Author: Mark Shaffer

The Backyard Tourist Sails on Stranger Tides    The way I figure it, St. Augustine owes a debt of gratitude to the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Let’s face it: if things had worked out well here for the Spanish settlement of Santa Elena on Parris Island, St. Augustine might just be another condo-rina on the Intracoastal Waterway and things might be a bit more…quirky around here.

 Entering its fifth decade, The Beaufort County Open Land Trust goes beyond preserving the view… and beyond Beaufort County.   Forty years ago a trio of Beaufort residents heard about a plan to develop the bluff at the bend of the river on Bay Street. In the boom market of the last decade this prime piece of real estate – arguably the most valuable in the city – would certainly have fetched millions. In 1971 John Trask, Jr., Marguerite Broz and Betty Waskiewicz pooled their resources and borrowed five grand to secure the view and create the first organization of its kind in the state. Over the years the Open Land Trust has been instrumental in the preservation of much more than just views.

The Backyard Tourist rediscovers Bluffton (a continuing series in partnership with CityTrex.com)   Bluffton’s dogged insistence upon survival is a two hundred year tale told with flood, fire, wind, rain, rice and cotton, slavery and sedition, war, boom, bust and boom again. Through it all the town of Bluffton has remained virtually unchanged in many ways until the recent explosion in development. Yet, the beating heart of whatever modern Bluffton may become, is Old Town, a square mile National Register Historic District and the key to the town’s past and future. – Excerpted from The Lowcountry Weekly, March 4, 2009

Spring means Farmers Markets all over the Lowcountry are gearing up for a new season spotlighting local growers, craftspeople and producers of all sorts. At Lowcountry Weekly we’re committed to the concept of putting fresh and local first and we’ll feature each and every market during the course of the season.

                            One of the great things about being The Backyard Tourist, apart from the lavish lifestyle and in no way being affiliated with any Rupert Murdoch enterprise, is finding the good stuff close to home. And trust me on this, there is never a shortage of good stuff to cover in the Lowcountry and lately a great deal of it appears to be concentrated in and around Bluffton.

 (Editor’s note: the following originally appeared in two parts in Oct 2008) The earthworks of the abandoned railroad trestle split the marsh for more than a mile before ending abruptly in the dark tidal currents of the Broad River. The tracks are long gone. A rough washboard road remains flanked by scrub and brush and volunteer oaks tall and thick enough to form brief canopies. The trestle itself, or what’s left of it, looks like the victim of an air strike, whole sections missing, toothsome pylons jutting up out of the black water all askew. The full moon hangs bright and yellow just above Palm Key to the west. Beyond the ruined bridge a glow builds on the eastern horizon.

 The Filmmakers Have the Last Word on Why BIFF is Buff Days after the curtain falls on the 2011 edition of the Beaufort International Film Festival the buzz still hangs in the air, crackling like some unseen static charge.  The energy is palpable. The conversation is ongoing in the bars and restaurants and cafes. The filmmakers are gone, audiences dispersed, all evidence of the after-party is long since wiped away. For festival organizers/show-runners, Ron Tucker and Rebecca Berry, the eighteen-hour days and late night suppers at Huddle House are finally over – until next year.

  A locally produced documentary makes the BIFF finals while redefining the Lowcountry’s archeological record   On paper, Mike Hudson and Gibbes McDowell are an odd pairing. McDowell is an expert guide and outdoorsman while Hudson spends a good bit of his time blowing things up as a Special Effects Coordinator for film and television, with a resume that includes both Forrest Gump and the current Army Wives. About six years ago, the two discovered a mutual interest in history and archaeology when McDowell told Hudson about evidence of ancient Native Americans he’d discovered at his fish camp near Hunting Island.

The 5th Beaufort International Film Festival Hits Its Stride I will sit right down, waiting for the gift of sound and vision – David Bowie, Sound and Vision FADE IN: The scene is a packed movie theater on a summer’s night. A few stragglers squeeze through the crowded rows to fill odd seats. There is the muted sound of munching popcorn and whispered conversations. Someone’s smoking down front. The lights go dim.