When I think of Charleston, the first image that comes to mind
is Bohicket
Road. Though locals probably view it as just another
rural thoroughfare, the two-lane blacktop that leads from the outskirts of town
to Seabrook and Kiawah Islands is, to me, the true essence of the
South Carolina Lowcountry. Winding through a tunnel of massive live oaks, with
Spanish moss dripping from the interlaced branches overhead, the road feels like
some sort of mysterious, secret passageway. When you come out at the other end,
well, you are in another world, one where tidal creeks divide the marshes and
the salt air hints at Atlantic Ocean beaches
just beyond the palms.
I have many fond memories of Bohicket, both coming
and going. Two of my sisters live in Charleston, and for three
decades my family has staged its reunions in the area. We’ve rented beachside
cottages, cast for shrimp in the Kiawah
River, taken in Civil War history at
Fort
Sumter, gone bar-crawling
on East Bay
Street, and celebrated weddings in some of the oldest
churches and gathering halls in town. Over that span, I’ve seen Charleston transform from
a sleepy little city into a tourist mecca that draws 4 million visitors a year.
Among its numerous charms is some of the finest resort golf on the East Coast;
combine that with a bustling and colorful downtown scene and you’ve got the
makings of a vacation to remember.
On my most recent visit, I decided to make that
lovely drive to Kiawah—located about 21 miles south of downtown—and check out
the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, a lavish oceanfront hotel that
opened to much acclaim in 2004. Designed to evoke a 19th-century Southern
mansion, this grand hotel aims to overwhelm, and it succeeds.
The Sanctuary’s rooms—both private and public
spaces—have a theatrical quality, a way of urging you to imagine yourself a
movie star. At either end of the lobby, for instance, stands an epically
proportioned, curvilinear staircase. My wife envisioned herself as Cinderella as
she swept down those 34 elegant stairs. She was over the moon here, and I didn’t
sensed even a whiff of reproach in her voice as she asked when I was going off
to play golf. Truth be told, she seemed glad to have time to herself—to enjoy a
stroll along the wide beach, or a “Head-to-Toe Sanctuary” treatment in the
luxurious spa.
The golf at Kiawah has always been top-of-the-line,
and it’s gotten even better lately. The resort now owns five courses, and two of
them—Gary Player’s Cougar Point and the Jack Nicklaus-designed Turtle Point,
which includes a three-hole back-nine stretch along the Atlantic—have received significant makeovers and handsome
new clubhouses. Tom Fazio’s Osprey Point presents the ideal degree of difficulty
for a resort course, and Oak Point, a Clyde Johnston design just off-island,
completes the menu of appetizers leading up to the Ocean
Course.
I saved the 7,296-yard Ocean for the last day of my
visit, but I still wasn’t up to the challenge of this beast. I’ve loved the
Ocean Course ever since hearing my nephew rave about it—he was on the
construction crew, and he used to marvel at the way Pete Dye pushed acres of
sand around this windswept parcel at the island’s east end. I still marvel at
the variety and beauty and brilliance of the design. A day on the Ocean Course,
with the wind whistling off the Atlantic and
the seabirds squawking overhead, is a glorious day—no matter how many balls you
pump into the lagoons, the dunes and the surrounding
scrub.
It also helps that Ocean Course golfers now have a
pair of outstanding restaurants to come back to at The Sanctuary—the formal
Ocean Room and the more casual Jasmine Porch. I’d simply suggest you order
whatever specialties have been prepared by the talented young chef, Chris
Brandt. One of his most popular dishes is Pork Two Ways, a briny, tangy, earthy
dish suggests long simmering and captures the essence of Lowcountry cooking—not
fancy, but savory and soulful.
Back on the mainland, if your idea of a golf
vacation includes a taste of city life, you might want to consider a stay
downtown, perhaps at Charleston
Place, a chic, comfortable and centrally located
Orient-Express property. The hotel’s marble lobby is a scene in itself:
splashing fountains, rustling palms, live piano sounds emanating from the
Terrace Bar, and guests lolling about, shopping bags in
hand.
