Hilton Head Island, Once Again

We first visited Hilton Head Island in 1980. We were awed by what the HHI had to offer: 12 miles of beach that you can ride a bicycle on the entire length; great gathering places like Harbor Towne, Coligny Plaza, Shelter Cove, South Beach, Main Street, and many others; amazing restaurants, night life; dozens of miles of bicycle paths; upscale or laid back housing. It's a terrific place. We bought a time share 25 years ago, then sold it and bought a condo. Sold it to buy another condo. Sold it and bought a house. Finally sold that house and bought a mountain place near Asheville NC. But we still love HHI. This is our second visit this year. See this blog, and this one. We have also commented on how much we love the Hilton Head Harbor Rv Resort & Marina. We couldn't get a waterfront spot this time but no matter it was still great.

If any of you are planning to visit Hilton Head, give a call. We will probably meet you there!

Hilton Head Harbor RV Park & Marina. A view from one of the waterfront spots.

Our daughter, Stacey, and her beau, Scott an the Marina

Oooohhh!

Hilton Head Harbor RV Park & Marina. From the pool area.

The Lighthouse at Harbor Towne. It was almost dark.

We expected to see Greg Russell, who has been singing under this Live Oak tree for35 years.
Turns out he sings every night except Saturday when we were there.
But what a treat it was to hear Stepping Stones. the lead singers are brother & sister. She is 16 and they have been singing together for 5 years! Incredible music, classic rock, most of which was before their birth.

An old cemetery near the campground

Stacey, Scott, Annabelle

We had dinner at The Crazy Crab, overlooking the marsh. This was the view from our table.
iPhone panoramic shot.

Debbie at our table

Sunset at Hilton Head Harbor RV Park & Marina.

Diva sits pretty at our spot. Our flamingoes enjoyed the grass.

Next stop Myrtle Beach, another of South Carolina's fabulous beach resorts. We haven't been there in 30 years since we love Hilton Head so much and Myrtle beach was 5 hours from us.

Ciao, Frank

Hilton Head Island, Day 2

We had another great day on HHI. Sunny all day with temperatures into the upper 70's. We took a nice bike ride through the campground and into the surrounding area.

A view from behind the campground office looking out to Skull Creek

We came across this hidden graveyard which sits in a dense live oak wooded area on Skull Creek.

Several of the grave markers had fresh flowers

Most of the grave stones were hand-carved.
The inscription reads, "Thomas Godson, Born 1913 Jan 26 Died May 15 1936"

Looking out to Skull Creek

The next stop was the Skull Creek Boathouse for lunch. This is a place we have eating at dozens of times. We used to keep our boat here.

Since we had Rosie with us we ate on the patio. Such suffering!

Rosie made herself at home

Skull Creek Marina is used for pleasure boating and commercial fishing and shrimping.

We kept our boat here when we had a house on the island. The boats are stored "dry".
This is great because the boat did not get beat up by storms and salt water.
When you wanted to take the boat out they put it in the water usually in 5-10 minutes.

The next stop was at South Beach Marina in Sea Pines. This is still on Hilton Head Island but at the very opposite end.

The South Beach Marina is off of Calibogue Sound and only a few minutes boat ride to the Atlantic Ocean

Debbie enjoying the sun

I have seen The Salty Dog shirts, hats, jackets and other items all over the world.
And yet, until recently, there was only one place to buy them, at South Beach Marina in the Salty Dog store.
 Nowhere else on the island, nowhere else in the world.
Now you can buy them here and on the internet

They only sell one brand here.

The Salty Dog and South Beach Marina are just about one and the same.
The Salty Dog owns the cafe, the pizza place, the shops, the marina

Well our 2 week trip is almost over. Tomorrow we head to Aiken, SC for a few days with friends and then home to Tryon NC. See you in the spring!

Frank

Hilton Head Island and a 1957 Airstream

We spent last night in a Cracker Barrel parking lot near Brunswick GA. The rear parking lot was nearly empty. This is our second time staying at CB and both times it was pleasant. We patronized them each time so it was win win.

Today we got to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, a place we have been coming to for over 30 years. We will be only spending 2 nights here but it is so nice to be here any time we can. We have never camped here before so we didn't know what to expect. Hilton Head Harbor Rv Resort & Marina is one of the best private campgrounds we have ever stayed at. Our site (#62) is right on the water. It is a large site, paved & level, yet they have maintained most of the original trees. There is a 100 year + old Live Oak tree just behind our camper. We did not see a bad site anywhere.

Our site witha great view of the water and marina.

But the best surprise was running into Fred Reese and his beautiful 1957 22 ft Airstream. Fred bought this Airstream in 1959. He and his wife travelled with it together until she passed away in 1975. He never remarried and has mostly lived in this trailer since. He has been on his spot here since 1991.

Fred is from Green Bay, Wisconsin but now lives in Hilton Head most of the time. He returns to Green Bay almost every fall. He was a dance instructor and still seems to be very graceful.

Fred recently buffed the finish.

When the rear tire panel was destroyed he made a new one out of wood,
painted in silver to match and etched in  the Airstream logo.

The front end has 13 panels riveted together.

The lower window here once housed an air-conditioner. He replace that with one
on the roof and devised and new window for the space.

Home sweet home

Fred is revising the inside. He is replacing the floor and refinishing the cabinets.

Who says a 22 ft Airstream is small? Fred has room for this bull's head.
Fred told me that once you get accustomed to the size, an Airstream is a nice place to live.

I rarely get into the picture but I had Debbie snap this one.

The view from 10 feet from the back of our trailer.

Hilton Head Island, SC

This post is not in sequence, nor is it actually part of our Airstream journey. I am posting it because we love Hilton Head so much and wanted our readers to learn about it.

HHI is shape like a shoe. It is 12 miles from the "toe" to the "heel".
 The beach runs the entire "sole"/

Hilton Head Island, SC is one of the greatest family beach vacation places anywhere. And we have been to the French Riviera, Italy, Greece, Southern California, Maine, Martha's Vineyard, Florida, South New Jersey, and many others. I'm not saying that HHI is better than these places, just that it's up there with any of them.

 We were lucky to spend 2 days on HHI with our dear friends Karla & Michael before we left with Diva on our Airstream adventure. This would be our last visit with Karla & Michael  for a while since we were heading off to the sunset in a few days. It will also be our last trip to the Island for a time. We have been coming to HHI for 32 years. We have owned 4 different properties on the island over the years and enjoy every visit there.

Add captionThe beach at Hilton Head Island goes on for 12 miles uninterrupted.

An older photo of Debbie and I riding bikes on the beach.
At low tide you can ride the whole 12 miles.

Some of the beach areas are maintained by hotels but anyone use these areas.

Four of our grandchildren about 2005

Annabelle and Peyton dressed up for dinner.

Gregg Russell has been performing under the oak tree at Harbor Town for more than 30 years.
Little children come and sit on a platform in front of him. He brings many of them up for an interview and to sing a song. We have been going for most of those 30 years and have not grown tired of him yet.

This kite is attached to a surfboard.

Finally a video from our most recent trip. Enjoy.

The best time to visit is almost anytime of the year. the Island used to be pretty much closed down in January and February, most of the shops and restaurants closed for the season, but not anymore.In my view, the worst time in July and August. The Island is packed with tourists from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Mayland, New York.