Harbour / Marina

From Salty Dog we headed to Harbour Towne and walked the pier and checked out the lighthouse. Some beautiful yachts came in while we were there and there were a lot of dolphins jumping, so it was a perfect everning for a walk.

Walking the pier at sunset was beautiful with the dolphins jumping in the background.

The girls love all the viewers on the piers. 

The lighthouse was a perfect backdrop for the evening. Though it is just a gift shop, it is used as a landmark for all of the boats coming in at night. We watched a few of the sunset cruises come in then the girls got a kick out of watching some crabs swimming around and bumping in to each other!

Cheers to the end of a fabulous 12 years and the start of even more amazing adventures ahead!

Salty Dog's Cafe

We headed down the coast to Salty Dog Café. This place came highly recommended by a friend and after checking out the menu I was sold. Plenty of things to do to keep the girls occupied, while offering a more adult menu and atmosphere. When we got there we had an hour and 45 minute wait. It was pretty hot, and it was already 6:00, but we figured we’d chance it. Since we knew we had a long wait, we figured we’d spoil dinner with a little frosty treat. We stopped at the Salty Dog Ice Cream Shoppe and then walked around the marina. They had face-painting, a kid’s show, lots of shopping, and the time flew by. Before we knew it our table was ready. The girls all had shrimp, Mark had Calypso Shrimp (so spicy), and I got the Fisherman’s Pasta with shrimp and crab. It was delicious. Sitting by the water, watching the sun go down, a little live music and spending the evening with the people I adore made for the perfect anniversary dinner. 

Pretty excited to meet Jake, the salty dog.

Can't beat a table with a view. Dinner was fantastic!

After dinner we walked around the marina a little longer and hit-up a hula-hoop contest. Grace and Emma both did a great job, but there are some really good hula-hoopers on the island! 

Grace got second in her age division...the girl who won had the slowest hula hoop ever! She was a pro at keeping that thing up.

Norah loved her butterfly art.

Hilton Head Beach

This morning was a special one as Mark and I are celebrating our 13th anniversary today. The girls knew today was special, and while we got ready to hit the beach, they were busy in their room putting together a special surprise for us. Once we started heading to the beach, they pulled out an awesome card they had made for us and let us know they were going to try to make “our day” special. Grace deemed herself as official photographer, and did a great job of making sure we had pictures of just the two of us today. It was really sweet!

Our official photographer followed our every move.

We decided we would spend the morning at the pool and the afternoon at the ocean today. It was a relaxing morning of swimming and splashing. Norah started practicing swimming by herself and Grace and Emma practiced diving.  The girls were pretty self-sufficient leaving Mark and I some time to just sit back and relax a bit. We headed back to the house for lunch and to escape the Carolina heat (really oppressive today) and take a break from the sun. The amount of people walking around completely fried, yet still laying out in the sun, boggles my mind. 

Yep...she took a picture of us at the pool too!

Grace did a great job diving today.

In the afternoon we took in every last minute of beach time. The heat is a topic of conversation lately as it isn't usually this hot in June. At the beach you basically had to be in the water or you'd melt. Norah decided she wanted to try her luck at body surfing today. She did a pretty good job!

About 4pm we decided to call it quits at the beach. Though we could have spent hours in the water, we just aren’t accustomed to all the sun, and a little longer would have done us in. We headed back to the house to clean up and find a memorable “anniversary dinner” to celebrate. Of course, we had to leave our mark on the beach first.

Did I mention that it's hot here?! The crayons started crying in the heat. 

Hilton Head Island

After Boone Hall we continued south, this time headed to Hilton Head Island! After all we learned at the plantation, it was neat to drive down the Gullah Geechee Corridor and see all of the baskets and things we had learned about. We pulled in to Hilton Head about 4 and checked in to our "accommodations." Thanks, Groupon, for the awesome condo for SUPER cheap! The water seems clearer here, the sand a little finer. However, we have already spotted two jelly fish while swimming and the sign in our backyard warns us about alligators! This could be an interesting stay!

The girls were really excited to have their own room!

Let's be honest...so were Mark and I!

Re-hydrating after a really HOT day.

A little down time while we unpacked and then it was off to the beach!

The girls wanted to try out body surfing...they did a great job!

Though she doesn't like sports...she is a natural at about everything she tries!

After a few hours at the beach, we decided to hit the pool before it got dark. 

Excited about even more relaxation at the beach...except this is in our back yard!