You Live Here? You Lucky Devil!

Posted: January 5, 2012 by Linda Warnock

So, what's it like living in a resort? That is a question I have been asked at least 575,000 times over the two decades I have been a permanent resident of Hilton Head Island. I neither sell real estate nor work for the Chamber of Commerce, but I have a passionate attachment to the island I call home and enjoy talking about it.  

I have answered that question many different ways. My response depends on how it is posed. If the motivation seems to be pure curiosity, I respond by saying that we live in a small town where people are so friendly they stop to chat at the post office; yet we are surrounded by beauty and have access to amenities created for the two-million-plus people who visit here each year-golf courses, tennis facilities, restaurants and entertainment.   

 

When fitness buffs and nature lovers ask the question, I go off about the thrill of running on the beach at sunrise, kayaking on Broad Creek, the grandeur of sunsets over Calibogue Sound and the never-to-be-taken-for-granted beauty of the stately oaks that frame Plantation Drive in Sea Pines.

 

The romantics hear about my favorite secluded picnic spots on the beach, the multitude of intimate restaurants, places to dance the night away and all the outdoor cafés by the water, from South Beach to Skull Creek.

 

To visitors contemplating moving to the island, I explain that the ambiance of our resort attracts professional men and women and former CEOs who have been successful and have chosen to live here. Their presence accounts for why our resort community has many more chiefs than Indians.

 

We are not a typical small Southern town either. There are too many Northeastern and Midwestern accents. In small Southern towns, the families who have been there for generations are the ones who run the show. Everyone who lives on our resort island is from somewhere else. Status is not measured by longevity.

 

However, living here for over 20 years gives me the right to squawk about things I do not like. I feel justified to complain about how long it takes to get from one end of the island to the other during tourist season and what a chore it is to wait in line for a table in a restaurant during the summer.

 

But no one listens. My friends who live far away on the other side of the bridge do not have the slightest speck of sympathy for the trials of being a permanent tourist on Hilton Head Island. They simply lift an eyebrow and trudge off to my guest room to change clothes for the fifth sport of the day. "You live in paradise," they say.

 

Yes, we do live in paradise. Our lifestyle is enchanting and our surroundings magnificent. Living in a resort is pure magic.

 

By: Scottie Davis

Scottie Davis conducts one day and overnight motorcoach trips to explore the world around Hilton Head-Weekend Get-Aways on a Tank of Gas, www.scottiedavis.com; (843) 681-1900.