What makes us human, they say, is our ability to work together toward things that can’t be seen yet. So, gathering together to share those visions, those images of how it might be, was the essence of civilization. Working together was the key not only to surviving, but also to prevailing here on this beautiful – but not always hospitable – planet.
It surely wasn’t our physical strength that got us where we are. Compared to some of the predators we overcame when people hunted and gathered in the wilderness, we’re frankly puny at best. And although our intelligence might set us apart to some extent, there are animals who have ways of sensing and knowing that are far better in some respects. And let’s face it, as individuals, we all have our moments of dumb.
So, the thinkers and studiers on the subject say now that stories are what bind us together, and together is how we achieve. Gathering together, then, might be the turning point for making human life as we know it. The power to gather seems to be a blend of a reason and a place. Both of these are the essence of The Shops at Sea Pines Center.
The Reason to Gather
The Center sits right in the middle of the original vision for Hilton Head Island as a new kind of resort. Sea Pines had such an impact on how resorts were planned, ever after, that we have to be reminded to realize how original the ideas really were in the beginning. One of those ideas was The Shops at Sea Pines Center.
The people who would be drawn to this new kind of resort were no rookies. They had achieved something in life, experienced a lot of travel and entertainment, and they had a wide variety of options to choose from in how to spend their well-earned leisure. An old-timer here has referred to the first Sea Pines residents as “people who could have gone anywhere.” So why would they choose Sea Pines?
The founders intended to put art and nature close together, and make outdoor enjoyment easy all year. They saw a resort that nestled in the natural world rather than one that overshadowed it. For the people who would find this attractive, Sea Pines Center was designed to be part special and part everyday, to be one of the privileges and yet a convenience at the same time. It was placed halfway between a yacht basin and one of the world’s most attractive beaches, so the Shops have never been what you’d call a “shopping center.”
The Place to Gather
What The Shops at Sea Pines Center have succeeded in being is a place where all kinds of people who enjoy Sea Pines feel comfortable. People gather here when they return, if they are seasonal Sea Pines residents, to find out what’s going on. People come here during the first day or two, if they are visitors, to get the inside scoop on what’s happening that they’d like to take part in. People make The Shops at Sea Pines Center a regular feature of living in Sea Pines, if they are full-time residents, because here they find a lot of what makes this way of living so particularly enjoyable.
It’s a lot to live up to. What we are designed to be, what we are intended to offer, and how people are promised to feel, when they come to The Shops at Sea Pines Center. We work on it all the time. Do stop by and let us know how it’s going.
