Travel

Hilton Head, SC: Part I

Hilton Head

Happy Wednesday, friends! I’m back and feeling so refreshed after some time away from technology – and from work. I have a hard time putting work to the back burner at times. I feel guilty about leaving others on my team to cover for me when I’m out. But, it’s always so worth it. In fact, I always try to take a week each year – whether we have a vacation on the books or not – to unwind and step away from work for a bit. I always come back a better version of myself! Now, enough of the work talk, I’m here today to share Part I of our trip to Hilton Head.

Getting there

Hilton Head

Hilton Head Island was a new location to both Aaron and I. We picked it because we knew we wanted access to the beach and water activities. And, it needed to be somewhere within driving distance of our St. Louis friends who opted to drive because they didn’t want to trek three kids through an airport (and who could blame them). They also wanted their car – and all the flexibility of bringing the items that they really needed. Aaron and I left for Hilton Head on Friday, and our friends drove through the night on Thursday.

Hilton Head

It was a two hour direct flight from Houston into Savannah. Hilton Head has many different car services that you can book that will do a round-trip drive between Savannah and Hilton Head. It’s about a 45-minute drive from the airport. However, because we have diamond status on Uber (thanks to my husband’s work), we opted to take an Uber. And, 45-minutes after we arrived into Savannah, we were getting dropped off at our hotel. I packed light for our 5-day trip and managed to cram everything into a carry-on and my tennis bag (that also doubled as a pool/beach/activity bag). These are the best bags, and you can find them here.

Before I continue, the Savannah airport was the cutest. It has a cute little courtyard with little shops lining the edges. It even has an old school ice cream shop!

Where we stayed

Hilton Head

We stayed at the Omni Hilton Head (and we do have status with the hotel), so I was upgraded to an ocean-view room, which was nice. That’s the view from our balcony. From our balcony, you can see the splash pad, two of the pools – and the beach.

The hotel choice ended up being wonderful. It had private beach access – and so many activities to do on site. The Omni did have access to free beach umbrellas and chairs (they were limited, but it was nice if you took advantage of that early) or you could rent a chair/umbrella set-up from a rental company on the beach for $40/day. The hotel also had on-site bike rentals (more on that later), and fire pits on the property for s’mores.

Hilton Head

It also had two restaurants for breakfast. I’m not a big breakfast eater, so I was happy to grab a coffee and something light (like a muffin, or breakfast sandwich) from their on-site Palmetto Market. Our friends loved the breakfast buffet – because…. kids. They also had a more casual restaurant that turned into a bar at night…. and a nicer restaurant for dinner. We loved grabbing lunch and adult beverages at their outdoor bars/restaurants. We also went off-stir for dinner a couple of times, too.

Pro-tip: when I booked this hotel, I was able to add on a resort credit that I could use for food, drinks or activities at the resort. And, if you added it on at the time of booking, you received a discount. So, I went ahead and added a $200 credit. And, it basically covered our breakfasts the entire time we were there – and random treats (like s’more packs) and our bike rental!

Beach and Pool

Hilton Head

Since our friends had been driving for about 12 hours, and Aaron and I got in relatively late, we decided that our first full-day on Hilton Head should be a complete beach and pool day. We all got kind of a late start with breakfast, and after that, we headed down to the beach. That’s the short little path from our resort – out to the beautiful beaches of Hilton Head.

Hilton Head

The beach was great. We ended up renting two chairs and an umbrella, but we were really down in the water with the kids the whole time. The water was warm, and there were so many great things to find: starfish and sand dollars! I learned that the tides in Hilton Head are fairly unique – and they switch over every 6 hours. That could possibly explain why the sand is so packed down and nice. It was great for the adults to hang out in the water – and great for the kids to play in. (The picture above is from when Aaron and I walked down before dinner one night, but I wanted to show you how nice the sand was!).

Fun in the sun

Hilton Head

We spent several hours at the beach – and migrated to the pool area so the two littlest kiddos could nap. Sara and I set up shop under the canopy at the Buoy Bar, which was right next to the pool. Ordered some adult beverages and spent a long time catching up while Aaron and Brent played in the pool with Layla. It was truly the best day. I say this a lot, but it’s not lost on me how special it is to make friends as you get older. And – when they turn out to be the best of friends – it’s really something that I cherish. We have a daily group chat that we message in all the time, but nothing beats hugging on your people and spending some quality time together in person (you can read our friend origin story here). It was truly the best to be able to meet my baby god-daughter for the first time – and to just enjoy chatting by the pool with Sara!

Hilton Head

We look a bit sunburnt, but we were under a red canopy 🙂

After our pool and beach day, we all showered and got ready to enjoy a nice, big family dinner on site. And honestly, I wish I could say we stayed out past 10 p.m., but we were all exhausted and ready to call it a night after a day of fun in the sun.

Thanks for reading along – I’ll share Part II on Friday! It’s good to back in my little corner of the internet.

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