Things to Do in Goose Creek

Art and teaching have always been a part of Sarah Stahlhuth Dubay's life. So after she received her master's degree in education, it was only natural for her to combine her love of art with her work as an elementary-school teacher. But when she celebrated her birthday with a Wine and Design party, something clicked as she was adding the finishing touches to her painting of a shrimp. Aside from feeling really hungry, she felt that sharing the beauty of art with young minds just wasn't enough anymore; she wanted to share it with the world.

Today, Sarah runs her own Wine and Design studio, where professional artists supply students with stroke-by-stroke instruction and all the supplies necessary to forge vivid paintings. At the end of each session, budding artists return home with a finished masterpiece, which they can hang on their wall or “accidentally” lose in a museum. In addition to regular classes, Wine and Design offers private parties and Art Buzz summer camp for kids. In an effort to paint it forward, they also donate funds to causes, such as Relay For Life and the MUSC Children's Hospital.

Though built only in 2011, the nonprofit Redux Contemporary Art Center’s new 12,000-square-foot facility stays bustling all year, hosting six to eight free exhibitions in two galleries. After taking in the artwork, visitors can attend numerous free events, such as artist talks, film screenings, panels, and concerts. More than 100 classes foster artistic inclinations throughout the year as local qualified instructors help students master disciplines such as painting, drawing, and printmaking.

Redux's galleries stay full thanks in part to its 22 private artist studios, which accommodate emerging and mid-career artists with up to 240 square feet of creative space. Twenty-four-hour studio passes grant access to Redux’s darkroom, print studio, and woodshop. To encourage a sense of community, artists can participate in quarterly critiques, attend visiting-artist lectures, and debate their studio neighbors on artistic controversies such as whether Michelangelo’s David is as good as the earlier one he sculpted from Play-Doh.

Art may be a subjective experience, but with 75 regional and national awards, Steven Jordan’s talent is indisputable. A master of watercolor, mixed media, and oils, Jordan’s creativity knows few bounds, and his paintings have appeared in nationally published art books, as well as on TV and film. The South Carolina native now frequently judges art competitions, gives lectures to organizations and strangers in the grocery line, and teaches classes and workshops.

For more than 30 years, Johnny Spitzmiller has been hunting the secretive and quick-flippered fish of South Carolina’s waters. At Ambush Inshore Charters, Captain Johnny imparts his aquatic acumen during full- and half-day charter trips on a 19-foot Scout Costa flats boat. The vessel prowls up the waters of the Wando River as guests soak up rays and suss out a strike from the redfish, trout, and sheepshead swimming by underneath. Captain Johnny also leads oyster- and clam-harvesting expeditions, and is always quick to offer advice on the finer points of casting or finders-keepers laws as they apply to gold doubloons.

The tri-deck Venetian Lady yacht of Island Queen's luxury fleet regales guests with fine dining, dancing, and dolphin’s-eye views of the city. Mother's Day dinner voyagers can graze on a limitless buffet packed with roasted tenderloin, chicken marsala, and more, and Easter Sunday brunchers can stuff their foodsacks with fruit and cheese, mashed potatoes, and honey baked ham. Entertainment abounds on the Fourth of July dinner cruise, which provides views of the fireworks, views of the clouds that look like American flags, and views of the standard beautiful sights of the skyline.

The team of fellow certified captains share their fishing knowledge and intimacy of local waterways with guests of The Reel Deal Charters.

Their expeditions whisk passengers away on inshore hunts for red drum trout, sheepshead, and sunken pirate ships. Though they promote catch and release, the crew happily fillets and packages fish for future meals or commissions its resident taxidermist to create scale replicas of fish let go.

The Reel Deal's captains also organize trips to search for blue crabs, fish for sharks on a seasonal basis, and explore local beaches and marshes. They also narrate sightseeing tours that pass by Fort Sumter and the USS Yorktown or natural sights such as feasting pelicans and ospreys soaring overhead. All excursions take place aboard fleet of boats that each accommodates up to six passengers with licenses, tackle, and free live bait when available.