Criminal Defense Attorney inHilton Head Island, SC

If you are planning a visit to Hilton Head, indoor activities may not have been on your to-do list. But, when it’s too hot or rainy, having a backup to the beach is always a good idea. Here’s a list of things to do indoors from KAG’s Kristina Hernandez.

When it rains, it pours on Hilton Head Island. The island usually has pretty good weather because of the Gulf Stream just outside the island that pushes storms off it inland. But other times, well, you need to find entertainment indoors because the downpours are pretty epic and there’s no way to enjoy anything outside.

But there are quite a few fun Hilton Head indoor activities and things to do if you’re on vacation and it’s raining. From painting your own pottery to playing skeeball and bowling to visiting free museums and learning about the local environment, this list has you covered!

Adventure Cove Arcade

During your vacation to Hilton Head, indoor activities are inevitable for a least some of the day. Arcades are the fix! While Adventure Cove has two great mini-golf courses, they also have a fantastic indoor arcade that has tons of games, including my favorite: skeeball! I may have sneakily grabbed a few tokens from my kids to play that game.

We were lucky and won 500 tickets on one of the games so my kids were thrilled when they got to choose two little unicorns from the prize table. We only planned on spending maybe an hour here but ended up leaving after almost three hours because it was so much fun!

18 Folly Field Road, Hilton Head Island, SC843.842.9990

The Sandbox Children’s Museum

My kids (ages 8 and 5) absolutely loved this hands-on children’s museum right in the heart of the island. Everything about The Sandbox invites children to use their imaginations and play freely. With two floors of more than 11 hands-on exhibits, plan to spend at least a couple hours here, perfect for a rainy day. They also have free family fun nights in the spring, fall, and winter and Parents Night Out during the summer months.

80 Nassau Street, Hilton Head, SC843.842.7645

The Art Cafe

The owners of Rockfish Restaurant and the Art Cafe came up with the genius idea of Kids Night Out so parents could have a date night at the restaurant while kids painted pottery upstairs and had dinner at The Art Cafe. We tried Kids Night Out and it was a huge hit. They even got dinner and ice cream while painting their pottery. You can also just go and paint pottery with your family there on a rainy day!

5 Lagoon Road, Hilton Head Island

Coastal Discovery Museum

I visited the Coastal Discovery Museum at the end of our trip but I’d recommend visiting instead at the beginning because you can learn all about the local ecosystem and what you will be seeing on the island. They have a kid’s room with an adorable replica of a loggerhead turtle nest plus books, educational toys, and fish tanks.

There is an enclosed butterfly garden that is freestanding and you can see the cocoons of various species of butterflies. There is a beautiful walking path that goes into the adjoining marsh, lined with oak trees and Spanish moss. Admission is free but they have several tours and events, like a Meet the Critters for kids, that do have fees associated.

70 Honey Horn Drive, Hilton Head Island843.689.6767

Kazoobie Kazoos

This is off HHI but nearby and a fun experience as it’s the only kazoo factory that imprints kazoos (like for companies, events, fundraisers) and one of only two in the entire country. They make around 5,000 kazoos per day!

You can take a tour of the factory and then make your own kazoo. This is a unique opportunity to learn about the instrument that dates before the First World War. The tour is really neat – they show you all kinds of different kazoos and whistles (my kids loved this part) and a short video about the history of kazoos. Then you get to see the inside of the small factory and then, of course, make your own kazoo.

12, 4290, John Galt Rd, Beaufort$14.50/adult, $11.50/kids, ages 3 and under are freeTours are Monday-Friday 10 am, 11 am, 1 pm, and 2 pm

Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Aquarium

You could do this place and Kazoobie Kazoos on one rainy day as they aren’t far from each other. The Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Aquarium is totally free and sits on the Port Royal Sound and features all kinds of fish, baby alligators, turtles, and a vast amount of really neat history behind the surrounding waters. It’s not that big, which is great for the smaller kids, but is packed with interesting exhibits and a little area where kids can color.

310 Okatie Hwy, OkatieOpen Tuesday-Friday 10 am – 5 pmSaturday 10 am-4 pmFree

Station 300

Located in Bluffton, just outside HHI, Station 300 is a bowling alley with an arcade and restaurant. If you visit on a rainy day during the summer, don’t forget to sign up for Kids Bowl Free beforehand as they are a participating bowling alley!

25 Innovation Drive, Bluffton843.815.2695

Beaufort County residents are being urged to stay safe, use caution while traveling during the imminent, tropical weather conditions, restrict driving and limit any unnecessary travel between Wednesday and Thursday morning.

For residents staying home or those not in the area who wish to check on the area during ongoing weather conditions, several live webcams are available for public use.

Beaufort County was put under a hurricane warning as well as a storm surge warning from the National Weather Service Wednesday morning.

Here’s where you can watch Hurricane Idalia live through webcams on Hilton Head Island.

The Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront website offers webcam views for:

The live webcams can be viewed online at, https://www.palmettodunes.com/news-and-media/webcams.

Sea Pines Resort features a webcam livestream for the listed areas online at https://www.seapines.com/livestreams.

The Salty Dog Cafe offers a myriad of live webcam footage around South Beach Marina. These livestreams can be viewed online at https://saltydogcafe.com/webcams/.

Coco’s On The Beach offers live webcam footage of the beach around the establishment. The livestream can be viewed online at https://www.cocosonthebeach.com/beach-cam.

A separated livestream of the “deck cam” can be viewed at https://www.cocosonthebeach.com/copy-of-beach-cam.

Also brought to you by Coco’s On The Beach, those interested in viewing Hurricane Idalia live from their homes can watch live webcam footage of the beach on Surfline that shows the surf, wave movement and the beach online at https://www.surfline.com/surf-report/hilton-head-island/5842041f4e65fad6a7708a7d?camId=5fab0869cdb5b521db06d60c.

Hilton Head Island Beach & Tennis Resort has two different live webcam views to watch the hurricane through.

Beach Webcam

Pool Webcam

Beaufort County Traffic Cameras

South Carolina Department of Transportation Traffic Cameras

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WSAV) — Idalia brought wind speeds of more than 60 miles per hour and heavy rain to Beaufort County. Now that the storm is gone, clean-up crews across the county got to work.

Lucky for them no one was hurt, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

“The storm jogged to the west a couple of times. It became this dry spot within the eastern side of the storm. And when it came through, it came too pretty fast,” Hilton Head Island Mayor Alan Perry said. “And we didn’t experience the winds that we thought we were going to have. And so we didn’t have the storm surge. And, you know, that’s so fortunate.”

The storm still left its imprint on the island. The streets were littered with tree limbs and debris.

“About 30 trees down. Everything’s isolated, though. Any impacts are isolated, whether it’s some sand scraping on the beach, trees that have impacted some homes, downed trees across parking lots or pathways,” said Marc Orlando, town manager of Hilton Head Island. “And the impacts, though, are manageable. And we’re back at it today cleaning up, assessing and making sure everybody’s okay.”

One of those was at the Publix on the north end of the island.

However, two of the island’s baby sea turtles nests were lost in the storm, according to The Hilton Head Island Sea Turtle Patrol.

“If the water comes up and sits on the nest. It will drown the nest because the eggs and if there are hatchlings in there, they have to breathe,” Carrell Cranswick said.

Thousands in Jasper and Beaufort counties lost power at some point during the storm as well.However, all in all, the island woke up feeling relieved.

“We are beyond blessed. You know, our neighboring communities, they got hit hard and they’ve got a lot to deal with,” Mayor Perry said. “But also, we want our residents and guests to know that when these storms come around, they’re serious.”

Town officials say they’re grateful that the island was mostly spared, but preparations like this could be dress rehearsals for the next big storm.

Did you know the Palmetto State has a seashell representative?

The South Carolina state shell is officially listed as the lettered olive (Oliva sayana).

Have you heard of it?

The seashell was designated as the official State Shell by Act No. 360 of 1984.

The Lettered Olive seashell was first found and later named by Dr. Edmund Ravenel of South Carolina. He first recognized the lettered olive back in 1834.

Ravenel chose the name for the seashell because of its appearance of hieroglyphic markings. This beautiful shell outwardly displays a smooth and shiny, cylindrical shape. It is typically found in shallow waters along or near the shore. Generally, it can be quite prolific along the Palmetto State’s coast, according to the South Carolina Legislature.

Ravenel was a Charleston physician who was internationally renowned as a pioneer conchologist. In the 1800’s, Ravenel assembled a famous collection of mollusks from the waters and wetlands around Charleston and published a catalog of the new collection in the year 1834 — when South Carolina’s state shell was first recognized. That work contained descriptions of several new mollusks, including the lettered olive, as detailed by the South Carolina Encyclopedia.

The shell is regional to the Lowcountry and belongs to a predatory snail that lives along the shore in coastal, sandy areas ranging from the intertidal zone down to 20 feet. The carnivorous snail mainly eats bivalves and small crustaceans.

The lettered olive’s snail spends most of its time burrowing through the sand. They do this in search of potential nearby prey.

The snails within the shell can be seen on the sand’s surface in the evenings or at night.

It is important to remember that no shell should be collected with a living organism inside. This includes not only the lettered olive’s snails, but also organisms such as sand dollars. Doing so would fatally harm the creatures, is illegal, and may result in a hefty fine in most areas. On Hilton Head Island, this fine could reach up to $500.

Days after Idalia, which moved into Beaufort County as a tropical storm Aug. 30, two new storms are brewing in the Atlantic with looming threats.

On Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center was monitoring two low-pressure systems in the Atlantic, forecasting that the tropical depression could become a major hurricane in “a few days,” according to a center advisory. Currently deemed Tropical Depression 13, moving 15 mph west-northwest in the central tropical Atlantic Ocean and boasting 35 mph winds, if the storm gains strength, it would be named Lee.

The tropical depression “could bring impacts to the Leeward Islands” by the weekend, the center wrote on Tuesday morning. Right now, it’s located about 1,400 miles east of the Lesser Antilles.

“While it is too soon to determine the location and magnitude of these possible impacts, interests in this area should monitor the progression of the depression and updates to the forecast,” the center continued.

Another system, a strong tropical wave near the coast of West Africa, has a 70% chance of forming into a tropical storm withing the next seven days. The now-disturbance is stirring up an area of large “cloudiness and showers,” and unless another storm beats it to the punch, if formed, the system would be called Margot.

The disturbance could form in the far eastern tropical Atlantic while it moves west-northwest at 10-15 mph, the center forecast Tuesday. It’s expected to move across the Cabo Verde Islands Wednesday night and Thursday.

Frank Strait, severe weather liaison for the state’s climate office, said of the two systems that “sneak attacks” can happen from storms developing along stationary fronts to the United States’ south and east or from disturbances forming over Central America.

“So, don’t let your guard down,” Strait said.

Even still, without any direct threats to South Carolina right now, about half of hurricane season remains. And in a couple of days, peak season sets in.

Sept. 10 is the prime day. It’s the “climatological peak” of the Atlantic hurricane season. But what does that mean?

“Around 50% of all Atlantic hurricane seasons since the dawn of the satellite era in 1966 have had at least one hurricane traveling across the basin on Sept. 10,” according to Meteorologist Brian McNoldy in an AccuWeather report.

Meteorologists say it’s because there’s “low vertical wind shear, plenty of moisture and increasing sea surface temperatures.”

South Carolina doesn’t stray from the trend.

Between 1851 to 2018, South Carolina has had 98 tropical cyclones in September, the center recorded. The next closet is October, with 71 tropical cyclones.

During those years but throughout the June through November season, nine have made landfall in Beaufort County with three happening in September.

This story was originally published September 5, 2023, 3:16 PM.