HHi Portraits Blog

Tiki Hut reopens… and it sure feels like summer

By TIM DONNELLY tdonnelly@islandpacket.com
Photo: Jim Dugan, a bartender at the Holiday Inn Oceanfront’s Tiki Hut beach bar, restocks the shelves on Wednesday as the bar reawakens after being closed for the winter. Around the middle of February is when the island’s tourist- oriented hospitality industry begins stirring in anticipation of the slow build-up to summertime crowds. Jay Karr | The Island Packet Enlarge Image Maybe it’s the eternal optimism of the school child, or the sun-loving hubris of South Carolinians who refuse to take their beers or brunches indoors even in the dead of winter. But there’s something about this time of year, an ephemeral quality that’s hard to nail down, that causes people to start shaking out their patio umbrellas and dusting off their beach chairs as summer on Hilton Head Island comes to life. People in other parts of the country are still crowding around living room fireplaces and digging out from harsh winter snowfalls. Not here, where the most nascent signs of the season debut this week. Planning for the island’s big spring events is well underway by now and a handful of restaurants that closed for the (albeit short) winter season reopened over the past few days.
* Photo: Manager Bill Alberts sets out some pillows while getting the Santa Fe Cafe outdoor cantina ready for lunch on Friday. Though it’s mid-February, the island hospitality industry is already springing back to life. Santa Fe Cafe is back in action after closing for a week-and-a-half in late January and business has been good, said restaurant co-owner Marshall Sampson. Jay Karr \x95 The Island Packet Enlarge Image Perhaps no sign of the start of the season is more prominent than the reopening of the Tiki Hut, the beloved beach-front bar, which cracked its first beer of the season Thursday. “I talked to my brother in Boston two days ago, and he’s like, ‘What do you mean you’re opening your beach bar?’<2009>” said Joanne Nash, the beverage manager for the Tiki Hut and the Holiday Inn Oceanfront. “You’ve got to be here to understand.” In a few months, the Tiki Hut will be packed from the volleyball nets to the wood benches with half-clothed tourists staying cool with frozen drinks under water misters. But in February, it’s usually just locals who like to stop by and say hi before the crowds get too big, Nash said. On Thursday, only a small group of customers were enjoying the sunny day at the bar while the staff stood around in sweatshirts. But Nash said the bar likes to reopen on Valentine’s Day each year so people will remember the date. Elsewhere, planning for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade down Pope Avenue — which will kick off months of outdoor events on the island — is already in full gear. The buzz of excitement for the 2008 Verizon Heritage golf tournament in April is ple. It’s not clear exactly why things start to liven up again in the dead of February, even as temperatures flirted with 80 degrees recently and a thin layer of pollen began to coat cars and sidewalks in their spring yellows. But tourism statistics show it’s not just a coincidence. The number of visitors typically peaks in July, then starts a sharp decline in October, according to statistics from the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce. The visitor rate doesn’t start to significantly increase again until — you guessed it — February. “Now more people are starting to come out, the sun’s out more,” said Kevin Maloney, 31, who was working at Stu’s Surfside Subs in Coligny Plaza on Thursday. Maloney — wearing shorts — said his 22 years living on the island have given him a sixth sense when it comes to the start of the summer. “It’s like, you just know,” he said. “It’s like the tide. You feel it start happening.” When people want to begin the vacation season, they don’t let the calendar stop them, Maloney and other business owners said. Even if patrons have to sit under kerosene-fueled heaters to stay warm, they like sitting outside as early in the year as possible. Some of this week’s magic has to do with the weather, since the area’s brief stretch of rain and chill that constitutes the South Carolina version of winter has passed. But it’s also the business generated by Valentine’s and the three-day President’s Day weekend that encourages restaurants to spring back to life, said Marshall Sampson, co-owner of the Sante Fe Cafe, which opened this week. “February can be freezing or it can be absolutely wonderful,” he said. The restaurant has seven heaters and a fireplace on its rooftop cantina, and people will sit out there every night and listen to live music, he said. “As long as it’s above 40 degrees, we’re fine,” he said. Opening now gives you just enough time to shake out the cobwebs and remind staff of how things work before the busy season hits, said Lisa Gerber, owner of the Waterfront Cafe in Harbour Town. “(It) is funny, around here, you’re never really inside for that long,” said Maloney, of Stu’s subs. “That’s what makes this place so beautiful.”

http://www.hihiltonhead.com/hhivideo/tiki.html

Well the title almost says it all. After waiting what seemed like forever he is born. Everything went well for Mom and son. He was born at 453PM, weighed 6 lbs, 15 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. The birth went so well that Jacqueline popped up and said only 10 minutes after his birth that she was ready for a fourth child. That is music to my ears.

We have an awesome video of his brother and sister entering the room and seeing their baby brother for the first time. The background on this story is interesting. See they did not know that their mother was in the hospital giving birth to their new baby brother. They thought they were visiting a family member that was in the for the past two weeks. They enter the room open the curtain and see Mom and baby brother. We got a great quote out of Palmer Grace “Mommy is that your baby?” - stern and with excitement…pure her!!

Okay to the punch line his name:

Banks Augustine Gerwels
First name is wife’s maiden name. Middle name is from my family tree. My wife certainly likes names that are not common by any means. Here are some images from the hospital. We are very proud of newest family member.

This image is just after his first bath - a few minutes old.