Our Hilton Head Vacation Recap

My parents both turned 60 this year and in lieu of a big bash, they wanted to take a family vacation. Sometime over the Summer since their birthdays are April and June plus our boys would be out of school. After sifting through a lofty destination wish list, we finally landed on a week long trip to Hilton Head! None of us had ever been and it was a spot we all wanted to go! Sunshine, gorgeous views, on the ocean, mouth-watering sea food and plenty to do & see. What was not to love?! Today I’m sharing Our Hilton Head Vacation Recap, so read on to see why we loved it so much!

OUR HILTON HEAD VACATION RECAP

Some of you may have been following along on my Instagram stories or maybe saw a few pictures in my feed, but either way, I’m sure you could see how much fun we were having! The boys had the time of their lives and the adults got in some much needed R&R! 

There were 6 adults – my parents, my sister and her boyfriend and then T and I and our 3 boys. We definitely had a few sets of extra hands which helped out tremendously. Our boys fly a few times a year, but it’s usually one or both of us flying to Arizona to stay with my parents. So having all hands on deck at the airport, on the plane and during the week was truly amazing. Everyone got to do something they wanted, but we were all equally content hanging at the house.

Everything we needed was right at our fingertips. Activities for the kids, restaurants, the grocery store, drug store, ice cream and more! But I mean, I didn’t need to go far with a pool in back and the beach a hop, skip and a jump away! Our Hilton Head Vacation was truly spectacular.

In this post I’m sharing details on:

• where we stayed
• where we ate [literally every place lol]
• what we did
• our beach time
• what I wore
• and more!

WHERE WE STAYED

We rented a house at Sea Pines Resort. It was a 3 bedroom + loft with 4 twin beds perfect for the big boys.

The house was perfect and met all of our needs. It had a pool, 4 chaise lounge chairs, an outdoor table, bikes, pool toys, beach toys &  a wagon. We were about a 5 minute walk to the beach and our house was the first one off the path down to beach. Everything we did was about 15 minutes or less so it was super easy to get around.

We flew into Savannah and rented 2 cars to make the hour drive to the Island. Originally, we debated getting only one rental car and then just using Uber or Lyft to get around, but we were glad we had the second vehicle.

We packed in a ton of fun in our week there, but had plenty of down time to enjoy being away from the crazy, busy reality waiting for us back home! 

WHERE WE ATE

We did a mix of eating out and cooking at home. Our original plan was to each take a turn preparing a meal for everyone, but once we go there we decided we’d rather do simple grilling on our eat-at-home nights versus spend the time in the kitchen meal prepping. We’d much rather be by the pool or down at the beach! We also knew that each of specific ingredients needed for each meal would probably not get used in their entirety because there were only 6 adults.

Plus, we also wanted to try as many delicious restaurants as possible. There were a ton of recommendations to get through!!

The first night we ordered in pizza. It was the easiest route since we were all too tired to grocery shop or dine somewhere after traveling all day.

Other spots we tried and highly recommend:

Harbourside – An outdoor eatery with a dock side bar where we sat & listened to live music and had a drink before having dinner at Crazy Crab. Their margaritas were delicious!

The Crazy Crab – a super casual, family-friendly spot to get all of your favorite Southern comfort food and your fair share of fried seafood. Their hush puppies were our favorite of all the places we tried! It’s a great option for kids and large groups! 

The Salty Dog – a Hilton Head Island staple tourist spot! There was a crazy long wait because they don’t take reservations, but they have a huge outdoor bar and deck with live music and great views. There is also an ice cream and souvenir shop to browse in while you wait. It was sooo hot that night so we definitely popped into the shop to cool down a few times and grabbed some t-shirts and sweatshirts! Their seafood pasta was divine, as well as their seafood potpie and burger!

The Black Marlin – If I had to pick one and only one, this might have been my favorite dinner spot! There was a mix-up with our reservation, so when we arrived they said we had an outside table. After a hot [and sweaty] dining experience at Salty Dog, we wanted to be the air conditioning. But we ended up being just fine! The table was nestled under wooden beams with ceiling fans going and the fresh air and view were wonderful.

Our favorite items were the sushi nachos, Parmesan scallops and the Twin Fillet Oscar. The fresh seafood and low country fare were divine!

They also have the infamous Hurricane Bar nestled in the center of the outdoor area. Again, live music, great ambiance [outside, so can’t speak for inside] and although it was a nicer restaurant, it was family-friendly! A few of you readers actually recommended this one to me, so thank you!!

Ela’s on the Water – this restaurant was more of an upscale spot that we dined at just before our Sunset Cruise. It’s located in Shelter Cove and had gorgeous views. It had a smaller menu with more unique dishes. Everyone enjoyed their meals and I must say their Pinot Noir was stellar!

Sea Shack – this was a little hole-in-the-wall place one of our neighbors in Illinois told us to check out.  He said the Po’boys are a must try and we couldn’t agree more. Such a long line to get order! They say it’s the locals’ hidden secret on the island for made-to-order sea food and down-home style cooking!

Marley’s – another little local island grill spot we ordered from and carried out for lunch. They had the best shrimp tacos!! You could choose from a few different ways to have it them prepared. Yummy sauces and overall sooo delicious!!

Cinnamon Bear – we got ice cream 3 nights and 2 of them were here! They pack in the people every night, but have excellent customer service and so many flavors to choose from. We loved the Monster cookie and the boys loved the cotton candy ice cream!

Hilton Head Ice Cream – we almost went back to Cinnamon Bear a third night, but Hilton Head ice cream was on the way home from dinner that night. Just like Cinnamon bear, come 7:30 – 8:00, there was a line out the door! I’m pretty sure ice cream was a vacation staple for every other family on Hilton Head, too. 🙂

WHAT WE DID

The house we rented had a pool and we were a 5 minute walk to the beach, so the majority of our days were spent in these 2 spots. We wanted to soak up as much salty air and sunshine as we possibly could! At night after we finished up with dinner and our almost nightly ice cream stop, we got the boys down and played card games and listened to music. This game was our favorite!

Of course, I tried to sneak in a few pages of my book after the boys were asleep, too!

I was deep into Where the Crawdads Sing during the trip and first shared it with you in my What I’m Packing for Vacation post and you can see what I’m planning to tackle after in the Next 10 Books on my Reading Wish List.

Harbour Town – This is the area where Harbourside, Crazy Crab & Cinnabon Bear are. There are tons of restaurants, shops and attractions on the water.

After dinner we walked around for awhile and landed in another little spot with live music. They are tucked in all over the place. They have big red rocking chairs and tons to see and do in the area. We came several times!

The views here are incredible and everyone was snapping family pictures with the Lighthouse in the background.

So of course we took our turn, too!

Pirate’s Island Adventure Golf – It was a steamy round, but we had a blast! 3 of the 4 of us had a hole in one and the boys thought all things pirate there were the coolest!!

Dolphin Sunset Cruise – Our boat, the Holiday took off from Shelter Cove Marina, which was a 1 minute walk from Ela’s where we had dinner before.

It was a cloudy night, so there wasn’t much of a sunset, but we did see a few dolphins! We also got to see some gorgeous homes and learned some history of the island.

They had snacks & souvenirs available for purchase on the boat and it was BYOB if you wanted to have a drink. 

It was good but I probably only give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. There were quite a few other boat company options, but we weren’t sure if we were going to do one or not, so this is the only one that had availability for 8 people on the night we wanted to go. We booked on a Wednesday for a Thursday night time slot. 

Gregg Russell Harbour Town Playground – the boys got to crawl on and climb around old tree trunks and limbs. It was a super cool park area and perfect for all ages.

We stopped here on our way out of town before heading back to the airport to get coffee [back at Cinnamon Bear] and let the boys burn off some energy before traveling.

Bike rides, walks, trips to Walgreens and Publix, dips in the ocean and reading and relaxing poolside took up the rest of our time! 

OUR DAYS ON THE BEACH

Although I love the idea of the beach, I am not the biggest fan of sand!! I did manage to put my issues aside for the week lol! We had the most special time at the beach each day as a family.

It was all three boys’ first time in the ocean and just watching them flop around in the water, play in the sand and look for sea shells was all worth it!!

They had an absolute ball! They caught some waves on the boogy board and made treasure maps in the sand.

We picked up a pack of sand toys at Walgreens on the island for a couple dollars and they dug and played to their heart’s content!

The really are two peas in a pod. I can’t wait until all 3 of them strolling along together!

We actually only took Winston down to the beach one day because it conveniently worked out that he went down for a nap and someone stayed at the house with him so T and I could spend some time with the big boys at the beach.

But wasn’t he just the cutest little beach baby!!??

One of the days, the four of us played Tidalball in the sand. Such a fun and simple one – perfect for all ages!

With all of the fun in the sun, the boys slept like babies pretty much every single night, which can be iffy when traveling.

The salty air does wonders for the soul and also knocks you out at the end of the day!! Some incredible memories were made right here in the sand and water.

Although it was super hot, we couldn’t have asked for better weather.

No rain, just pure sunshine every single day!

WHAT I WORE

Other than basically living in a swimsuit for the week, these were my go-to cover-ups:

These three dresses were perfect:

I especially loved the blue one!

Some of my other favorite items are linked below, including a few things we found ourselves needing and using all week long!

If you ever have the chance to visit Hilton Head, South Carolina, it will not disappoint. We had a wonderful time with the kids and all together as a bigger group. We did some of our own exploring and research to find our stops, but I did get quite a few recs from my friend Heather of Southern State of Mind [she is a travel goddess and a beach vacay pro!] and even some of you guys! Everyone has their own unique experiences on vacations, but if there is something we loved, I wanted to make sure I shared it!! 

Coming home from vacation is always bittersweet. We were so happy to have had the opportunity to vacation as a family and celebrate my mom and dad’s birthdays. A big thanks to them for all the memories!! We also had our pictures taken with Photography by Anne on the beach and I’ll be sharing some of our favorite shots in another post.

They turned out beautifully!

I hope you enjoyed our Hilton Head Vacation Recap! If you want to check out other trip recaps, you can see them here:

Savannah Trip Recap
Haven Conference in Atlanta Recap
Better Homes & Gardens in NYC Recap

And you can see other travel related posts here:

What I’m Packing for Vacation
Travel Essentials
Spring Break Must-haves

Don’t forget to pin for later!