We were excited for the arrival of Emily’s brother Glen and their parents on day three of our Hilton Head Island visit. The plan was to visit the Harbour Town Lighthouse and shopping area with Glen in the morning. After grabbing a bite to eat for lunch we would meet up with Emily’s parents at the resort in the afternoon.
Although my evening of sleep wasn’t quite as productive as the prior night, I did manage to get some rest. Our upstairs neighbors were up the entire night walking around which awoke me from my slumber a few times. I got up at seven and procured my spot on the couch with my laptop to enjoy a morning blogging session of the prior day around Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort. Blogging about all of the fun stuff that we did yesterday was a great way to start the day.
Emily groggily emerged from the bedroom indicating that her brother would be arriving at 10 am. Living a short distance away in North Carolina, Glen decided to join us for a few days on the island. He was excited to visit Hilton Head for the first time. With the upcoming arrivals of Glen, and Emily’s parents, we did some tidying to our college dorm room of a villa. We should have visitors more often!
Breakfast Bagels – Island Bagel & Deli
After getting our room in order, I took a quick drive down to the Island Bagel Company to pick up some breakfast. We found this place a few visits prior while on the hunt for Taylor Ham bagel sandwiches. My good buddy Jon Tettambel introduced us to these sandwiches years ago on our road trip, and Emily and I consider it a quest to find them wherever we go. If you go be sure to order the Jersey Breakfast Sandwich, you will thank me! I picked up a couple chocolate chip bagels for the boys as well and brought it all back to our room to enjoy.
After breakfast, Hunter and I took a walk around the resort. Our main intent was to return the Thor movie that we watched the previous evening. After we did that we took some time to play some ping pong, which is located just outside of the pool area. Then we inquired about the kayak experience Hunter was interested in doing later in the week. On our way back to the room we couldn’t pass up another opportunity to do some putting as well.
Harbour Town Lighthouse & Shopping – Hilton Head Island, SC
Our activities took us to just after 10 am when Glen arrived at the resort. This was Glen’s first visit to Hilton Head, so we wanted to show him around the island. Our first stop on our tour was Harbour Town. The area is a little community on the southwest side of the island housing the picturesque Harbour Town lighthouse, shops and restaurants. It is also the home of the RBC Heritage PGA tour event.
Harbour Town has become quite the joke in our family. I was caught off guard upon entering the neighborhood during our first visit, roughly 10 years ago. It was during that visit I discovered the five dollar admission fee, just to enter the neighborhood. (see prior Harbour Town post for 2017)! I was even more excited to pay eight dollars to drive my car into their lush paradise in 2019.
It was a bit chilly as we got out of the car near the main shopping area. We walked around the shopping district and past the boats docked in the harbor. When we spotted the lighthouse we noticed that it no longer had red stripes but plaid red stripes, which Sawyer said made it look like a giant Christmas present. Continuing on, we walked to the Harbor Town Pier, a new installment since our last visit in 2017. We enjoyed the scenic views but not the cool breeze off the water that came with it. With the golf course on the opposite side of the harbor, we headed to get a closer view. We walked the half mile horseshoe to get to it, but it started to sprinkle so we cut our visit short.
Our Lunch Quest
Although our hunger was starting to win, we promised the boys a stop at the overpriced toy store before lunch. After some agonizing and bartering, the boys found a ball they could share. Now we could finally move on to lunch! Because we paid to get into my favorite tourist trap, we were hoping to find lunch within the gates of Harbour Town. (Getting my money’s worth?!) Settling on The Salty Dog Cafe, we set out to the other side of Harbour Town.
Arriving at Salty Dog, we found it busier than anticipated for the later hour. With a 25 minute wait upon us, we walked around to check out the shops and scenery. The weather, still a bit cold and raw, encouraged even me to spend some time in the heated shops. Our pager buzzed for our table just as we ran out of patience for shopping and the cold. When we arrived they said, “We can sit you outside or it will be another 25 minutes to sit inside.” This did not sit well with our hungry crowd as the outdoor seating was on the water, which would have been awesome on any day but today. We huddled and concurred that we didn’t want to wait another 25 minutes for what would likely be mediocre food.
Lunch – Charbar, Hilton Head Island
Back in the car we agreed on a place we went to for Hunter’s 10th birthday in 2017, Charbar. After a 15 minute drive out of Harbour Town (thank god), we arrived. The restaurant was busier than anticipate as the only table that was available for us was outside. Although the weather was a bit chilly, the heat lamps and blankets were an appealing option. Since it was around 2:00 p.m. and we had a 6:30 dinner reservation, we needed to eat before the two meals became one. Just before our food arrived some tables inside opened up. They graciously let us relocate which made lunch so much more enjoyable. The burgers and truffle fries were as delicious as we remembered them being. Hunter washed his down with a chocolate shake!
After lunch it was around 3:00 p.m. which aligned with the estimated arrival of Emily’s parents. On our drive out of the parking lot we realized why the restaurant was so busy. Hilton Head was having their St. Patrick’s Day parade and the start of the parade was literally 200 yards from where we had lunch. We managed to navigate the traffic to the main street and returned to Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort.
Emily’s Parents Arrive
When Kee and Colonel arrived we greeted them in the parking lot. Luckily for us, they were located in the room right next to ours. After they got situated we took some time to chill and let our lunch settle and let them rest from their six hours in the car.
Chilling doesn’t last too long for the Hayes crew. Sawyer was excited to play some basketball, so the boys rode their bikes to the court. Emily and I enjoyed the short walk to the court which was luckily unoccupied. Hunter loved playing basketball on our last visit, which we attributed to his following of the NCAA tournament. Sawyer spent most of the time working on his dribbling.
After we had our fill of basketball, Hunter wanted to bike around the resort. We let the boys go biking on their own, which was a pretty big deal! Emily and I took that opportunity to take a walk along the harbor and admire the boats. The winds had died down a bit and the sun was trying to come out. It was a perfect temperature for the walk.
Dinner – Skull Creek Dockside, Hilton Head Island
We returned to room just in time to freshen up before dinner. Emily made a 6:30 reservation at a restaurant we had never been to, the Skull Creek Dockside. We gathered up the troops and made the 15 minute drive across the island. We got a bit mixed up on the drive over but eventually found the location.
Our table had a beautiful window view overlooking the dock on the back of the property, so we crossed our fingers for a nice sunset. Dinner was enjoyable as we each ordered something unique from the menu. Emily was excited to try the shrimp and grits which she really enjoyed. I ordered the fried shrimp which was good, but noting spectacular. Hunter decided to make it two nights in a row ordering steak. Colonel shocked us a bit when he ordered Corned Beef and Cabbage. Glen got brisket and Kee ordered the seared scallops. Sawyer ordered the standard noodles with red sauce. They even brought Hunter a special birthday dessert to cap off the meal.
As our meal was ending, the sky turned a beautiful shade of pinkish/red. With such an amazing photo backdrop we had to take advantage. We managed to get a few good photos but the boys didn’t make it easy. As we were leaving the table, I thought we had made it to the door, but the ladies spotted the gift shop. There is something about women and gift shops that have this magnetic quality. A small brown bag later and we were on our way back to the resort. I have to say, Colonel has gotten their money’s worth out of his $5 souvenir hat!
Game Night – Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort
We all gathered in our room to finish off the night with a rousing game of Hit or Miss. Glen got in on the crazy fun as we came up with some ridiculous answers to the proposed categories. Emily was pretty proud of her answer to the clue “something that folds” as she answered “Patrick after 9:30 pm.” I can’t deny it.
We wrapped up the our rambunctious game of Hit or Miss just after 10:00. We were ready to call it a night after our action packed St. Patty’s Day Glen bunked up with Kee and Colonel, while Hunter had his sleepover with Emily, and Sawyer and I got to hang out in the boys’ bedroom and fall asleep to the Disney Channel. It was another awesome day on Hilton Head Island!
Harbour Town Photo Slideshow – Hilton Head Day 3
