Get down and dirty with over 20 challenges and a ton of mud to run and roll in at the Big Nasty Mud Run X3 April 6. FCA Endurance hosts the 4.1-mile run as a way to bring people together for a great time.

South’s Greatest Bodies 2013 voting closes tonight at midnight, so cast your vote for who you think has the greatest body at southsgreatest.com now! Winners will have the opportunity to participate in a South photo shoot featured in the April/May 2013 Outdoor Adventure issue.

By Jeff Vrabel
Photography by Colin Douglas Gray

From personal training and embodying wrestler personas like The Devil’s Advocate to bouncing at night clubs and instructing personal security classes, Sean Haire has made a career of jumping from one tough-guy profession to the next. Now he’s trying his hand at something new: hair styling.

Sean Haire is a former professional wrestler/mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who has also been a 17-time Toughman competition winner, boxer, personal trainer, strip club bouncer, bodyguard, trainer of other bodyguards, and three-time WCW World Tag Team Wrestling Champion. He still looks the part: At 41, he’s 6′5″, 280 pounds, and with the fire-and-spiderweb tattoos, it’s hard to miss him in a coffee shop that’s currently really into Jack Johnson music.

Two or three times during our interview, Haire says something cool and outside the window, perfectly timed lightning shatters the sky. Some people have a flair for the dramatic. Which is one of the reasons he plans to make a great hair stylist.

He’s also got a flair for the gregarious, and a disarming forthrightness. He mentions, not without regret, the days and nights that found him “really mean,” and then worries how that would sound in this article. His past has been on occasion messy—I mention I used to work at the paper on Hilton Head, and he responds half-jokingly, “Oh, so you’ve read some bad stuff about me.”

On the other hand, he has an awful lot of pictures of his cat on his phone.

Over the course of two hours, we blaze through his history as a fighter (street and otherwise), his handwritten and long-abandoned professional wrestling personas (including Sean O’Haire and the never-quite-finalized Devil’s Advocate), his partially reconstructed and reinforced titanium jaw and orbital socket, the National Kodak Medallion of Excellence award he won for photography in high school, the time he fought a K-1 kickboxing champion and didn’t know it (he lost), his boxing stint in New Jersey, several stories involving “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, two marriages, two divorces, an almost-detour into professional mountain biking, his girlfriend of four years, a Savannah anesthesiologist he calls a “calming influence” and enough WCW/WWE name-dropping to deeply entertain a writer who grew up watching scrambled WrestleManias on pay-per-view.

One could be forgiven for struggling to find the thread that connects all of this, but before long it’s clearer: a mix of constant motion, found opportunities and an inclination to take the unplanned detours at the moments when many people would find excuses to back away. Sean finds a way to think, “Why not?”

To read the full story, grab a copy of South magazine.

Known as Savannah’s Front Porch, Port Wentworth is the best place to stay, play, eat and shop near Savannah, Georgia. Whether you’re a history buff searching for lost Savannah River Plantations, a Civil War explorer seeking to walk the living history of Sherman’s march or a family looking for outdoor fun, you’ll find adventure here.

1 FRIED GATOR
Alligator Soul
Alligator tail, like venison or ostrich, is an exotic treat for the truly adventurous carnivore. The basement level restaurant Alligator Soul specializes in preparing this rare cut of meat allowing foodies to try the dish with no gator wrasslin’ necessary! Created by Executive Chef Chris Dinello, this distinctive, signature appetizer begins with fresh, farm-raised Florida gator tail, thinly sliced, then lightly fried and served with a Creole-spiced gravy. It’s then seated next to a bed of crispy, fresh mesculin greens, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and lemon dressing and topped with a vibrant red pepper coulis. According to Mike Finkenaur, sous chef, “We kept trying until we hit upon the best way to prepare it so it wouldn’t be too chewy. First, we soak the gator in alcohol, lemon, and buttermilk. Next, we pound it with a meat tenderizer to soften it up even more. Before frying, we dip it in flour, egg and a special Cajun seasoning patented right here in Savannah by the original owner, Hillary Craig.”
114 BARNARD STREET, 912.232.7899, ALLIGATORSOUL.COM

Trained by Captain Walter A. Rhame, Divers delve into the murkey and trecherous waters off the coast of Savannah in search of ocean life, shipwrecks –and a challenge.

I’m kneeling on the floor of a 14-foot pool. I’m not swimming, not struggling—but I am breathing. The thought of drowning flits in and out of my head. I exhale, and tiny
little bubbles quickly float past my face. I’m not afraid; I’m amazed.

Underwater is a strange place to be, and it’s not easy on the human psyche. After all, we aren’t fish. It feels unnatural and incredibly surreal, yet there’s something about scuba diving that’s intoxicating.

It’s one of those breezy, 75-degree Savannah spring days, and all you can think of is a way to get out of the office and into the sunshine. Yet once you’ve been freed from the confines of three cubical walls, you can’t quite figure how to best embrace the perfect weather.

If you are experiencing this situation at least once a week, you probably have what’s commonly referred to as “yadunnowhattodo-itis.” Don’t worry; it’s not fatal. But if left untreated, it could lead to a severe case of spring fever. The South’s Guide to Getting Out has been proven to reduce the symptoms of this debilitating condition, by offering suggestions for what to do on those irresistibly sunny days. Read it twice and call us in the morning. Oh yeah, and we are responsible for any pleasant side effects.