To all of you Buckeyes offended by Ohio/Hilton Head jokes: We’re just kidding!

Hilton Head Island loves Ohio.

Remember that as you read this note sent last week to our newspaper:

“Enough! We have been visiting Hilton Head for 20 years and have felt welcome. Not this year! What’s changed? Maybe it’s just me, but We have heard OHIO jokes and comments for the past three days. From restaurant patrons at San Miguel’s to the homily at St. Francis to the magician at Coligny, there have been jokes about those OHIO people! Enough already, but I expect to hear more of the same as it seems to be the prevalent feeling of locals. We will look for somewhere else to visit next year and I will encourage other Buckeyes to do the same.”

Jokes about Hilton Ohio Island are older than the minivan, and numberless as the sands.

And they can be as unfair as the Clemson Tigers playing THE Ohio State Buckeyes.

But here’s the key word: “Jokes.”

The truth of the matter is that Hilton Head did target Ohio in its early development as a great place to visit, and live. And Ohio did respond. And this is a good thing. But we can still joke, can’t we?

I’ve done it myself. It’s an unwritten rule that columns occasionally poke fun at Ohio — as well as South Carolina.

“I don’t want to imply that Hilton Head is overrun with Ohioans, but half our population calls Sea Pines Circle a horseshoe,” I wrote.

And: “If Ohio had a Mount Rushmore, Gregg Russell would be on it.”

That’s not so bad, is it?

It turns out, we’re not alone.

I found this comment on TripAdvisor for a restaurant — in Aruba:

“Only complaint is that they made fun of us being from Ohio all night, but I’m sure they only did that because they were afraid that all of the bitter New England diners would not know how to take a joke and start a fight.”

And there was a long conversation on Reddit about why so many people from Ohio go to Carolina beaches — Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach and OBX.

They said it’s a straight shot, not too expensive, the water’s warm and the “friendly Carolinian waitstaff will glob ranch dressing on anything you desire — and provide a generous vat on-the-side to lubricate yourself on the waterslide after you let the funnel cake settle.”

But they keep on coming, and we should dot their “i” with ranch dressing or whatever it takes.

“On Hilton Head, you can buy stickers that say ‘oHHIo’ because it is a running joke,” goes the Reddit conversation.

“At the Salty Dog Cafe they had a map where you could put a sticker on the place you were from. They had Two extra Ohios to accommodate all the stickers.”

“I swear I have never seen so many Salty Dog Cafe shirts as I have here in Columbus and I’m from the South.”

“The other day I saw a Jeep with a Salty Dog spare tire cover on the back.”

“Pretty sure all Jeeps and Honda CRVs sold in Ohio just come with the Salty Dog spare tire cover.”

In return, Hilton Head obviously needs to stage an Ohio Appreciation Week.

No joke.

This story was originally published July 6, 2017 at 11:58 AM with the headline "To all of you Buckeyes offended by Ohio/Hilton Head jokes: We’re just kidding!."