the two puppies was a smooth fox terrier that had
Marian became frantic. Tommy needed medical care,
placed in shows in the Northeast.
and he needed it soon. Her husband sent for the men who ran their motor launch between Palmetto Bluff and
The “fi ne terrier and much-loved companion” spent nine
Savannah. Wilson’s orders were simple: get to Savannah as
winters with the Wilsons at Palmetto Bluff before being
quickly as possible and bring back Dr. August Jasme, the
laid to rest in the cemetery in December 1912. More than
veterinarian. Even at full speed, the trip would take over
a century later, his simple marble headstone remains
three hours each way, and there was no guarantee that the
as a memorial to him and to his special place in Marian
men would fi nd the doctor at home. They set out knowing
Wilson’s heart.
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C H E F
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N AT E B E R I AU Written by: C H R I S T I N E W R O B E L / Photography by: K R I S Z T I A N L O N YA I
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
N AT H A N B E R I AU, known around Palmetto Bluff as Chef
A New England native, he began his career at some of the
Nate, joined Montage Palmetto Bluff in 2015 as executive chef
top restaurants in his home state, ultimately accepting the
overseeing all culinary operations at the Bluff. Since joining
position of chef de cuisine at the Harraseeket Inn, a four-
the team, he has supervised the opening of the Inn’s culinary
diamond, premiere hotel in Freeport, Maine. From there, Chef
operations as part of the expansion of the resort and three
Nate and his wife, Destine, relocated to San Francisco where
additional dining options on property, including the most
he worked for Ritz-Carlton San Francisco until arriving here in
recent addition, Melt.
the Lowcountry.
Q: What goes through your mind as you drive into Palmetto Bluff?
Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be? And how would you use it in your job?
A:
A: Probably mind control like Jean Grey.
My game day. 7:45–8:45 game plan plan for forthe thefirst fi rsthour hourofofmy my day. 7:45–8:45 is my time—this time—this is is where where IIline lineup upmy mywhole wholeday dayand and revise and rewrite rewrite my my mise miseen enplace placelist. list.
Q: What about on your way home? A:
Q: What are you doing when you aren’t at Palmetto Bluff? A:
outside. and outside.
I think thethe mise think about about what’s what’sgoing goingtotoend endupuponon mise en en place tomorrow.It’s It’s also also an opportunity place listlist forfortomorrow. opportunitytoto decompress aa bit. bit. This This is ismy mymusic musictime. time.
Q: Who/what sparked your love of food/cooking? A:
Q: What is your most marked characteristic? A:
doing anything anything else. else.
would say say raising raisingtwo twoincredible incrediblekids kidswith withmy mywife wife I would of 18 years, years, Destine. Destine.
I would mymy uncle. They werewere bothboth would say saymy mydad dadand and uncle. They chefs, so had a chance of of so we we often oftenjoke jokethat thatI never I never had a chance
Q: What is your greatest accomplishment? A:
Hanging out with with my my family, family, doing doingsomething somethingactive active
Q: What word or phrase do you use the most? A:
Probably “does that make make sense?” sense?” IIlike likeconfirmation confi rmation
is an anact actofofconsciousness, consciousness,but but I would It is I would saysay thatthat I
that people people get get and andunderstand understandwhat whatI Iam amsaying saying or
ort totobe and individual. individual. Imake makean aneff effort be aa balanced chef and
or what I amtalking talkingabout. about.It’s It’s aa phrase that what I am that has has just
I learned and came up under under a lot lot of of extremists; extremists; either
just stuck me over the years, probably stemming stuck with with me over the years, probably stemming from
they were at theatcooking part and either theyincredible were incredible the cooking part tyrants and
from working in multicultural kitchens the better working in multicultural kitchens for thefor better part of
to deal to with, theyorwere and not tyrants dealorwith, theygreat were with greatpeople with people
part of 20 years. 20 years.
exactly in the kitchen. From this, I learned and not motivating exactly motivating in the kitchen. From this, being a being well-balanced leader leader was one Ithat learned that a well-balanced was of onethe
Q: What makes you laugh?
greatest aspectsaspects I couldI bring the profession and to of the greatest could to bring to the profession
A:
Animals, as have of latebeen have been watching America’s Animals. my Mykids kids watching “Americas Funniest Videos,” Isomething I usedattotheir Funniest Videos, something used to watch
the people trainingtraining under me. and to the people under me.
watch at as their age, as soonvideos as the come animal age, and soon as and the animal on,videos oh boy, come on, oh boy, the belly laughs which thenmy in the belly laughs start, which thenstart, in turn cracks
Q: What was the last book you read? A:
turn up. cracks my kids up. kids
This is funny funny and andaatotal totalleft leftbrain, brain,right rightbrain brain scenario.
scenario. am always reading two books at same the same I am Ialways reading two books at the timetime and and alternate alternate nightly. nightly. More More often often than than not, not,IIpick pickone onethat that
Q: What is your favorite spot at the Bluff?
is going to make me better in one capacity andand another is going to make me better in one capacity another
A:
like the the dock dock at atMoreland Morelandlanding—that’s Landing—that’smy my I really like
just for instance, I just finished justfun. forFor fun. For instance, I just reading fi nishedExtreme reading
Zen spot. Sometimes I will just go down there solo, sit
Ownership by Ownership Jocko Willink shortly thereafter Extreme by and Jocko Willink and shortly
andand listen andand observe the the water. sit listen observe water.
finished a Richard Kadrey SandmanKadrey Slim book, as I am a thereafter fi nished a Richard Sandman Slim total book, sci-fi as nerd. I am a total sci-fi nerd.
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Q: What is your favorite dish to make? Eat? A:
As aachef, such a hard question to answer. I chef,this thisis is such a hard question to answer. would I wouldhave havetotosay saygnocchi: gnocchi:it’s it’s so so simple simple and all about about technique. If it that, wasn’t that, itbe would be a technique. If it wasn’t it would a sandwich.
Q: What do you always keep on hand in your home fridge or pantry, besides basics such as butter, oil, and eggs? A:
I always always keep keep both both Tapatío Tapatío and and Cholula Cholula Hot HotSauce Saucein in the the fridge.
Q: What are some culinary trends you really get behind, and which do you wish would go away? A:
am passionate passionate about about anything anythingwith withvegetables— vegetables—the I am
Q: What do you think you would have become if not a chef? A:
When IIwas high school, I had a thought (that (that wasinin high school, I had a thought
more the better—so I’m glad to seetothat theinspotlight. the more the better—so I’m glad see in that the
lasted lasted all all of of aafew fewmonths) months)that thatI Iwanted wantedtotobecome becomea a
I don’t spotlight. really know which “trends” wish “trends” would go I don’t really know Iwhich I
veterinarian, as I have a hugea love animals. But I really veterinarian, as I have hugeoflove of animals. But I
I think that good food seasonal wish away.would go away. I think thatwith gooda food with abasis
do not lookdo back think about life in any other really notor look back or think about life incapacity any other
neverbasis goesnever out ofgoes style.out of style. seasonal
than capacity hospitality. than hospitality.
Q: If you were dining at Palmetto Bluff, what would you order and why?
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received from a chef friend or mentor?
A:
chef ininFore Fore& &Aft, Aft, Alejandra, does an amazing My chef Alejandra, does an amazing
A:
carnitas taco tacowhere where marinates the inpork in sheshe marinates the pork
people, and always you always pick up something greatgreat people, and you pick up something from from
condensed milk prior prior to to cooking cooking it, it, and andititisisabsolutely
everyone thatwork you for. workOne for.that Onestuck that with stuckmewith me everyone that you
to die for. to die for. absolutely
was from a general manager agoput thatit put was from a general manager manymany yearsyears ago that
have been beenvery veryfortunate fortunatetotohave haveworked worked some I have forfor some
it simply: “It’s not you; aboutit’s you; it’s our about our guests. Ego simply: “It’s not about about guests. Ego does Q: Besides the restaurants at the Bluff, where do you like to eat in Bluffton?
doesanot have place in our profession.” not have place in aour profession.”
A:
job. They love what whatthey theydo, do, and it shows. is a purely They love and it shows. It is Ita purely chef-
Q: What advice would you give to chefs just starting out?
chef-driven restaurant, and and as as a chef, I have tremendous driven restaurant, tremendous
A:
I love love FARM. FARM. Chef Chef Brandon Brandonand andteam teamdo doa agreat great job.
respect for that. respect for that.
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I always share the above piece of information with all new cooks and that teamwork is everything. ◊
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RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD
WRITTEN BY: Lydıa Moore SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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PURPLE CONEFLOWER GULF FRITILLARY BUTTERFLY
If
I asked you to think of native pollinators, you would most likely
group of animals pollinates it. Beetles, for example, were some of the
imagine butterfl ies lazily meandering from flower to flower,
first pollinators to evolve and were responsible for fertilizing the earliest
catching the breeze on their gently fl apping wings. Or bees busily
flowering plants. Beetles are clumsy, have poor vision, and are inept
fl itting in your garden, picking up pollen grains as they search for nectar.
at manipulating delicate flower parts. Flowers that attract beetles, including those of Southern magnolias, are often large and bowl-shaped,
But would you have reflected on the clumsy bumbling of beetles or
making it easier for beetles to find and maneuver within the flower.
the whiny drone of flies? What about bats screeching silently in the
Flies are attracted to putrid, fetid odors, and many flowers that attract
Southwest desert night while searching for cactus flowers or the deep
flies, such as the blooms of pawpaw, mimic the smell of rotting meat.
hum of a hummingbird’s wings as it visits coral honeysuckle? I bet these
Hummingbirds have excellent color vision and are particularly adept at
animals were not the first to come to mind, but they share a common
seeing red. Most plants that attract hummingbirds have blooms that are
role: pollinator.
varying shades of this color.
When we first learn about pollinators, we hear about a single species—
These phenomena are the result of a coevolutionary dance of seduction,
the honeybee—as the epitome of pollination. What is often omitted is
where plants produce flowers that exploit specific traits of pollinators.
that honeybees are not native to this continent; they were transported
The end result? The plant ensures it continues to lure the pollinator and
to North America by Europeans in the early 1600s. Our native bees, in
the pollinator gets a reward. That does not mean this relationship is
contrast, are speciose, with around 4,000 species in the United States.
without its inherent level of trickery. Plant and pollinator rely on each
Their hues vary from the typical yellow and black of bumblebees to the
other while simultaneously trying to “outsmart” their coconspirator.
iridescent blue, green, or turquoise of sweat bees. And bees are only a
The plant wants to give the pollinator the minimum amount of nectar
small part of the pollinator puzzle!
possible in order to ensure fertilization, and the pollinator wants to get the most nectar and pollen possible during every foraging bout, causing
An evolutionary appeal of pollinators is their facilitation of plant
evolutionary tension in the relationship between these two actors.
reproduction. Specific groups of pollinators are attracted to specific
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groups of plants. You can actually look at characteristics of a flower—
Thankfully, this system of manipulation is effective. Our pollinators
such as size, smell, and color—and make educated guesses about what
are responsible for fertilizing 80 percent of the flowering plants in
P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
SWEAT BEE the United States, meaning that the survival of flowering plants is closely tied to the survival of pollinators. And it is not just plants that find pollinators creatures of value. WE cannot survive without them either. As mechanisms of pollen transport, pollinators provide us with an essential economic skill. (Yes, pollinators are essential workers). Bees and butterflies—as well as beetles, wasps, flies, birds, and bats—are responsible for one-third of the food we eat. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, pollinators provide a financial benefit to American farmers at a value of $10 billion each year through their simple, and simultaneously complicated, service of pollination.
The survival of flowering plants is closely tied to the survival of pollinators. Unfortunately, pollinators worldwide are experiencing a multifaceted attack on their survival. A 2016 study in Germany found that aerial insect populations plummeted by 76 percent over the course of roughly three decades. Monarch butterfly populations dropped more than 84 percent between 1996 and today. There is no single cause for these declines. Extreme heat events caused by climate change stress plants, decreasing the amount of nectar they can produce. Conversion of natural ecosystems to monoculture crops and grass lawns have eliminated habitat. Pesticides may be used to target specific insect pests but can result in pollinator bycatch, causing a mass mortality of untargeted species. The intertwining negative effects of climate change, habitat loss, and pesticide use are wreaking havoc on pollinator populations. Pollinators
desperately
need
BLAZING STAR
our help. Fortunately, there are many small steps we can take to mitigate these challenges. ❀
BUMBLEBEE
SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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BEE BALM
HOW YOU CAN HELP
There are a handful of actions you can take to promote pollinator survival. • Monarch butterflies are well known for their yearly,
• Create a pollinator garden. Choose native plants
multigenerational migration from Mexico to Canada
that bloom successively from spring to fall to ensure
and back. You can help researchers understand
there is food for pollinators throughout seasons
monarch migratory behavior by documenting
when they are most active. Larvae may have specific
your monarch sightings through a citizen science
plant requirements that adults do not share, so
initiative. Learn more at journeynorth.org/monarchs.
make sure to include host plants for larvae. Learn more at fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators. Find native
• Donate to organizations that focus on invertebrate
plant nurseries near you at xerces.org/pollinator-
conservation, such as the Xerces Society for
resource-center or check out Spring Island Nursery
Invertebrate Conservation (xerces.org) and
at springislandtrust.org.
Pollinator Partnership (pollinator.org). • Certify your garden as a pollinator-friendly habitat. • Avoid using pesticides. If needed, there are several organic-certified options. Read more at xerces.org/
Learn more at nwf.org/garden-for-wildlife/certify or xerces.org/bring-back-the-pollinators.
publications/guidelines/organic-pesticides. • Be an advocate. Spread the word and educate others!
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
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the endless evolutIon of
pAnhAndle slIM Whether as a skate punk, a cult leader, a folk artist, or a political firebrand, the man once known as Scott Stanton has chased a thousand muses on his path to underground fame.
written By: barry KaufmAn photoGraphy by: mollY hAyden It’s As hard to defIne panhandle slim’s journey As it is to define hIs Art. His work, painted on found materials and scraps of wood, at first glance seems to hum with both a childlike innocence and a punk rock sense of defiance. Looking as much like finger painting as fine art, they nonetheless transfi x the viewer with their vivid imagery and simple linework. But then you take another look and see that even though each line forms the simplest of arcs, they capture something in the subject you may have never seen. It could be a famous face such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Jimmy Carter or a lesser-known muse such as Ben Tucker or Kim Gordon. No matter their notoriety, each looks forth from a Panhandle Slim painting like an icon of a lost age. Like something out of Ozymandias, only their words remain. From beside her steady gaze, Maya Angelou’s timeless words from “Love Liberates,” “I’m thankful to have been loved and now be able to love,” float in childlike red lettering against a yellow backdrop. Beside the cartoonishly soaring updo of Dolly Parton reads, “Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.” And you’ll fi nd countless variations of the late Justice Ginsberg declaring, “I dissent.” As an oeuvre, it’s a very simple format, one found on memes across the internet. Which is part of what makes Panhandle Slim such a perfect artist for the moment.
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
“This simple art that I do connects with people,” he said. “I’ve never been
for Stanton. Along with his wife, Tracy, he formed the fringe punk
formally trained. It still feels funny to be called an artist. It’s nice, but I
outfit “The Causey Way.”
didn’t plan on it.” Part band, part theatrical event, the Causey Way presented itself as Whether he finds it funny or not, Panhandle Slim is an artist. And the
a cult in the same way that the Ramones presented themselves as
effortlessly nontraditional streak that informs his art has taken on a few
brothers. Using the stage name Causey, Stanton would serve as the
variations along the way.
leader of this cult, with the band itself being referred to as the ACE (Aural Communications and Entertainment) division.
MoveMent as an Art Before he was Panhandle Slim, he was Scott Stanton, a 20-year-old skateboarding phenom who was part of a group known as the Zorlac team warrior rippers. Riding for the legendary skateboard company opened up an entire world for Stanton, who had carved up most of the world’s skate
“I’ve never been formally trAined. It still feels funny to be cAlled An artIst. it’s nice, but i didn’t plAn on It.”
parks by the time his 20s were over. It was during his time with the Causey Way that he would meet one It was a more physical art form than he currently practices, but it was one
of his biggest artistic inspirations, Wesley Willis. A fellow artist on
that nonetheless informed his sense of style. “It’s very much an art form,
the Alternative Tentacles record label, Willis was famous among
too,” he said. “It all feels the same. Creating paintings now, it feels like
certain circles for his meandering childlike songs, each of which
kind of the same drive. You feel like you’ve created something—painting a
usually incorporated some advertising slogan (often just stuck into
picture, doing a new trick . . . it was the same.”
the middle of the song for no reason at all).
It also introduced him to the underground world of skateboard culture, which
“He was a good friend of mine,” said Stanton of Willis, who died in
offers its own indelible artistic sense of style. Whether spray-painted on private
2003. “I used to just paint the face of a person and the quotes, and that
property or airbrushed onto a skate deck, it’s a kind of folk art that carries a
was kind of a Wesley thing. I’d kind of imagine what he’d say and do.”
harder edge then the serene portraits and landscapes of the old school. Willis’s music and art would serve as huge influences, but it wasn’t Naturally, you’ll find quite a bit of overlap between the artistic motifs of
until Stanton stepped away from the underground punk scene to get a
skate punks and punk rockers. Bridging that gap was a natural next step
“real job” that he discovered his true artistic calling.
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Art As A MoveMent By his mid-20s, Stanton had moved on both literally and figuratively. He’d traded the balmy tropical climate of Pensacola, Florida, for the frigid temperatures of Kalamazoo, Michigan, where his wife had found a teaching job. He disbanded the Causey Way (using the cover story that Causey himself had been institutionalized) and was instead working as a substitute teacher for a nearby high school. It was an odd bit of conformity for Stanton, who was still in his mid-20s. And it wouldn’t last long. “We went up to an art gallery in Grand Rapids, and they had a Howard Finster painting there. I thought to myself, ‘I wish I could buy that, but I can’t afford it,’” he said. “So, I said I’d just try to paint my own. . . . That was my first step on this journey as Panhandle Slim.” That first painting was of Dolly Parton, although Stanton doesn’t remember which quote it used. Similar works followed of icons including Malcolm X and Jimmy Carter. He also did one of his high school English teacher, just because he liked the quote. To this day, whether a Panhandle Slim painting starts with the painting or the quote is usually a game-time decision. “Before, it was kind of always the person. Now, I’ll see a quote and see that it needs to be painted,” he said. “I’ll read the paper in the morning; some things just jump out.”
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
“I’ll see a quote and see thAt It needs to be pAinted. I’ll reAd the paper In the Morning; some thIngs just jump out.”
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Selling them just to friends, then taking commissions, then selling them on the honor system from his carport (customers simply pick what they want and then pay through his mail slot), he found his notoriety growing until his works were found all over the country.
“a month or two lAter, I got A pIcture of JImmy CArter holding my pAinting of hIm.”
He even found one painting winding up in the most unlikely of places. “Someone sent me a message, ‘Can you do one for Uncle Jimmy?’ I just thought Uncle Jimmy was Uncle Jimmy. Turns out it was Jimmy Carter,” Stanton said. “A month or two later, I got a picture of Jimmy Carter holding my painting of him. . . . When I was starting out, if you were to tell me 15 years later Jimmy Carter would have one, I would have thought you were crazy.” “In some ways, it seems like the world has caught up to what I’ve been doing in terms of social justice,” he said. “When everything gets figured out, I’ll just paint puppies and babies and cats.” Until then, the endless evolution of Panhandle Slim will continue. To view more of his work, search for artforfolk1 on Facebook.
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
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P H O T O G R A P H Y BY: P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A N N E , I N C .
The first Saturday in May plays host to one of the South’s most famed events: the Kentucky Derby. And while most of us can’t be a part of the Derby experience at Churchill Downs in Louisville, there are plenty of ways to bring home the excitement of “the greatest two minutes in sports” with a Kentucky Derby–themed party. Also known as “The Run for the Roses,” the Kentucky Derby is not only a legendary race and longstanding tradition, it's also the perfect opportunity for a springtime celebration. The key to a great Derby party is incorporating Southern entertaining staples mixed with equestrian touches in the food, décor, and attire. Sundresses, big hats, bourbon balls, and mint juleps. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite equestrian-themed essentials and Derby-worthy attire to help you host the perfect Kentucky Derby soirée that will guarantee you a spot in the winner’s circle.
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RATTAN TRAY, Emily McCarthy, $42; GLASS DECANTER, Emily McCarthy, $64; TOPIARY, Emily McCarthy, $36; LIMITED EDITION DERBY FLOUR SACK TEA TOWELS, Emily McCarthy, $32 for a set of 2; DERBY ACRYLIC STIR STICKS, Emily McCarthy, $19.99 for a set of 4
PLACEMAT, J. Banks Design, $79; NAPKIN RING, J. Banks Design, $40; NAPKIN, J. Banks Design, $40; VINTAGE HORSE TRAY, The Paris Market, $108 ; EQUESTRIAN COCKTAIL NAPKINS, Emily McCarthy, $12; BLACK & CREAM HORSE BIT THROW, J. Banks Design, $189; HORSE GLASS TRAY/PLATE, J. Banks Design, $113
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LOUIS SHERRY CHOCOLATES, The Paris Market, $8.50; PAPPY & COMPANY HANDMADE BOURBON BALLS, Scout Southern Market, $29.99 for a box of 12;
DERBY LUXE SCARF, Emily
VINTAGE SILVER TRAY, The Paris Market, price varies
McCarthy, $64; HORSE BOTTLE STOPPER, Scout Southern Market, $16; ALEXA PULITZER ROYAL HORSE NOTES, Scout Southern Market, $21; “EAGER FOR THE RACE” BOX, Scout Southern Market, $33
BROWN CHAIN LINK METAL AND GLASS TRAY, Scout Southern Market, $100; BROWN CHAIN LINK METAL AND GLASS MATCHBOX COVER, Scout Southern Market, $85
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DRESSED FOR THE DERBY There's no denying that the key to making the most of any Derby party is dressing the part. Show your Derby Day spirit with bright spring colors, feminine dresses, and fun accessories. From backyard casual to all-out glam (fascinator included), Gigi's Boutique in Old Town Bluffton has a variety of styles that are beautiful, elegant, and easy to wear— perfect for race day and all season long.
SHERIDAN FRENCH TIFFANY MAXI SKIRT, $295; RUFFLE SLEEVE TOP, $62; WOVEN LEATHER HEADBAND, $14; LOVE-KNOT POST EARRINGS, $18; ASSORTED STACKABLE BRACELETS, $52–$64; CROCODILE ENVELOPE CLUTCH, $55; TENERIFE WOVEN WEDGE, $149
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
SHERIDAN FRENCH LUCY DRESS, $345; TASSEL-TRIMMED BRACELET, $45; BEADED & WOVEN CLUTCH, $55; OIA INFINITY FLATFORM, $119; MINI GOLA EARRINGS, $32; FASCINATOR, $45
LEAF PRINT WRAP DRESS, $149; HEPBURN STRAW HAT, $24; SHEILA FAJL IRENE HOOP, $70; SHEILA FAJL ASSORTED BANGLES, $35–$60; CHAIN NECKLACE, $27; BEADED LEAF CLUTCH, $72; OAHU ESPADRILLE, $119
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MINT JULEP A Kentucky Derby party wouldn’t be complete without a mint julep in hand. Historically known as a “ SPIRITED MORNING PICKER-UPPER ,” the mint julep was also used for medicinal purposes. Once used by farmers and horse trainers each morning for aching muscles, the bourbon was known to soothe muscles, the sugar softened the ethanol, and the mint freshened breath. Over time, the mint julep became a staple in the thoroughbred industry, popping up at racetracks—transitioning from a morning drink to a sipping cocktail.
SMALL SILVER PEDESTAL BOWL, J. Banks Design, $59; OLD SOUL BOURBON, Boundary Bottle Company, $45; MINT JULEP CUP, The Paris Market, $32; MINT JULEP COCKTAIL NAPKINS, Emily McCarthy, $12
TYLER BÖE PEONY PENNY TWILL DRESS, Call for price; PEEPERS DEL MAR SUNGLASSES, $25; BUDHAGIRL BANGLES, $120; QUATREFOIL POST EARRINGS, $21; HOLLYSHAEDESIGN OYSTER CLUTCH, $60; LUZON YUTE HEEL, $119
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