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Certainly, there are so many different ideas about the best way to use our spare time when it comes to the highway or the sky, packing the so-called Grip in the past. While the move to the same area is comforting to many, there are others who persevere in a very short life – compared to the age of Jonathan, a giant tortoise living on a remote island. St. Helena, who turned 191 last month – travel experiences should be different.
Now, for my traveling companion, Lady Jane, she can do it too. Even when she chooses new places, she doesn’t shy away from doing the vacation version, known in the sports world as “re-running.”
For example, even though we visited Ireland in 2013, it was fully booked in 2019 when we boarded a plane and returned to Ireland, the second time to focus on the northern part of the Emerald Isle instead of our 2013 time to explore the southern part. Now, since Northern Ireland is actually part of the United Kingdom as many say, it’s disappointing that on that trip, we visited a lot of places like Belfast and Londonderry, I guess that second trip was actually somewhere else.
A local version of another return to fun in the same area came in the week between Christmas and New Year. I loaded up my Conestoga wagon, my Chevy Equinox and headed to Hilton Head, where we spent time between the 2020 and 2021 holidays.
After spending the night in Greensboro, my long-time favorite hotel for both business and pleasure – the Drury Inn & Suites – we ended the 328-mile drive and checked into a VRBO rental product condo just south of Cordillo Parkway. The island.
Unlike last year’s experience with a VRBO condo rental in the Port Royal Sound area on the north side, this rental was good value for money for a two-story unit that included free bikes. Jen and I were less than ten minutes from what I think is the best walking and cycling beach anywhere, and we took full advantage of it.
There’s something about the ocean—the smell, the sound, the immensity—that fascinates me no matter how many times I see it. When I have the opportunity to walk on the beach again, what is old is new again. A new sight I noticed was the number of people on the beach with their backpacks. I imagine that many, like Jane and I, were tourists who took man’s best friend on vacation instead of boarding the dog or entrusting Fido’s care to a dog-loving neighbor. Years ago this was almost unheard of.
Kitchen and I became good friends because I love to cook on vacation. But we certainly didn’t rule out some eateries. Jen and I both really enjoyed our New Year’s Eve dinner at The Old Oyster Factory, which combines the best of Broad Creek’s wetlands with amazing food.
Our side trip from around the island included the usual. We got to see the beautiful houses in Beaufort again and go on the water board while watching a dolphin or two.
On both of our last two trips we visited, passing through the Savannah on a side trip, we returned to nearby Bluffton to see the May River area. The place is somewhat named because it is more than just a place and a source for many Low Country oysters. We also stopped at Jane’s favorite coffee shop, Corner Perk, to have some lovely five dollar coffees with all the prep folks.
It was there that I unknowingly gave Jane the best laugh of the trip. We were participating in the favorite sport of many – people watching – and commenting on the condition of customers. I laughed that I didn’t quite fit the mold of jeans and sneakers and a vintage sweatshirt. At that moment, I looked down at the front of my shirt to see the name of the champion I expected to see on TKK.
Seeing nothing, I casually tipped the staff back and sure enough, I saw the label. We both shook with laughter. Hours ago – and I can’t even blame him for getting dressed in the dark – I put that sweater back on and by 10:30 in a very crowded Corner Perk he wanted to understand what septuagenarians Jane and I sometimes look like. They have trouble dressing themselves.
Sure, it’s not a pretty look, wouldn’t you say?
Next week, I’ll wrap up my little travelogue by recounting an entirely new experience we had in a familiar place: Charleston, one of the most historic cities in the South. On previous visits, we’d always shied away from the notion that we’d visited the famous fort named after military hero Thomas Sumpter. But this year we all went in to see the fort where those first shots were fired.
John Grindrod is a regular columnist for the Lima News, a freelance writer and editor, and the author of two books. Access it at [email protected]
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