South Carolina Wahoo Tournament Series

I had the opportunity to captain a team of local anglers in the South Carolina Wahoo Tournament Series last week.  Twenty four teams from Charleston to Savannah competed in this event based out of Hilton Head Island.

I’m happy to say that my team worked together like a well oiled machine and managed to bring a 48.9 lb wahoo to the scales.  This fish was large enough to win 1st place in the heaviest wahoo division.  In addition to wahoo plenty of mahi and tuna were caught as well!

Capt. Charlie Beadon has been spending a good deal of time on the inshorewaters and doing well live baiting redfish around the oyster bars and grass edges.  He’s also been finding some good “tailing” redfish action

on the higher lunar tides.  Bottom line…our spring fishing is in full

swing so get on down to the Outfitters Center and let us set up a day on

the water for you!!

Young Riders Strut Their Stuff

Last Saturday Oldfields equestrian center hosted a “mock” horse show for our young riders ages 6 to 12 to prepare them for upcoming horse shows. Eight young riders dressed up in their horse show attire and put on a good show for all who came out to watch. Thanks for cheering on our young riders!

Eastern Kingbirds – King of the Flycatchers

One of our summer residents who has just arrived in the Lowcountry is the Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus).  These medium sized birds are members of the flycatcher family, who normally sit on a perch and actively catch insects on the wing.  Like all flycatchers, they are dark with a light breast and a “fuzzy” head.  Kingfishers tend to be darker than most flycatchers, with a whitish breast and a distinct white along the edge of the tail, giving them the appearance of a wearing a tuxedo.They aggressively defend their territories by divebombing birds, snakes, mammals or any critter that comes in their territory.  Because they do it so aggressively, they are accused of being a “tyrant”, hence the scientific name!  Look for them in and around Oldfield, perched on top of grasses, signs, posts, and even the flags on the greens of the golf course.

“Pasta-bilities” in the Lowcountry

What a great turnout for our lunch series.

Rhonda Looney from William Sonoma presented our first Spring cooking class where she featured “pasta-bilities”

We dined on Caprese salad, two different pastas and sauce (Penne and Pesto and Spring Vegetable Pasta with baby arugula, thinly sliced zucchini and sun dried tomato’s with garlic, crushed red peppers and chevre cheese. Mmmm all melty and gooey goodness!

For dessert it was a choice of red velvet cupcakes or double mocha.

Prizes were given for naming ingredients and techniques and everyone took home tons of ideas and knowledge.

We look forward to the next event in June where we’ll learn how to grill pizzas Poolside and enjoy some of Rhonda’s creative expertise for an ice cream bar.

Yellow-bellied Sliders

We’ve all seen turtles stacked up on logs along the ponds, or in this case, stacked on top of each other, but what are these turtles?  These turtles are the most common semi-aquatic turtles found in the Lowcountry and are called Yellow-bellied Sliders (Trachemys scripta).

These turtles can be seen all around Oldfield on the pond banks, or any floating structure such as a log.  They have a tendency to sun themselves out of the water, many times lining up along the bank, covering every inch of a floating log, and many times they appear to go from biggest to smallest!

They are easily recognized by the black and yellow stripes on the head, but the distinct yellow patch on the cheek is a dead giveaway.  Of course, I don’t have to tell you what color their belly is!  Their eyesight is pretty good too.

You can’t get close to the turtles without them detecting you and slipping into the water!  Next time you’re out and about Oldfield, try your hand at sneaking up on a yellow-bellied slider

No Club Dues for 2 Years!!!

We’re excited to introduce the Cottages at Lake Arrowhead, and the Lakeside Village Collection; two new series of homes ranging from $399K to $469K in Oldfield.  Right sized for today’s market and lifestyle, these homes feature 3 to 4 bedrooms, kitchen to great room floor plans, and “porch living” in the Lowcountry.

The Cottages of Arrowhead Lake

As a part of Oldfield’s Spring launch of these new homes, we’re thrilled to offer TWO YEARS OF FREE DUES for the first 5 home purchases!

The Lakeside Village Collection

In other words, the next 5 buyers will enjoy all of the privileges and benefits of social membership at Oldfield for free for two years!  Full social membership includes access to the Sports Club, the Outfitter’s Center, the River Club, the Equestrian Center, the Magnolia Grill, the River & Golf Cottages, and the Okatie River.  Golf memberships are optional, and convey in equity or non-equity offerings.

For the latest in Oldfield real estate and more information about homes in Lake Arrowhead and Lakeside Village Click Here.

Nearshore Wreck Fishing with Oldfield’s River Pro(s)

The nearshore wreck fishing has been great with plenty of tasty sheepshead making their way into the cooler.

We’ve also been catching some black drum including this monster caught by Oldfield member John Bodkin.  It’s honestly the largest black drum I’ve ever seen.  We released it to fight again another day!

The weather has been fantastic so give us a call down at the Outfitters Center and book your day on the water!!

The Oldfield Wine Lottery

A subtle breeze, high tide and the expansive view of the Okatie River, what else could you ask for? Well how about a glass of Pinot Noir?

This past Sunday we 7 couples gathered at the River Club for the Wine Lottery.

They were asked to bring two bottles of Pinot Noir (both the same) and an appetizer to share.

I presented one wine of each brought, to a display table and wrapped the other up in undercover wrappings. This would be a blind taste test with the winning wine owners receiving all the bottles (7 in all) from the display table.

What made it so great were the scenery, food and friendship. The wine doesn’t hurt either.

It was light evening, with casual conversation and relaxed atmosphere. So as the sun set we finished our wine and contemplated our next lottery and what could possibly top this night.

It’s Rookery Time!

Well, March Madness and the Big Dance can also apply to our wading birds and their preparation for breeding, nesting, and raising young.  March is halfway done and the great egrets, snowy egrets, herons, anhinga, wood storks, and others are in the “throws” of spring nuptials.  Breeding plumes and in their best shape, egrets are fluffing out their breeding feathers or aigrettes, doing their mating “dance” and starting to build nests.

If you’ve ever been to a rookery, you will agree with the March Madness analogy.  Just imagine 50–100 birds flying back and forth with nesting materials, each time receiving a guttural greeting (or maybe a chastise for bringing the wrong stick, but hey, I’m an optimist).  With all of the flying, diving, squawking, wing flapping, bill clacking, etc., it is truly a frenetic, sensory overloading frenzy that truly is a big dance and the epitome of March Madness!

An Afternoon with Friends

I always say some of the best cooks in the Low Country reside in Oldfield and last Saturday they proved it once again.

We gathered in the newly re-arranged Sports Club living room armed with 10 different soups, each one homemade and over the top yummy!

We had Cream of Garbanzo Bean, Asparagus Bisque with Cajun shrimp, Chicken Tortilla and Louisiana Gumbo. There was Oxtail and Old fashion Chicken & Vegetable soup.

One soup was masterfully made with fish, crab and shrimp pulled right from the Okatie River. Now that’s fresh seafood Gumbo.

It was a great afternoon spent with friends. Recipes were traded and leftovers spooned into to-go containers. We’re always up for a challenge but thankfully we didn’t have to decide a winner. We all left happy, full and completely satisfied.

Let’s see what we cook up next!