Ideal-Living Magazine Ideal Living explores where to live and how to live happy and healthy

Think Florida’s lush coastal plain, and oranges come to mind. Think North Carolina’s or Virginia’s vast rural terrain, and it’s tobacco. Think again. In addition to everything else it has to offer, this region is becoming increasingly well-known as one of the nation’s premier winemaking centers. In fact, the American South’s longstanding history with grapes and viniculture, or winemaking, dates ... Read More »

OK, so you’ve scoured the coastal Carolinas in search of that perfect residential golf community with all the amenities, and you think you’ve found it: Tennis courts, check. Swimming pool, check. Clubhouse, check. On-site, expert medical care in a modern, new facility only minutes from your front door, hmmm… At Brunswick Forest near historic Wilmington, NC, convenient, exceptional medical care ... Read More »

A big stupid promise. That’s what got Jock Brandis into saving the world—though from his corner office in a bright blue warehouse near downtown Wilmington, NC, he’ll insist that saving the world had nothing to do with it—that it was all for adventure’s sake. Read More »

In the beginning were two brothers, one a school teacher, the other a carpenter. Together they decided to grow grapes, and they were glad. When they found selling those grapes impractical, there was much teeth-gnashing. Then they turned to one of history’s oldest professions—and the rest, as they say, is history. Read More »

Winter along downtown Charleston's posh King Street: a couple in their thirties strolls past centuries-old buildings home to some of South Carolina's finest antiques. A hundred miles north at Brookgreen Gardens, one of the country's premier sculpture gardens and a year-round activity venue, a woman in flip-flops pulls close the season's first Sasanqua camellia, its bright yellow stamen bathed in January's soft light. Read More »