To catch up check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Well, here we are at Part 4, over a year after it actually happened – not ideal for writing but we’ll make due.
After Savannah, we were off to continue our tour of the low country. The weather was still cold, and extremely cold for the averages of the region, but improving. We had some time planned in Hilton Head, so we planned our route and started driving.
On the way we stopped in Beaufort, South Carolina for lunch. My recollection is that Beaufort was a charming little town that would be interesting to visit for longer than a couple hours.
As we were short on time, all we could do was stop in to grab some pizza at a place on the main strip (which was absolutely delicious) and walk around near the harbors.
Hilton head
After Beaufort we drove to Hilton Head. I enjoyed our time in Hilton Head, although it was very different than Savannah or Charleston. One of our first stops was a beach, and the beach was beautiful and very clean.
Because of the weather it also seemed quiet, probably much more quiet than usual, but it made for a very serene setting. I took my shoes off and walked in the water, not to cool off like people usually do at a beach, but because it felt like something I had to do.
We saw dolphins in the distance which Jenn was extremely excited about (I was too) and enjoyed the beautiful setting. Our eyes were also drawn to the beautiful homes that enjoyed the beach view all the time. There are definitely some beautiful homes in Hilton Head.
After the beach we decided to go to Sea Pines, an enormous gated community that includes some shops, restaurants, and a harbor. As we tried to enter Sea Pines we were stopped by security, telling us RVs were not allowed.
We tried to calmly explain this was not an RV, but he didn’t agree. The guard sent us to a nearby parking lot to wait for his supervisor, who showed up in a very timely manner and quickly made the executive decision that we did not pose a threat to squat on Sea Pines property and granted us entrance.
Many other people seemed to have the same idea as it was crowded. We were there for sunset, so that may have had something to do with it. Walking along the beach and then the pier we noticed some boats offering daily tours – one of which was a shrimp trawling tour.
I had never done anything like that, both Jenn and I were intrigued. There is a restaurant with an upper balcony and bar where we were able to find seats and order drinks to watch the sun set over the water. While enjoying our cocktails we booked a shrimp trawl tour for the next morning.
I enjoyed the cocktail, and as the sky darkened we left Sea Pines to find the restaurant Jenn has plans for us to try. We ordered the Cajun Boil, and from what I remember it was very good. Next door was a bar, one with signs on the window saying Locals Bar.
I was intrigued so we went in against the advice of our server at the restaurant. It was quiet when we showed up and I started drinking Coors and playing darts. The bar started to fill up and a band was getting ready to play.
Soon it was packed, and it was obvious just about everyone in there knew each other. The band started and they were really good. Jenn finally convinced me to leave after a couple hours and many beers…I was feeling pretty good.
The next morning, I wasn’t feeling so good and we had our shrimp tour to make it to. This time we had no issues making it through Sea Pines security and were soon on the boat.
It was a short tour, but fun. They showed us how trawling works and we dragged the net for about an hour. At the end, the guests were able to keep whatever we caught…which turned out to be about 10 small shrimp. Jenn and I did not volunteer for them.
Charleston
Once the trawling tour was over, we left Hilton Head for Charleston. Once again, that night we had plans for dinner where Jenn had made us reservations months before.
It was a tasting menu, at a place that seemed very fancy which meant that instead of dirty van campers we needed to look presentable. The van transformed into a readying room and we both tried to clean up as best as we could, which I think actually went very well. The thought of us stepping out of the van all dressed up still makes me laugh, and so does the idea of us stepping back into it afterwards.
Dinner was excellent and some of the courses were very creative. I’ve still only done a handful of tasting menus in my life, but they are definitely fun.
While in Charleston I was back to working, so Jenn was able to go explore some during the days but I was stuck in the van on my computer. We still were able to experience some things together, but I didn’t get the full experience.
We ate biscuits and gravy, went out for another nice dinner, and did a Gullah Geechee tour which was fascinating. Charleston has so much history.
Congaree National park
Before driving across the country back to Colorado, we stopped in Congaree National Park. Here we did a Kayak tour – and as luck would have it Jenn and I were the only participants so it turned out to be a private tour.
It was the off season, so a lot of the life that normally flourishes in the area was gone or at least much more subdued. We saw several owls and had the entire area all to ourselves.
After the kayak tour we headed to the visitor center and to do a hike around the park. It’s a very unique area.
Congaree was a shortlived part of the trip, but absolutely worth the stop. The next morning we had a long drive ahead of us. Our plan was to make it back to Denver in two days, which meant many hours behind a steering wheel in our futures.
At least we were able to break up the drive a little, we stopped in Nashvilled for lunch with some of our friends which was great. Then for our overnight we stopped in Columbia, Missouri.
I spent my freshman year of college at Mizzou, and hadn’t been back in probably 15 or 16 years. Even though we didn’t get to see town or drive through any of my old stomping grounds it was still incredibly nostalgic.
The rest of the drive home was mostly non eventful. Kansas City was complicated and there was a lot of fog causing issues with visibility, but once the sun came up our drive was smooth.
Back in Colorado it started to snow, but we made it home before the worst of it. We had covered a lot of miles during the trip, and had some great times.