Later, Alligator! Saying Goodbye to Family Vacation 2012 – Hilton Head, SC

Our annual family vacation in Myrtle Beach didn’t pan out this year.  When I saw that Ashley was auctioning off a week in Hilton Head as an adoption fundraiser a few months ago, I knew it was the perfect fit.  If you have a few spare dollars, I’m sure they’d appreciate a donation to their adoption funds as they’re trying to bring home TWINS from Congo.

This year’s vacation will have a few special memories.  Perhaps you’d like to hear a few?

On a Mommy blogger note, Emma showed some signs of maturity this year.  First, I loved that she rode her bike to the beach every day and was excited. 

 

If you’ve been around awhile you know the bike hasn’t always been her strong suit.  But I suppose everyone has to learn and now she’s terrific.  Since our house isn’t really suited for going anywhere on a bike, this is the first I’ve seen her use a bike with purpose.  And speaking of bikes, they were EVERYWHERE. I’ve never seen so many people biking.

 

Second, she gravitated towards the adults sometimes just to talk.  I mainly hung out at the hot tub in the pool area and she would drift over, sit with us and just talk.  I’ve heard of these perks of aging children but I think I got a glimpse of it on my own this week.  Third is her branching out to the deep end of the pool.  Since we have an above ground she doesn’t get a lot of practice and always has shied away from anyone else’s but this week she swam across and jumped in.

 

Hilton Head is a very natural, green place.  Lots of natural attractions and wildlife.  I have to say when we first got there I was a little scared about seeing the alligators.  All anyone could say was DON’T FEED THE ALLIGATORS.  I even asked the front desk lady how likely it would be to see one.  She said very likely and sure enough, we saw one swim up in the lagoon behind the resort’s pool on the second day. 

 

No fence, no zookeeper, no ditch keeping it from coming for us.  But for whatever reason, he minded his own business.  We also enjoyed the live oaks and Spanish moss.  The trees were an attraction of their own.

 

Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in Savannah was definitely a highlight of the trip.  We will talk about that place for years to come. 

 

 

Mrs. Wilkes is an 80 year old restaurant that serves family style meals.  Dining room tables were set for 10 with sweet tea and then 23 Southern dishes are laid out for everyone to pass around. 

 

I’m not saying this lightly but it was the best food I’ve ever had.  I loved the lima beans for crying out loud.  I loved that the owner said grace before the first table started and we were responsible for taking our plates and cups to the kitchen.  Mrs. Wilkes is a must for all Savannah visitors.  Just get there early . They only serve 11-2.  We got there at 10am and were already about 10 people back.  The funniest part was when the girls claimed it was even better than PawPaw’s cooking and then Lexi’s disclaimer saying "only a titch better."  A titch is some word Lexi made up meaning just a little.

 

Another memory will be the toll bridge bypass to get on and off the island. It’s $1.25 each way and we were all the time hollering for change.  We managed to round up enough every time without paying solely with 125 pennies.

 

I will always remember Emma and Lexi getting into it helping me eat my crab legs when we visited The Crazy Crab in Harbor Town.  They really got into it and even tried some and didn’t hate it.

 

 

I’m sure visiting The Salty Dog Cafe and tie-dying their shirts will be memorable for the kids. Nevermind that they have 20 other t-shirts at home.  It’s all about the experience!

 

And finally, this will be the trip where we spent way too much time watching TV and were introduced to The Turtle Man.  Have you been watching his show The Call of the Wildman on Animal Planet?  The Turtle Man is in Kentucky and grew up catching turtles in ponds.  As he’s grown, he has gone on to catch any "critters" for folks in his area.  And the trick is he catches them all with his bare hands.  He and his friend are straight up REDNECK and it is straight up hilarious. 

It was SUCH a great week.  Exactly what we needed to reconnect as the kids finished school and Scott came back from several weeks out of town.  As it turned out though, I went to New York two days later last minute for work.  It was almost a vacation from vacation :)  Coming up next is a wrap-up post from the Big Apple!