What we get in exchange for today’s interlude of winter is an even greater appreciation of the paradise we call home and where we happily host the well-informed travelers from across the U.S. and around the world.

The approach of something – the anticipation – whets the appetite and keens the senses. We experience more fully the joy of the thing we’ve waited for. This principal applies not only to nature’s seasons, but also humankind’s endeavors to connect with each other – the field we call art.

Experience the Extraordinary

Because The Shops at Sea Pines Center were designed for the experience they offer you, let’s have a look at what art can teach us about our approach to the space around us. Some say architecture is the most influential form of art, and yet the most overlooked, because it shapes where we stand, where we look, and to a surprising extent, how we feel.

Whole ways of looking at the world came before us. Mighty and imposing, like the empires of Egypt and Persia and Rome, these viewpoints passed into history. How the ancient peoples saw the world – and their place in it – is discovered through the clues of their art and architecture. There are lessons for today in those distant traces. Some of those lessons we can learn, from how the art of human hands was seen, where people stood to take it in, and how they approached it.

What Remains Reveals

Art history and archaeology students have this in common. They often start by studying the temples of ancient Egypt, and here they discover the importance of the approach. The monumental works of Egypt were designed to control the experience the viewer would have upon encountering them. That experience progressed from the general to the specific, and eventually to the highly exclusive. The design presented things to think about along the way.

The Currents of Life

Because the Nile was Egypt’s superhighway, the temple experience often began with a landing quay where boats could tie up. This was the initial encounter with a temple, and the spot for ceremonial greetings if the visit was royal. The path from the quay was paved for procession. Monuments and obelisks along the way testified to the story behind the city, the temple, the family.

Way stations punctuated the approach, as places for participants in a ceremonial procession to refresh, and maybe to spruce up the icons and images they were carrying to the temple. Eventually, we come to the enclosure walls that protected the temple, yes, and also symbolically blocked out the disorder of the outside world. Passage through these walls was selective and significant.

The outer courtyards then finally progressed to the sanctuary. At each stage, fewer and fewer ancient Egyptians were qualified to progress beyond. Ultimately, the innermost temple was for royals and priests only. Here was celebrated the birth of the deity, or even the creation of the world.

So, the approach, in ancient Egypt, was a progression. A person’s anticipation was orchestrated with purpose.

The Warm Embrace of Sea Pines

By contrast, the welcoming nature of The Shops at Sea Pines Center, might seem utterly opposite. On a closer look though, notice how even our forecourt parking area resembles a green glade, still enjoying the shade and atmosphere of live oaks and Spanish moss. They connect us with the very spirit of the Hilton Head Island dream. The three avenues of approach to our inner plaza each present a different proportion of open arms. And each one presents a different progression through the refreshments and offerings and services of the Center.

In the plaza at last, we see an ever-changing oasis, a calm, palm-punctuated place that gradually changes colors as the sun makes its own progress overhead. No wonder those in the know, the Sea Pines regulars, count this as a touchstone, a place to reconnect.

Please come enjoy with us. A lot of thought went into preparing for your visit.