Isle of Palms Magazine Winter 2016-17

22 / 34

22 | |
Many Charlestonians Can
recite the accolades heaped upon
their hometown over the past
decade, but they might have
failed to notice that the area’s
premier resort, Wild Dunes,
is pretty popular as well. The
readers of Condé Nast Traveler have ranked the Dunes as
one of America’s “Top Southern Resorts” for four years
running. Its twin
golf courses are
rated among the
nation’s and world’s
best, and Tennis
Resorts Online has
named Wild Dunes
one of the top five
tennis resorts in
the world.
To the first-
time traveler to
Charleston, the
world-class resort
at Isle of Palms’
north end seems a
fitting complement
to the world-class city just south of Sullivan’s Island. But
this was not always so. Until the mid-1970s, most people
who spent the night north of IOP’s 41st Avenue slept in a
trailer or tent at the old Sand Dollar Campground.
Blogger Kelly Exline, who stayed at the campground
with her family as a child, remembers “a magical sand
dollar beach ... our version of Shangri-La.”
April 1970
“A visit to a campground on the Isle of Palms,” wrote
Post and Courier reporter Beth Brown in an April 16
feature on the
growing camping
craze, “reveals
both young and
old people, from
many walks of
life.” Brown
proceeded to
introduce the
reader to a Danish
couple with two
children who
planned to stay
just one night, fell
in love with the
island’s natural
beauty and ended
up staying a week. Another family, from Pittsburgh,
discovered the island on their way back up from Key