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Lowcountry Vacation (2 of 3)

Posted by | June 30, 2011 | TRAVEL | 8 Comments

The vacation was bookended on either side with road tripping. All five of us love travel of all kinds— even including (yes, I know, it is hard to believe this to be true of young kids)… long roadtrips. The drive from our house to Beaufort, South Carolina is 15 hours. We split it up each way with overnights at hotels (on the drive south, we stopped in North Carolina; on the drive north, we stopped in Virginia; which means… and this is important to them!… that K & O have now slept at least one night in every state on the eastern seaboard). Meera got weary a few times along the way, trapped in her carseat, and not entirely sure what exactly the point of all this was, but she was a real trooper. And never once did Kyle or Owen even utter a “when will we get there?” Every hour is part of the adventure for them. Believe it or not, they honest-to-God enjoy it. They watch videos; they color/draw/write/do mazes and word-finds; they play with their iPods (while Meera naps); and they eat (and eat and eat and eat– the roadtrip snacking is a major part of the experience – oh! and pizza! pizza is by far their favorite roadtripping fast food).

Road Trip - movies - Day 1 Heading South

Road Trip - lap pads - Day 2 Heading South

Road Trip - sleeping and ipods - Day 1 Heading North

Road Trip - pizza - Day 2 Heading North 

We had rented a cottage for the week from VRBO. We found it to be exactly what we had been hoping for: private, right on the marsh, small, simple, and with –the major attraction for us— a private dock. That dock came to take on a life of its own during our stay. It was like an extension of our house rental—a whole other room stretching into a weird and wonderful new land for us.

the villa the marsh - dock 

With only one exception (an awesome day trip to Charleston), our days went like this: an adventurous excursion of some sort, followed by a late-morning arrival at the beach, followed by a late-afternoon arrival back on our dock for crabbing and checking out the tides.

Our morning excursions included a bunch of different adventures at Hunting Island State Park (the lighthouse there, the marsh walks, the lagoon, the nature center); a trip to the Penn Center (awe-inspiring place!); and exploring our new favorite art gallery on the planet: The Red Piano Too on St. Helena Island.

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The bulk of our days were spent on the beach at Hunting Island State Park. A vacation like this is a lot of work (especially for Mama); the packing and unpacking of beach gear, the picnic lunches, the laundry. But it is so worth it.

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(and there was Dairy Queen for the bambinos on the drive ‘home’ everyday! what a treat!)

8 Comments

  • Phyl says:

    Love the pics! I’m in SC right now and we are leaving in the morning for a weekend in Savannah. My husband is working here in Aiken and was getting really tired of the traveling back to CA so I came here for a bit. The last time I came we stayed on Hilton Head. We have yet to visit Charleston or Beaufort but I am anxious to experience the low country and would love to go to that art gallery!!

  • Julie says:

    We vacationed near Beaufort a few years ago and loved it. We also used VRBO but stayed in a condo. Loved your cottage – where was it in relation to Beaufort? Bet you found plenty of sand dollars on the beach!

    • Heather says:

      Julie– the house was actually in Beaufort– just about a 5 minute drive to the center of town. 20 minutes from Hunting Island State Park. Awesome location!

      • Julie says:

        Would love a link to your cottage. Looked online and can’t figure out which ones have the long docks, where they are, etc. We are ready to go back!

        • Heather says:

          Hi Julie, The VRBO listing for the cottage we rented is: #37436. Before you book it, email me for the details so I can fill you in!!! My email is: hbj2 –at– lehigh dot edu
          Ok?
          hbj

  • Emily Doss says:

    We are traveling with my husband to a church camp where he is leading worship. I knew it would be a great experience for our 16 mo old, but I had to keep reminding myself of that while packing and preparing to fly. Thanks for always blogging about the valuable experiences that you cherish and reminding me it worth it, even when it’s hard.

  • heather says:

    Beautiful photos, beautiful vacation. (I love Meera’s swimsuit selection!)

  • Rebecca says:

    So glad you were able to visit my home state. The pictures are amazing. I love the faces in the ice cream picture, anything to escape the heat right? I can’t wait to check out the art gallery you mentioned.

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