Sun-lit, or sparkling for the evening, the plaza that’s embraced by The Shops at Sea Pines Center has been a magnet for people in the know about Hilton Head Island for generations.
Its power to pull the attention away from daily cares – or to offer a master-stroke answer for the arrangements that are called for by a family vacation – has been remarkable and consistent for more than 30 years.
What people see and hear and what they think and feel when they come to The Shops at Sea Pines Center tends to bring them back with its own kind of affection. And that feeling seems to change and grow.
New Focus, Familiar Feeling
Lately, a new custom has brought focus to this feeling of attraction. When the First Thursdays Art Market launched this fall, it was an inspiration from right here within the plaza. The Artists of Sea Pines, who for a long time have exhibited their works indoors at the Sea Pines Community Center here, teamed up with the merchants of The Shops at Sea Pines Center to concoct an event we could celebrate on a regular basis.
By bringing their art out into the plaza to exhibit, the Artists of Sea Pines initiated a sense of even greater openness, of sharing with a wider embrace. By adding accomplished local musicians to the occasion, the merchants brought a sense of celebration. Beginning from the very first one, the First Thursdays Art Market was a hit with visitors and residents alike.
And as an outdoor event, with artists posted at points throughout the plaza and even out to Lighthouse Road, the First Thursdays Art Markets have offered folks a chance to venture out a bit more, while still practicing sensible precautions.
Energizing a Season of Celebration
As the holidays approach, the First Thursdays Art Market is preparing to deepen and enlarge the festivities accordingly. Our Christmas Tree Lighting for the Shops at Sea Pines Center will take place at the December 3rd First Thursday. Strolling carolers in costume, the Shore Notes; the accomplished, original singer-songwriter Sara Burns; and a special holiday duo of troubadours from the Island’s jazz and rock and country heritage, Jazz Corner favorite Martin Lesch and Cranford Hollow front-man John Cranford, will provide the musical accompaniment.
It’ll be a glittering evening you won’t want to miss, and a wide-open beginning of the approach to our precious Christmas season.
Punctuating an Ongoing Story
The magnetism of The Shops at Sea Pines Center is not based on any one kind of occasion. Celebrations such as our seasonal Farmers Market, or our First Thursdays Art Market, are just the punctuation marks in a story that goes on all the time, and brings with it literally millions of happy endings.
The ways of enjoying The Shops at Sea Pines Center are as personal and individual as the men, women, and children, or the friends and families who come here. Each person finds his or her own version. And providing that colorful palette of choices was as much a part of the Sea Pines founders’ design as placing us right here in the middle of the Miracle Mile.
