Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places

Hilton Head Island, SC

I have a huge admission to make. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m getting tired of being on the road and it’s taking more and more energy to be interested in the things around me. Actually, I figured I’d get to this point, and especially as I rounded the last corner and started heading for home. As a result I only have a few pictures today, although I had a really nice day. I’m trying to stay focused as I only have a few more days of actual touring before winterizing the trailer and just turning the car north and booting it.

Today I sneaked into South Carolina without the trailer, so don’t tell it. I’ll be back there tomorrow with it when we make the next step northward to Charleston, but today I headed up to Hilton Head Island, which is in S. Carolina but is closer to here than Charleston.

Hilton Head is another barrier island, separated from the mainland by the Intercoastal Waterway. After an unbelievable slow drive up Interstate 95 into South Carolina, I turned east and over a few bridges and causeways once again to arrive at Hilton Head Island. The Interstate miraculously turns from 3 lanes into 2 going from Georgia into South Carolina and there was what looked like a horrendous accident just a mile into SC so the traffic was backup for miles. I have heard that it’s quite often a problem just because of the reduced lanes alone and on my return home today I noticed it was backed up as well. So I have that to look forward to tomorrow.

Hilton Head reminds me of Palm Desert, with the addition of the ocean and beaches and more lush vegetation and more rain and usually more humidity. It has a lot of really nice looking gated communities and resorts and a LOT of golf courses. But you knew that already. There doesn’t seem to be a main “town” or maybe I just missed it. But there are many, many places to spend your money and I did some of that today.

I started my exploring going to the far south east end of the island to Coligny Beach. The facilities at this beach are probably the best I’ve seen. And cute to boot. First of all, there is a free huge parking lot that had a lot of shaded areas and it wasn’t full either when I arrived nor when I left. On the pathway to the beach there is first a set of restrooms, then an area with change houses and showers, then a gazebo with Adirondack chairs (I imagine they call them something else here?) on one side and a children’s play area on the other, and then gazebos on both sides with big people swings. After taking the pathway down to the beach, there is then a vinyl carpet (like the outdoor carpets) that you walk on through the dunes to and on to the beach. There are the usual beach chair and umbrella rentals on the beach and they were all in use this afternoon despite it being just warm enough for the beach.

I did a bit of shopping and then grabbed some lunch at a restaurant near the beach called Flatbread Hilton Head. I had a great Chicken Asian Salad, (and NO dessert today) sitting on the veranda in the shade contemplating life and my next move. I snooped around some main streets to see what else there was to see, including stopping at Driessen Beach Park further north on the island. They have the longest boardwalk to get to the beach of any I’ve seen. It takes you from the parking lot over some marshy areas, open water and then over the dunes and on to the beach. The beach was smaller and less crowded if that’s what you were looking for.

Then I headed for the town of Bluffton which was only 15 minutes or so headed west from Hilton Beach. There is a historic section and some interesting looking shops. Unfortunately between it being Sunday and late in the day, they were mostly closed. There were some pretty neat looking and busy restaurants though. This is where I found the May River and Church of the Cross at the end of Calhoun Street, the main drag of the town. The church was one of the few structures to survive the Civil War. The congregation started in the area in 1767 and a smaller church was built nearby but the church in it’s present location wasn’t started until 1854. It’s suffered its share of troubles from fire to hurricanes to war, but has always been repaired or rebuilt and in fact has expanded as its congregation has expanded over the years.