One of my favorite bands, Chicago, talks about “Saturday in the Park” and how they had waited for such a long time for Saturday in the park and how it was like the Fourth of July. Um, no. More like “Saturday at the Beach” – the park is great and all and I like swing sets, but the beach, man. I am officially ruined. I’m wasting precious brain space plotting my next excuse to go. I could live at the beach.

Saturday was one of my favorite days ever. I honestly think if I got the opportunity to spend an actual whole vacation time at the beach instead of two days I might cry. I tend to get really excited about things – to the point where I get a headache I get myself so worked up. Part of me thinks this is good because it doesn’t take a whole lot to make me happy and the other part realizes most people don’t react this way to things so they just think I’m weird.

We woke up early Saturday and took our bikes down to the beach to ride while the sun rose. The waves gently rolled over each other and ebbed up to the shoreline before crashing back out. The sky was deep shades of orange and sheer colors of persimmon… we rode for a few miles and stopped out on a rocky landing to take some pictures and just watch the waves and dolphins.

We picked some seashells and started on our way back to the resort.

This is where things get a little hairy. The bike ride to the end of the beach was not bad, but somehow the ride back felt like I was trying to cycle through peanut butter and tar. I swear it’s because wet sand got caked in my tires, but E kept saying I was just tired. Or, as I later found out through a postcard she sent to our coworker, she accused me of “wimping out.” Rude.

There was no wimpage – what there was someone who accepted they were not going to be able to ride through a bunch of muck and decided to walk their bike back down the beach because if they tried anymore they were going to have a complete, tear filled meltdown on the beach. And, I did not come to the beach to cry, dang it! So… call it what you will. I call it acceptance.

I think I want to run on Beach Time on a permanent basis. After our sunrise ride, I took a little nap before getting ready for our adventurous day. We had seen a spot on our map called “The Chocolate Canopy” – sounds decadent, right? Well, it was. I picked up some gift goodies, but E let me try some of her salted caramel truffle. That was probably one of the best chocolates I’ve ever had in my life. The staff was really friendly – you can tell it’s a local favorite.

Another place we stopped was Signe’s Bakery, which is another local spot that’s popular. One of my favorite things about traveling is going to places locals frequent. You can eat at an Outback or go shopping at Target any day of the week, but I truly believe in trying to have an authentic experience in traveling and that means lots of local places and the more hole-in-the-wall, the better. I got some more gifts and picked myself up a slice of Cappuccino Chip pound cake.

We had agreed to head to the southern part of the island called Sea Pines. There was a stable, a lighthouse, shopping, restaurants, and bike trails. After picking up our goodies, we headed to the southern part of HH.

I’m going to go back on what I just said above about local places for just a moment. There are some things in life you cannot compromise on and mine is coffee. I needed to find a Starbucks. I enjoy trying other local coffee places, but when I am in need and not want I get what I know is going to get the job done. This was not a moment for exploration. E tried to convince me otherwise.

“I’m sure there are places in Sea Pines that have coffee.”

“I’m sure there are but I want Starbucks.”

-E reading the Sea Pines map- “There’s a general store.”

“No.”

“The Cinnamon Bear…”

“No. Starbucks.”

It was during this conversation I am trying to find this Starbucks my GPS tells me is near as fast as I can before she tries to convince me that the stables have coffee in a pot and that would be okay, too.

To get into Sea Pines there is a $6 fee per car which is good for an all day pass. We got our pass and headed to the Harbour Town Lighthouse area. The are several cute shops and plenty of places to pick up local HH wear. I was a little disappointed with the lighthouse. I thought it was going to be a real lighthouse which just made E laugh at me and say, “You thought it was real? It’s a museum.”

-insert Grumpy Cat face here-

We pulled off at Lawton Stables  to inquire about horse rides. I think I was whimpering things like, “Ponies! Let’s ride horses! Oh, I want to pet all of them!” I’ve had pony rides when I was little but I haven’t actually ridden a horse as an adult and certainly not on a trail or unfettered. That’s on my Summer Bucket List I’m working on. Unfortunately, horse riding was not in our cards this day because Lawton Stables requires reservations. The stables were eye popping and gorgeous though and I would love to go back sometime.

We saw some birds (pelicans? gulls? I haven’t brushed up on my ornithology recently) – the view was very tranquil. The sky was a little overcast but it was still lovely. I was busy taking pictures of birds that could potentially poke my eyes out while E was being a creeper and taking delicate photographs of couples embracing each other on the pier. Where’s that bird to poke my eyes out? Joking. I’m joking. Maybe.

This day we brought our bikes so we loaded up our purchases and headed out on the bike trails. This was my second favorite part of the day (first favorite coming later). The views on the island are gorgeous. While we weren’t on the beach I couldn’t get enough of the palm trees and beautiful landscapes and houses.

The houses on the island are very understated. Yes, they can be big but they’re not like the big houses I’m used to seeing. Most of the houses are muted tones – light browns, deep blues, charcoal grey and sage green. What brings them character and charm is the architecture… curved bay windows, big porches, winding staircases. Lights glowing from within that seem welcoming and safe. They were unassumingly gorgeous. I think my favorites were the cottage sized ones with these features. I can’t ever imagine having a large house… give me a little cozy space that is safe and I’ll be perfectly content. One thing a lot of the houses had that was pretty cool were these little pools. They weren’t full size or even lap sized pools – more like dipping pools. Again, unassuming and charming.

We stopped on one of the trails to take an, as my 90 year old grandmother likes to say, “ussie”. You don’t want to know how many attempts this took. I’ll just say between E and I we can do a lot with a bike seat, a cell phone, and a self timer.

We stopped at the Baynard Ruins and walked around. It was strange thinking about what life would have been like when the plantation was in full swing. The site isn’t very big but it was interesting to read the signs and learn a little of the history.

We found an inlet spot to ride down to the beach. It was much easier to ride that afternoon and it was not because I wasn’t tired. It was the fact the sand wasn’t wet and soggy. Just sayin’.

“You do realize you’re going to have to ride back, right?” E said and laughed.

You’d think as sassy as she is she was a true Southerner.

About this time I attempted to get pictures of us simultaneously riding our bikes, which proved to successful for the most part. My hat my have tried to fly away. WHAT IS IT WITH STUFF FLYING AWAY FROM ME AT THE BEACH?!

We parked our bikes and walked up some rocks to stand and overlook the ocean. It was at this very moment, Flipper himself jumped up out of the water. I screamed and tried to grab my camera, E grabbed me and screamed… and he was gone. It was the coolest little moment. We had been seeing dolphins every morning at the resort, but nothing more than a fin. It was precious.

We got back on our bikes and rode more down the trails. E tried to climb some trees. I told her I would try if she found a good one despite the fact the last time I climbed a tree I got stuck up in it and had to be rescued.

We stopped for lunch near The Salty Dog Café and had the most amazing sweet potato fries ever and wrote postcards. Oh and saw some crazy old birds.

It was about this time we decided to head back to the resort to change clothes and get some sunrise pictures before going to dinner. How that turned into Blood Moon hijinks I don’t know…

Part 4.1 coming soon…