70-year-old swims from Tybee to Hilton Head on his birthday

Nash McIntosh is a member of a Savannah family who considers it de rigueur to do wild and wacky things.

Nash recently celebrated his 70th birthday by swimming from Tybee Island to Hilton Head Island. Nash had tried this daring feat three previous times. After carefully studying the tide charts, currents and shipping schedules, he set out on his big swim.

Charlie Ellis and Jack Jones, two very good friends, set off with Nash and his boat Po' Cracker to serve as lookouts for sharks and ships. He lost his goggles and hat, but that could not stop him. Five hours after he jumped into the water, he and his madcap companions arrived on the shores of Hilton Head. It is too bad someone didn't make a video of this feat, it would be great fun to watch.

News and notes

• If your children are old enough to read or work on a computer I have what I think a brilliant ideas for them. They could cut out coupons for food and other items advertised in newspapers or magazines. There are several sites on the Web to download coupons, information and advice on this "free money." It could be a contest to see who can find the best deals. There is even a cell phone site offering coupons via texting, cellfire.com. One good Web site for coupons is TheGroceryGame.com.

• The Toni Morrison Society will meet in Charleston from Thursday through Sunday at various sites throughout the city. Charleston was chosen as the sight of Morrison Society's fifth annual biennial conference because 2008 marks the 200th anniversary of the ending of the transatlantic slave trade. Charleston was the largest port entry of enslaved Africans and is rich in history of the Gullah culture.

Toni Morrison won the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature and will read from her new book, "A Mercy." For details, visit www.tonimorrisonsociety.org or e-mail tmsociety@aol.com.

• If you have a budding inventor in your family or are one yourself you might want to head up to Columbia to the State Museum. The museum will host a wonderful show of more than 30 of Leonardo Da Vinci's inventions. The models are all life-size and were all handmade in Italy. Visitors will be allowed to touch them and turn cranks or wheels.

Columbia is the second city in America to get this show. This is a definite outing for me. The show opens Sept. 27.

• American Idol auditions will be held in Jacksonville, Fla., on Aug. 13. If there is someone you know who would like to be a star, here is their big chance. For details go to americanidol.com.

• Head out to the Bluffton Farmer's Market on Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m. on Wharf Street. There are all sorts of vegetables, herbs, flowers, crafts, etc. for sale. This is a fun event we should all help support.

• The secret is out:There really is an alcoholic drink made out of tea leaves. Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka is distilled near Charleston on Wadmalaw Island using tea, Louisiana cane sugar and muscadine-infused Firefly Premium Vodka. The concoction debuted in April and has found a large following. It can be served on the rocks with water and lemon and is very tasty. Sweet Tea was the top-selling flavored vodka in South Carolina in May and June.