DI Families: Meet the Garners

This week, we managed to catch up with one of Daniel Island’s super-busy families, the Garners of Codner’s Ferry. Mom, Cynthia, is a dentist and owner of Garner Family Dentistry in Mt. Pleasant. Dad, Alan, is a Senior Program Manager-PMP at SRA International. Daughters Georgia, a junior, and Camille, a freshman, are both students at Bishop England High School and active on the school’s soccer and lacrosse teams. Finally, there’s Buster, the family lab, with a full schedule of eating, sleeping and daily walks around the neighborhood.

Where did you grow up? How did you end up in the Charleston area, specifically on Daniel Island?

Alan Garner (AG): I’m a real islander. I grew up on the Isle of Palms, attending Sullivan’s Island Elementary School and Wando High School. After graduating from Charleston Southern, I joined in the Air Force for 22 years, retiring as an LTC. When I was stationed in Omaha, NE, I met Cynthia, who, at that time, was working at a friend’s dental office. It was love at first sight.

We married in 1998 and subsequently I was stationed in Colorado, where Georgia was born in 2000, then Wyoming in 2002, where Camille was born. When I retired from the Air Force in 2004, I wanted to move back home to Charleston. However, Cynthia insisted that the only way she’d move to South Carolina was if we lived on Daniel Island. She’d had a taste of the island during our numerous trips to visit my mother on IOP and attendance at the annual Family Circle tennis tournament.

Cynthia Garner (CLG): I grew up in Omaha where I went to grade school and highschool. I graduated from Creighton University Dental School and am a proud mid-western girl. After marrying Alan, we visited the lowcountry often and I loved it. But I didn’t want to move to Isle of Palms, where he grew up. So many people were starting to vacation there; it just wasn’t the same place as when Alan lived there as a kid. I liked that Daniel Island had a school, a grocery store and a sense of family and community,

AG: Cynthia also pointed out to me, “I like Daniel Island because my children can walk to school, starting in Kindergarten all the way through senior year of high school.” It definitely was a strategic move. I do want to point out that Cynthia’s determination and savvy in building a successful dental practice in Mt. Pleasant is a major factor in our living here. She’s worked really hard to get to where she is today and we wanted to make sure we were living in an area that would support that success.

Your first house was on Bulline Street, in the Pierce Park neighborhood. Did you choose the house because of the proximity to the school?

CLG: Actually, there was a housing lottery in place when we moved here. That was just the lot we got. We had no choice. But, actually, it all worked out in the end. It was a great home and we had the school on one end of the street and Pierce Park Pool on the other. In the long run, it turned out to be fantastic.

You moved to the Codner’s Ferry neighborhood recently. Can you tell us what attracted you to your new house?

AG: We wanted more privacy and a view of the marsh. We found the perfect property on Beresford Creek Street. We simply customized the house that was on the property. It has a beautiful view of the marsh which also gives us lots of privacy. It’s very peaceful here. Lots of birds.

CLG: We also wanted a house big enough for our kids to bring their friends over to hang out. We’ve got a three car garage, a FROG, and a pool in the backyard. It was hard, at first, to leave our old neighbors on Bulline. They were really awesome - I was really torn. But we’ve come to find out that our new neighbors here are really wonderful too. Plus we still get to see our old neighbors on occasion!

Where do you like to hang out on Daniel Island?

Camille Garner (CG): Bellinger’s Island with my friends or driving the golf cart around DI.

CLG: We like to take runs and walks or bike around the island a lot. Go to the beach or lie out by the pool.

AG: On the many trails on DI.

Do you take any day-trips?

AG: In the past, we took the boat up as far as Georgetown or down to Beaufort.

Do you have any special family traditions?

CLG: We are all so busy, so having dinner together every Sunday night is very important.

AG: We go on an adventure every year. Last year, we went to Cancun. We’ve been to San Francisco, Hawaii, the Bahamas and even skiing in Park City, Utah. The most important tradition, however, takes place on Christmas Eve. We have a special seafood dinner at my mother’s house on IOP or our house here, complete with shrimp, oysters, scallops, flounder, crab cakes and southern hush puppies. It’s been going on for over 40 years. Of course, now, there are a lot more people at the table, when you include in-laws and new friends. Everybody loves Christmas Eve dinner.

CLG: And we also visit my family in Nebraska, California and Arizona.

AG: We always look forward to the College Baseball World Series in Omaha when we go back to visit Cynthia’s mom. It’s a fun event for all of us.

What are some of your favorite restaurants - either here on DI, Mt. Pleasant or downtown?

CLG: We love Agave. We’re going there for family dinner tonight. We also love Vespa and Wasabi.

AG: I think our favorite restaurant overall is Cypress, downtown on East Bay. Also, Sullivan’s for seafood on Sullivan’s Island. And Mozzo’s Deli on Coleman.

Georgia Garner (GG): I also like Verde at Belle Hall. And the Brava food truck for Acai Bowls with Nutella. You can usually find the truck parked at Parrot Surf Shop on Coleman.

Camille (CG): I love Agave the most but you can also find me and my friends eating a pizza pie at Orlando’s.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received? Words that you’d like to share?

AG: Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Do you have any special stories about your family you’d like to share?

CLG: I have one story that illustrates how small the world can be. Back in Omaha, my dad had a favorite minister, Gary Bullard, at the Presbyterian Church we attended there. Interestingly, in 2005 during a leisurely drive around the Old Village of MTP, my dad went by MPPC and saw Gary Bullard’s name and went in to see his old minister and couldn’t believe it. That connection was really re-affirming for me, having come here all the way from Nebraska to MTP and where our family now attends and has come to know Gary well.

What words would you use to describe your life on Daniel Island?

AG: Wonderful. Neighborly. Relaxing. Daniel Island is so unlike other places. It’s an amalgam of people from all over, which really makes life here so rich.

Do you prefer to eat out or cook meals at home?

CLG: We like to cook at home on weekends, mostly grilling burgers or boiling shrimp or roasting oysters outside.

Is there anything else you’d like to add that I haven’t asked about?

Garners: We love DI and our many friends here. We feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family and to live in a truly unique community.