Visiting our Kiawah Island Home
Directions from Asheville, NC:
Get on I-26 headed East (actually South)
for 150 miles.
Take I-526 West (towards Savannah)
7 miles until it ends.
Go right on Highway 17 South for 4.5 miles.
Go left onto "Main Road". There's a traffic light and a Burger King on the left.
Stay on this road (although it changes names) for 17 miles.
Take the round-about towards Kiawah Island (2 miles) and pick up pass at the gate.
Take first right on Kiawah Beach Drive and immediate left to our home at
13 Greensward Road.
Upon Arrival: Open up all the blinds. Let the fun begin! Our home is well stocked with food and drink (of all sorts) so you may not need to bring anything. However, if you want to go shopping for something, Freshfields (back at the round-about) is great and Rosebank Farm market just before the round-about on the left as you came to Kiawah) is incredible. We have a great grill you can roll out of our garage and cook in the driveway.
Places to eat: You can grab Pizza and other deli-style stuff at the East Beach Conference Center store about a mile down the Kiawah Island Parkway. It is also a nice bike ride on the bike path (no bikes allowed on this road OR the road back to Freshfields). You have to go see the Sanctuary Hotel, (the ONLY 5 star hotel in South Carolina) but it will probably be cost prohibitive for anything other than an ice cream cone. Back at Freshfields there is a great sports bar/restaurant called the King Street Grill. Another place is called Ladels, where you can get a soup and sandwich, and the grocery has a GREAT deli as well. Moving further off the Island, go to Bohicket Marina (towards Seabrook Island off the round-about). There is a place called Rosebank Farms Café that is our favorite restaurant in the area, (same family as the market). Also try the Mahi sandwich at Fisher's Pub at Bohicket Marina.
Things to do at Kiawah: Unless you are going off the Island, you will not use your car again. As you look out our big windows towards the lagoon, that is the direction of the beach. There is a bike path back up our street one house that will take you over the lagoon, around the 16th green of the Cougar Point Golf Course, along some townhouses on your right to a boardwalk that puts you on the beach. The large shingled building on the beach (right of the board walk) is the Property Owner's Pool building (aka: The Sandcastle). They are very strict about it being used by property owners only. The beach is about 12 miles long. To the right, its 2miles to Captain Sam's Creek and the beginning of Seabrook Island. We can usually find porpoises herding fish in there in the morning. To the left, it is 10 miles to the end of Kiawah and the Stono River. Our hard packed sand beach is PERFECT for bike riding, if you play the tide and the wind right. If the wind is blowing against you, get off the beach and ride the bike paths inland where there won't be any wind. At high tide, there is very little hard packed sand to ride on. I love grabbing a lunch and couple beers and riding down to the far end. There is a small creek you may cross when you get down to the Ocean Course almost at the end but be wise. Elizabeth and a friend got caught with the changing tides and while they were able to walk across an hour earlier, they had to abandon the bikes and swim for it. (I only regret that I didn't get to see that.) I love this end because it is like a deserted Island down there. You can follow the beach along the Stono River and see Folly beach in the distance.
The "Main Bike Path" parallels the Kiawah Island Parkway. This is the longest of the 30 miles of great bike paths all over Kiawah. To get to this path, get on the path across our street to the left (aka: Margaurite's Bike path). (This section will look like a golf cart path but is actually a legal bike path). There are several look-out towers on the island. I like riding past Bass Pond to the Kiawah River boat dock (about the center of the island) and have lunch on the pier or gazebo. At night, take flash lights. Although it is prohibited, I see no harm in riding the golf cart paths in the late evenings, after the golfers are finished. Go left at the end of Margaurite's path, through the tunnel and left onto the marsh side of Cougar Point Golf Course. If you keep following these cart paths, they will take you around to the 16th green right on the lagoon side of our home.
Besides some of the world's BEST golf courses to play on, there are tennis courts, swimming, kayaking on the rivers behind the Island (NOT in the lagoons). Also, I've heard that some people will actually just sit on the screened porch (great place to sleep as well) or on the beach and read a book. I've never actually met these people.
Things to do in Charleston: It is a 30 minute drive from Kiawah to Charleston. About halfway back on that 17 mile road, turn right on Maybank Highway and you'll get there. In Charleston there is an INFINITE amount of incredible restaurants. If the weather's great, go up to the roof top bar above the Hotel on the corner of East Bay and Market Street for a cocktail. I love walking on the Battery and wandering the residential area (South of Broad Street), especially at night. King Street is great for shopping. There is nothing in the "Slave Market" on Market Street but a lot of tourist stuff. The Water Front Park is beautiful. Go into at least one historic home for a tour. The churches are open (and free) and people are just dying to get into the cemeteries. Go over the Cooper River Bridge (a nice run or bike ride) and stop at any bar/restaurant at Shem's Creek. Neat atmosphere. If you have kids, (or are one yourself), the SC Aquarium is the best I've ever seen and the Yorktown Aircraft carrier and submarine is a must. Also, if you have a full afternoon, take the tour boat to Ft. Sumter. Its incredible!
When the Party's Over: If you could put your towels in the washer and then in the dryer just as you leave it will help the cleaners. Leave your beds unmade so the cleaners can tell which beds to make. Do not worry about cleaning anything other than the towels and your dishes…the cleaners do the rest. Turn the thermostats (at the bottom of stairs on the main floor and in the master bedroom to 50 degrees heat during the winter and 80 degrees cool in the winter. Close up the blinds. And say, "Boo Hoo".
