Best Moving Company in Bluffton

If you don’t have a New Year’s resolution locked in yet, here’s a fun one to consider: Try some of Beaufort County’s newest restaurants in the coming year.

We’ve put together a list of suggestions to get you started. This list is not meant to be comprehensive but includes highlights and places that have generated some buzz on social media.

With options such as steaks or seafood for date night, a fun brunch with a group of friends, or fast-casual takeout for the family, there’s something for everyone.

Here are 13 of the restaurants that opened in 2022:

NECTAR FARM KITCHEN BLUFFTON

Modern Southern cuisine for breakfast, lunch and supper; a SERG restaurant with a location on Hilton Head

OLDE SCHOOLHOUSE RESTAURANT

Traditional Southern breakfast and lunch in a historic building; known for generous portions

KYRA

Italian and Mediterranean fusion with lunch and dinner menus

QUARTERDECK

Seafood menu with seating overlooking the Calibogue Sound; next to the Harbour Town lighthouse in Sea Pines

MAMA G’S PIZZA

CRAVE STATION

Food hall-style space offering pizzas, burgers, sushi and Asian-style bowls, and ice cream

JAH’LION GRILL AND BAR

Authentic Caribbean cuisine in a sports bar atmosphere

PARIS BAGUETTE

CELESTE COASTAL CUISINE

Cajun- and Creole-influenced menu with fresh, local seafood plus steaks and oysters

JINYA RAMEN BAR

Slow-cooked, customizable ramen and Asian salads and small plates; vegetarian options

KIND OF BLUE

BOWDIE’S CHOPHOUSE

Upscale steakhouse with extensive menu of cocktails and wine; wine lockers available

CAVA

Healthy fast-casual Mediterranean

This story was originally published December 29, 2022 2:47 PM.

A new beer garden and restaurant complex is opening soon on Hilton Head’s south end.

The Bank will be located in the former Bank of America building at 59 Pope Ave. It is expected to open in the spring, according to a news release from Watterson Brands.

In addition to the beer garden, the 17,000-square-foot building also will house a brewery — Side Hustle Beer Co. — and four restaurants with indoor and outdoor seating, a family zone, a band shell and a merchandise shop.

Side Hustle Beer Co. is currently the smallest craft brewery in South Carolina. The current 21 Side Hustle craft brews were created by brewer Lee Holyoak and his wife Emily, along with original founders Mike Palmieri and Faith Seiders, as a “side hustle” turned career in early 2021.

L.J. Bush, co-owner of Side Hustle Beer Co. and founder of the youth mentorship program Changing Our Image Now, and Billy Watterson, CEO of Watterson Brands, have been collaborating on The Bank project since they acquired the brewery in November 2021. Side Hustle’s current location on Arrow Road will transition to a new adult beverage venue; details have not been made public.

Dining options at The Bank will be Taco Bills, Bank Burgers, Pizza Co. and Benjamin’s seafood truck.

Taco Bills and Bank Burgers are concepts from Marshall Sampson and Bill Alberts, co-owners of Santa Fe Cafe on Hilton Head. Sampson also owns Pizza Co., which has a location next to Watterson’s Burnt Church Distillery in Bluffton.

Additional beverage and dining options will be located on the exterior of the main building to provide customers an enhanced experience, the news release says.

“Music, storytelling and food are pillars of the Lowcountry experience, and we’re proud to offer this, and more, year-round,” said Bush in the news release. “Additionally, we plan to have trivia nights and other fun activities, and we will be the venue to watch sports on the island.”

The Bank is located at a stop for The Breeze trolley system. It will have more than 100 vehicle parking spots and more than 100 bicycle parking spots.

The business represents a $13 million investment. Hiring for 100 positions is expected to begin in February. Those interested in learning more can visit www.thebankhhi.com.

Last April, Watterson Brands purchased the former Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette building on Buck Island Road in Bluffton.

Watterson is also behind the proposed redevelopment of the former Pepper’s Porch location in Old Town Bluffton into Ma Daisy’s restaurant and a Gullah Heritage Center with Bluffton Town Councilwoman Bridgette Frazier.

The injured owl laid against the concrete roadside barrier, surrounded by the roar of Saturday morning traffic on Bluffton Parkway.

Joshua Vermilyea, a local avian expert and longtime volunteer bird rescuer, was quick to help. After getting the call from a concerned community member, he and the injured owl — now known affectionately as “Howie” — were on the road to a veterinarian. Howie rode in a covered, blanket-filled pet carrier.

Howie arrived at Awendaw’s Avian Conservation Center, about 2 1/2 hours up the coast, where his rehabilitation treatment began. The owl was severely dehydrated and has a small hairline fracture in his right wing, which prevented him from flying. Staff believe he may have been hit by a car.

As of Tuesday, conservation center staff said Howie was refusing to eat — but Vermilyea hopes his appetite will return as his stress levels decrease.

“That little bird has gone through a lot,” he said. “It might just be the commotion that’s going on.”

Howie is a barred owl, one of the most common species in South Carolina. Found year-round in dense forests near water and swamplands, the birds’ distinct call is thought to sound like human speech: “Who cooks for you?”

Veterinarians in Awendaw aren’t yet sure whether Howie needs surgery. As time passes, experts will monitor his health and flying patterns to determine when he’s ready to return to the wild.

If that happens, Vermilyea said he’ll do the honor of releasing Howie back in Bluffton, where the bird will be in familiar territory.

For Vermilyea, Howie’s story is a prime example of the tension between human life and animal ecosystems in the Lowcountry.

“You’re not going to stop human expansion, it’s never going to end,” Vermilyea said. “But we have to have a balanced ecosystem. There’s no way that any of us are ever going to survive if our ecosystem fails.”

Although the Avian Conservation Center should always be the first point of contact for injured birds, a number of skilled rehabbers are available across the Lowcountry to assist in the handling and transportation of injured animals.

Vermilyea suggests people call someone who is trained to handle wildlife and keep an eye on the injured critter until help arrives.

Looking to learn a new skill, expand your knowledge or further your career?

A new study by the Writing Tips Institute, a website that helps users learn how to write and solve writing problems they have come across, revealed what the most popular languages to learn in South Carolina are based on residents’ Google searches.

In first place, Spanish was found to be the most favored language to learn in the Palmetto State.

This result was found after the company analyzed the number of average monthly Google searches in each state for learning a language. Then, the search volume for each term, plus the selected language, were combined to discover the total average monthly searches in each state, according to the Writing Tips Institute.

The Spanish language is spoken by 534 million speakers and is the official language of 21 countries, as was detailed in the study. In addition, the language is the second most spoken language in America.

The Japanese language landed in second place for most popular language to learn in South Carolina.

The Japanese language has approximately 128 million speakers and is the ninth most spoken language worldwide, according to the study by the Writing Tips Institute.

In third place for the most popular language to learn in South Carolina, German took the spot.

Around 155 million people around the globe speak the German language, which places it as the 11th most spoken language of the world, the company states. In addition, German is the most spoken language in the European Union.

Like South Carolina, the Spanish language is the most popular language to learn across the U.S. with a total of 476,900 average monthly searches. This also landed Spanish as the top language in every state. In second place nationally is the Korean language with a total of 44,090 Google searches. Lastly, following close behind in third place was Japanese with a total monthly search volume of 40,260, according to the Writing Tips Institute’s study.

For those looking for an easy, quick way to learn a new language on the go, there are several online applications to choose from. Some of these language learning apps include Duolingo, Babbel, Rosetta Stone, Falou and Memrise.

Thomas Heyward Academy, an independent college preparatory school in Ridgeland, recently announced a new Head of School for the 2023-'24 academic year.

"We are pleased to announce the selection of Col. Scott K. Gibson III, USAF (ret.), as our next Head of School," THA Board Chairman Lewie Davis said in a news release.

Davis said Gibson comes to THA from another South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) school, Lowcountry Preparatory, where he spent the past 11 years. He also has previous Head of School experience, the release said.

Gibson succeeds Ben Herod, who served as assistant head of school for the 2019-2020 school year and took over as Head of School beginning in the 2020-2021 school year.

Gibson also serves as SCISA Chairman of both the Accreditation Committee and the Strategic Planning Committee and is a member of the SCISA Board of Directors, the release said. In 2019, the school said, Gibson was the winner of SCISA's Dr. Charles S. Aimar Educational Leadership Award.

Before working in education, Gibson spent 22 years as a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force and commanded troops at three levels, including a squadron of 200 and an on-scene group of 1,200 in Kuwait, the release said. Gibson was airborne- and air-assault qualified, earning his foreign jump wings while assigned to US Embassy N’djamena in Chad. His staff assignments included service as special assistant to the four-star commander of US Special Operations Command, the release said.

While in school, Gibson was the valedictorian of Boys’ Latin School, and at 16 he enrolled at The Citadel, where he finished first in his class with a BS in biology, the release said. His graduate degrees include an MS in International Relations from Troy University, an MA in National Security Studies from Georgetown University, an MMAS in Military History from the US Army Command & General Staff College, and an MBA from Spring Hill College. He also completed an applied research fellowship at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica.

Gibson met his wife Kathy in Charleston, where she attended the College of Charleston, the release said. They have been married 37 years and for the past 11 years have been members of Prince George Winyah Church in Georgetown.

The release said the family has other military members, including daughter, Courtney, a lieutenant in the US Navy, serving in the medical corps as a psychologist. Son Kendall recently completed his service as a lieutenant in the Navy as a submariner and is now employed by Ernst and Young.

"It is fitting that our newly selected Head of School is both a distinguished scholar and military officer, as was Thomas Heyward, the Revolutionary War leader and signer of the Declaration of Independence for whom our school is named," Davis said in the release. "Also fitting is the strong friendship between Herod and Col. Gibson, who have become good friends over the years, serving both as SCISA heads and as accreditation evaluators.''