Road Trip: Hilton Head Island

On Friday, January 11th, 2008 at 11:00 p.m, Jacob and I decided to take a roadtrip. First we thought Florida, but that was an extremely long drive, so we decided on Hilton Head Island, SC. We found a hotel running a special winter rate, booked it, and on Saturday morning we began our drive to Hilton Head Island. First, we stopped for road trip snacks-- the box of Pringles proved the most popular between the two of us, with the Twix bars making a close second. Then we started spinning the tunes from our iPods and in seven and a half hours (Mapquest said it would take nine hours, psh) we were pulling into the parking lot of the Main Street Inn. This was honestly one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in (and that's saying something). The room was large, clean, and had a nice Old South/Island feel, much like South Seas Plantation on Captiva Island. We had an amazingly nice bathroom-- you could twirl around in it it was so big and the shower was great... I think they called it a "spa shower" in the description. Our room overlooked Charlestonian Gardens and a lap pool, but it was a little chilly for swimming. It was about 70 degrees and foggy the first day we were there, and cooler but sunny the second day. The first night, after we checked in and marveled at our hotel, we went to dinner at a place called the Crazy Crab. I had a great flounder stuffed with crab meat, and Jake got fish and chips. The restaurant was a typical island restaurant with nautical items on the walls and only seafood on the menu. The best part was the amazing feeling that 24 hours previously we had been in D.C with no notion of ever driving to Hilton Head Island, yet there we were ready to start exploring!

The first day we woke up, ate the complimentary breakfast provided by the hotel (which was really good--blueberry pancakes-- but the breakfast room service was really slow, probably because we were in the south). After breakfast, we decided to check out the Disney World Hilton Head Island resort. As we approached the gate, we saw a sign which said "Welcome Home DVC Members." Me!!! Oh Disney, you are home. Anyways, we went onto the property like we belonged there (which, let's face it, I go to Disney enough that using their facilities when I'm not actually staying there doesn't phase me in the least-- I deserve it. If Disney had little hole punch cards like coffee shops and Sno-To-Go I think I would have punched out enough Mickey heads to earn a free week at a Disney property). We walked around, found a dock, and looked out over the marshland on the inner part of the island. Then we played ping-pong, shuffleboard and warmed our feet in their hot-tub. Jacob won at ping-pong easily because he's good, but then played a ruthless game of shuffleboard. In his Machiavellian way he used his pucks to knock my pucks off of points and onto negative points. One Disney employee commented on his game, "That's right, go for the throat!" Grrr, Jacob, grrr. ;)... Love you!

After being at the Disney resort for awhile, we went to Sea Pines which is a resort like Kingsmill in Williamsburg. We went to Harbour Towne first, where we discovered a lighthouse! This lighthouse turned out to be a climb-able museum. This was the second lighthouse we found over Winter Break (the first was on a short day trip to Havre de Grace, MD, to the Concord Point lighthouse. That was on January 8th. We took a picnic and a bouquet of daisies that Jake had bought for me and sat in front of the lighthouse for hours enjoying the warm day and the water)! It was a thrill! The museum itself wasn't too bad, but as Jacob pointed out, a little bit biased in the Civil War part... under a picture of freed slaves with the description of the Union Troops pulling out of South Carolina is said "Free at Last!" which could be read as either the slaves were free at last or South Carolina was free of Union soldiers at last. Hmm... It was foggy, but the view at the top of the lighthouse was still quite beautiful. Next, we went to South Beach Marina, where we ate lunch at Jake's Pizza (ironic, no?) and looked into some little shops, and imagined what it must be like in the summer filled with people eating and drinking and laughing, and we planned a return trip for sometime not winter.

Finally we went to the beach on the Atlantic Ocean side. It was a little chilly, but not too bad. We took off our shoes and walked with the water splashing up over our feet and calves. We held hands and chased seagulls (but they had the wing advantage) and generally played in the water and sand until it began to get dark. We went to Fuddruckers (World's Greatest Hamburgers) for dinner that night, which of course brought a flood of speech and debate memories, then we chilled out in the hotel and I quickly fell asleep-- probably a result of all the wonderful salt-water air.

The next day we awake to find it sunny, but much cooler than the day before. We started out at the beach, but we had to wear our coats (though we still took off our shoes and walked in the waves). The ocean was stunning in the sun. It glittered gold and blue and white and the beach spanned on and on forever on both sides, a wide expanse. The ocean makes me feel so... incredulous. It just goes on to the horizon so full of promise and adventure and... I don't even know how to describe it. It was nice to see it in the sun. We went back to the Disney resort after that to warm our feet in the hot tub. They were pretty numb, but the hot water brought them back to life. It was getting into afternoon, so Jacob and I left and ate lunch at Fuddruckers (again. It was near the Disney resort), then commenced our long drive back to D.C. Hilton Head Island was an incredible place. I can't wait to go back again!

Right now I'm in Williamsburg seeing a few people before I leave for England! 10 days! I should really start packing...