David's Blog from the Creative Coast & Carolina Low Country!

Affordable homes & great amenities; Mill Creek at Cypress Ridge

Mill Creek is located about 25 minutes west of the beaches of Hilton Head Island. This new community is less than 5 years old and has wonderful amenities. There are multiple tennis courts; a large community center with an exercise room and the pool is just unbelievable. The pool reflects the needs of all who worship the sun and the water, the most unique aspect is the lazy river. There is separate smaller pool for those looking for privacy. Watch the video, decide for yourself!

Four bedroom homes are currently selling here in the low 200,000's, many choices exist for specific tastes. A well maintained community that has the LowCountry appeal that we all hold dearly. What I like is that you are only 30 minutes from both historic Savannah and Beaufort and not too mention the well manicured beaches of Hilton Head Island. With the new Bluffton Parkway, schools are less than a 10 minute drive, ideal for the commuter getting their kids off to school.

Shopping has just became easier with a new shopping center just up the road on South Carolina 170, adding to already established stores and restaurants. For the golfer, a valid South Carolina driver's license will allow you to play some of Bluffton's most desirable courses at a reduced cost.

The Bluffton public school campus is just a few years old, a student can start in kindergarten and finish 12 years later as a senior at Bluffton High.

Remember, it is affordable LowCountry living, if you would like to explore this area, please contact me. I can register you and help find you a great deal.

New Businesses for Downtown Bluffton

The Calhoun Street Promenade is allowing residents to enjoy a more downtown flavor, they do not have to drive to restaurants and specialty shops as much. This will bring in more interest into this area of downtown Bluffton. These new businesses will compliment the existing ones, especially the galleries and antique shops.

Businesses seeing more walk-in traffic in old town's Promenade

By JIM FABER
[email protected]

Pati Arseneau has a corner seat when it comes to watching the goings-on in the Calhoun Street Promenade.

Her business is on the main entrance to the promenade off of May River Road, so she can see all the cars that wind through, their drivers checking out the new, 82,000-square-foot retail, office, entertainment and residential center in old town Bluffton.

Arseneau was also the first person to open a consumer-oriented business in the center. Businesses that opened before hers were either professional or medical offices. She opened Pottery In Paradise, a self-paint pottery studio, in December.

So far, Arseneau loves the promenade. She looks forward to working with her neighboring businesses, such as the newly opened InnerSphere Yoga & Lifestyle Center, to bring in customers.

For Arseneau, who once ran a business at Coligny Plaza in the heart of Hilton Head Island's tourist area, the possibilities for the Calhoun Street Promenade seem boundless.

"I believe in my heart it will be the center of everything here," she said.

Like Arseneau's Pottery In Paradise, Josh Luman has made the promenade a home for his new business, Corks Wine Company.

Luman, who runs the wine bar with girlfriend Gabby Ferrell, also lives in one of the upstairs lofts at the development.

"We just really believe in the promenade," Luman said. "It was an instant feeling."

Luman acknowledges the idea of a wine bar may be new to Bluffton, but in the bar's first three weeks, crowds have been heavy.

Those three consumer-oriented businesses join Gateway Realty, Mattis Chiropractic and Wellness Center, developer Bill Herbkersman's offices, home builder Yestermorrow and other professional offices.

And there's plenty more to come, said center developer Herbkersman, also a state representative from Bluffton.

Construction on a building for an additional location of Captain Woody's Seafood Bar & Grill, which now has a restaurant on Hilton Head, should begin within a week, Herbkersman said.

A similar plan for a building for Bluffton Bar-B-Que has been submitted to Bluffton planners, he said.

Although he wasn't free to identify it, Herbkersman said the promenade is "very, very close to (getting) a big, regional art gallery," and said a second gallery should soon follow.

The developers are also considering a couple of coffee shops, two very different ice cream stores and a doughnut shop, Herbkersman said.

Other future promenade tenants include an upscale garden and housewares store, a women's shoe store and a dress store, among others.

"We're actually a little bit ahead of schedule in leasing and getting businesses in," he said. "We've had just an unbelievable request for office space, and we are trying to figure out how to incorporate more office space in there, although I think we're going to be short of retail space as well."

Dog owners feel safer with new oxygen masks for their pets

This a great story that appeared in the Island Packet, for a pet owner it makes people feel confident that there has been equipment issued to help save dogs and cats lives. My friend, Charles 'Chip' Booth, has made this a major priority in the LowCountry. He is seeking donations to have oxygen masks, for our pets, in the hands of the Hilton Head Island Fire Department. My guess is that there will be surrounding inquiries from the neighboring communities of Savannah, Beaufort, Ridgeland, Pooler and Richmond Hill.

I myself own two cats, it is good to know that the masks come in three sizes, the small size can be used by a cat.

So if you would like to donate to Chip's cause, please contact him through this e-mail, [email protected] or visit his website; www.poopie-trooper.com

How much is it worth to save a pet from a fire? Priceless.

By DANIEL BROWNSTEIN
[email protected]
843-706-8125

If Fido's found in a fire, there's now a better chance Bluffton firefighters can save him.

Thanks to several local canine-related businesses, all six of the Bluffton Township Fire District's first-responding trucks have a set of pet oxygen masks.

Unlike masks designed for humans, the re-usable plastic cups fit snugly over the snouts of pets large and small, including cats, and are hooked into standard air tanks.

"The Bluffton Township Fire District is in the business of protecting lives and property, and although animals are technically considered to be property, many of us think of them as much more than that," said Robbie Robertson, the department's public information coordinator

.

Chip Booth, owner of Poopie Trooper, got the idea from the Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists (yes, there is such a group), which is holding a national drive to raise money for the masks.

Booth approached local businesses Camp Green Dog, Red-Beau Canine Training and Three Black Dogs, and was able to raise the $360 needed for the masks. They were delivered this week.

Within a month, Booth hopes to have enough money raised to donate sets of masks to the Town of Hilton Head Island Fire and Rescue Division.

"I'm a pet owner myself and it kind of helps me sleep easier at night to know that if my animals are in a fire and they suffer smoke inhalation, the firefighters would be able to save them," said Booth, who has five dogs.

There's been a national trend of animal groups giving the masks to fire departments. It's often necessary to donate them because fire departments can't afford to budget for something that's not designed to save human lives.

"If they can spend 60 or 100 bucks to save a human life, they're going to do that before they budget to save a pet's life," said Booth.

The same prioritization happens in the field. Firefighters will sweep buildings looking for people before they rescue pets.

Bluffton firefighters have saved man's best friend in the past. They've found them hiding in house fires by using thermal imaging devices and, last month, untangled a puppy from wires beneath a burning trailer. Tony Pavilonis loaded the mutt into Engine 325 and rushed her to a nearby vet.

Her mangled paw was saved, and he adopted her. She was recently spotted roaming the hallways of the fire station.

A fire department in Prospect, Conn., received two donated sets in 2004, and two days later used one to resuscitate a Yorkshire terrier pulled from a fire.

"He was wobbly and he had very shallow breathing," said Fire Chief Robert Chatfield. "The owner held him and we got the mask on him, and in about 2 1/2 minutes, he was fine."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.