Tag Archives: Hilton Head Island

Relaxing But Fun Things To Do On Hilton Head Island

by

I decided to review some of my favorite relaxing activities about Hilton Head Island that I’ve enjoyed from my past few vacation.

Hilton Head Island

Hilton Head Island looks like a shoe!

Fun Things To Do On Hilton Head Island

  • Biking – Hilton Head Island is perfect for renting a bike and going biking since its an Island and therefore very flat!  The Island is literally filled with biking paths everywhere!  You can ride for miles and it seems that you never run out of energy.  Even the heat doesn’t both you while you are riding because of the low intensity workout.
  • Family Beaches – Not near as touristy as Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head’s beaches are basically family beaches.  This is a great place to take young kids to explore the beach without the craziness of college age kids running amok.
  • Golfing – This Island is a golfer’s paradise!  Some of the smaller, less know courses are very reasonably priced to boot!  Bring bottle of water while on the course!
  • Quaintness of the Shops and Businesses – I notice that many of the store and restaurants are operated by people who live on the Island.  This makes sense, but it seems more real and since many of the residents are from northern states that have moved down there, it feels like people are there because they want to be there.  I have a favorite cafe/ice cream shop where it has the feeling of a beach bum type of place.  It was cool to see the local residents interact with each other there.
  • Seafood Meal – I know this is going to sound odd, but I enjoy seafood more when I visit Hilton Head Island.  The food taste a little fresher and just seems more authentic overall.
  • Tours of the Area – We’ve taken a few tours and have found that they are entertaining and the guides witty and very funny.  It was cool hearing about the history and the famous or rich folks that live on the Island.  It’s a nice way to relax and learn a few things.
  • Kayaking Trips – This requires more effort than biking, but seeing the dolphins swim up along us during our kayaking route was exciting and just overall cool.
  • Staying at a Larger House – We stayed at a house that had 6 or 7 rooms last time, and to me the house was huge.  I started reading a book, played games with my family, lounged in the pool, walked the nearby beach, and did whatever I wanted.  Activities by the house were totally spur of the moment and unstructured!
  • Free Things Too – Just being there is a great fun time in itself as there are plenty of great free things to do at Hilton Head Island!  Last year while getting ice cream, we saw a performer do make and tricks with animals.  At another location there was a small, free concert going on.

My list of Fun things to do in Hilton Head Island is a relaxing one, but there are many other more water activities you can do too.  Fishing and crabbing is always fun.  Wave runners and the like are an adventure too, we’ve never rented these but you’ll see them out in the ocean often times.

We usually walk around Coligny Plaza and make a trip to Harbour Town, these are touristy locations but still interesting and fun.

I guess the stimulus for this article was that fact that I was Hilton Head Daydreaming again!

Hope you enjoy your vacations!

MR

Hilton Head Island Again?

by
Hilton Head House

Hilton Head House

This year my entire family decided to take a trip down to Hilton Head Island again.  Hopefully, we’ll most likely stay at the same Hilton Head house as we have in previous years.

We like the familiar Hilton Head house because we are comfortable and like where it’s located.  We usually stay at the Palmetto Dunes area, the houses we’ve stayed at has always been one in this particular area.

Personally, I like the Palmetto Dunes area because the beach in that area isn’t very crowded and easy to access.  I’ve biked to the public beach access areas, and while they are nice too, I prefer the less crowded Palmetto Dune beaches.

We always get bikes for everybody in our group.  We even get a Tag-along bike so my daughter could ride too.

Most likely, we’ll also go to Sea Pines resort.  It cost $5.00 per car to get in, but this is where the Salty Dog restaurant and other small shops and restaurants are located.  I especially like the Harbour Town Lighthouse because unlike other lighthouses, this ones has old pictures with small comments below them explaining the history of the lighthouse as you climb the stairs to get to the top.

Harbour Town Lighthouse

Harbour Town Lighthouse

This area also has one of the coolest trees that I’ve ever seen in a certain park in the area.  The tree is growing horizontally instead of vertically, very cool and strange at the same time.  The kids love that tree!

I think we like the house so much because it’s almost seems like it’s our vacation home.  Of course we are just renting it, but you could almost imagine that you owned it after a week of living in it.  Very cool feeling!

I really look forward to eating seafood while I’m down there, especially the fried oysters!  We don’t really have fried oysters up where I live, so I try to get my fill while I’m down there!

Initially I wanted to go to Hawaii, but the rest of my family didn’t want to do that, so it’s Hilton Head again!  Still it will be a blast!

Cheers,

MR

Golfing On The Cheap In Hilton Head, Our Caddyshack Adventure

by

Golden Bear

Last year we found a golf course a good ways away from the core activities of the island, that was relatively cheap.  But this year we wanted to be on the island and golf at one of the better courses.

We choose “Golden Bear”!  It’s a golf course in a gated community in Hilton Head.  The course is a beautiful Nicklaus-designed course, with a fairly challenging layout.  We saw exotic (local to the area) birds in the water hazards, and even a few alligators basking in the sun.  The houses along the golf course were spectacular (at least million dollar homes)!  Needless to say, I was amazed by both the scenary and the beautiful homes along the course!

To save on cost, decided to book our tee time at discount hours (after 4:00pm).  So we had a tee time set for 4:32pm.  The deal we got was $31.00 (it’s regularly priced in the $70s) per person, and we got my son in for free (perhaps because he’s 10).

So it was a bit expensive for my taste, but a lot cheaper than it could have been!  As we played, we had a blast!  At some holes, we looked like we were living scenes from Caddyshack.  In particular, my dad was driving off of the tee, and when he hit the ball, it hit a tree and came flying back at him (really it came back 10 feet to the left of him, but it was close enough).  My brother-in-law and I were roaring in laughter!  Another Caddyshack scene was when my son hit a ball that almost hit a very large stork-like bird.  The ball land so close to the bird that the sand that kicked up from the ball landing, hit the bird and causing it to fly away to another water hazard on the course.

One final moment was when my dad hit the ball and it hit the water, yet somehow the ball managed to skip across the pond surface and landed high on the fairway on the other side.  Without skipping a beat, I said that somewhere in pond, there was a turtle swearing out loud at my dad.  It’s still a mystery how his ball bounced out of the water, after all he was over 100 yards away when he hit the ball.  That was a first for me!

After we finished the 15th hole, the sun got tired of waiting for us and decided to go down.  The lack of light and the voracious appetite of hungry mosquitoes caused us to decide to leave the last two holes unplayed. 

It was a great experience, and by far the most challenging course I ever played!  Hilton Head is definitely a place full of discounts and deals… if you look!

Do you have any great ways to get deals on entertainment while in vacation locations like Hilton Head Island?

-MR

Frugal Steps To Take For Our Vacation

by

I’m going to Hilton Head Island in less than 48 hours (we leave Thursday morning), so I thought I’d discuss some of the frugal techniques we use to make the trip as economical as possible!

Frugal Techniques that are out of the ordinary.

  • Copy audiobook from CD format to MP3 format!  This enables me to listen to more adult or scare novels (like Stephen King’s “Insomnia”) on the way down to S.C. without having to worry about the kids hearing something that they shouldn’t be listening to!
  • Send me Dog to family to be watch instead of a kennel. We use to put our dog up at a kennel or have a neighbor kid watch her.  But, this time we are going to send the dog to stay with my wife’s parents.  This will save us over $150!  And in addition, it will make the process more enjoyable for our dog too.
  • Traveling at night instead of in the morning!  Yes we are traveling down on vacation in the morning, but when we are driving back, we are going to travel at night.  Yes it’s a bit more dangerous (especially because of deer), but it’s not as bad as you’d think (I’ve done it two times before).  With the audiobooks that I listen too, I’m surprisingly awake during the drive.  The beauty is it’s easier on my car because it’s not so hot, much less traffic, shorter waits for traffic lights and my family sleeps thorough the entire process, so they have a more enjoyable trip.
  • Pack the cooler with snacks and drinks!  This helps keep the food price premium down, and enables me to stay on the road longer!
  • Use www.TripAdvisor.com to determine which restaurant will provide the best bang for the buck!  There are also other online resources that I will discover while I’m down there too.
  • For the first couple of night we are staying at a friend’s house nearby.  This is a win-win!  We leave a little earlier than when our time in the Hilton Head Island house is available so that we can stay with friends in S.C.!  Then after our house is ready, we say our goodbyes and go out to the island!  This way we get to see old friends for at least a few days!

These are a few of my “getting ready for the trip” tips!

We’re all excited to get rolling!  Only one more workday to pump out!!!

What are some of your favorite frugal tips or tips to enjoy the trip a little better?

-mr