Travel advice: Hilton Head Island and Savannah

[mkrishnan]

So, since it seems to be travel advice day...

My girlfriend and I are planning our next weekend getaway for mid-March. We were originally going to go to Savannah for the St. Patrick's Day fun, but we could not get a hotel room quickly enough. So, we decided that a good alternate was to stay on Hilton Head, and spend half the weekend there with one or more daytrip(s) out to Savannah to also enjoy Savannah.

Has anyone been before? I'm reserving a hotel room this weekend, and then we're going to try to put together some to-do items for our itinerary.

 

[AmyT]

Hilton Head Island Travel Advice

Have you booked a hotel already? I traveled to Hilton Head Island in November 2006 for the first time and found that there are not many hotels to choose from. Most of the accommodations are vacation rentals, however, there are some great deals at some of the smaller condo type rentals. I had never stayed in a vacation rental before but was very happy with it after the fact. They have one bedroom apartments and even studio accommodations that are right on the beach, have a private pool and your own kitchen. Which saved us alot of money. Check with Hilton Head Rentals and Golf for current specials. The off season is a great time to get a deal and the island is not very crowded.

 

[Mr. Durden]

I used to live in Beaufort, which is right next to Hilton Head. Beautiful area. I know you will love it. I would recommend also trying to take a day trip to charleston. If I remember correctly, its maybe and hour and a half away from Hilton Head (maybe shorter). Charleston is, in my opinion, the most beautiful city I have ever been to in the US. Take the horse and carriage rides through the historical parts of the city. There is a restaurant on the marina called Pussers (sounds gross, I know) that we really enjoyed. There is also an old plantation just outside of charleston thats still well kept and you can take a tour and walk around it. Its amazingly beautiful, and at the same time awefully sad (the slave quarters are still standing). If you ever saw the mini-series North and South, with Patrick Swazy, you may recognize this plantation as the one the southern family the Mains lived in.

I would also recommend taking a boat ride out to Fort Sumpter while there.

If you are a golfer, you simply must play a round while in Hilton Head. There are tons of courses and I could recommend any of them. Absolutely pristine.

If you make your way to Beaufort and happen to head towards the beach you will pass a small restaurant called The Shrimp Shack. Its right across from the shrimping docks so the food is always extra fresh and delicious. Its a very casual place, usually full of beach goers coming and going so dont feel the need to dress up or anything.

Have a great time! Take lots of pictures! I've been feeling really home sick lately and now you've got me thinking about it even more.

 

[mkrishnan]

Awww, thank you both!

I did reserve a hotel on the island already. Since we're staying for a short time (it's just a weekend -- Friday to Sunday), it seemed best. But we're really looking forward to having a great time.

Charleston sounds like it's really deserving of its own getaway at some point! We love taking little weekend trips like this. The horse carriages sound really wonderful, especially on a winter evening.

Do either of you know, is mid-March (3/16-3/18) still considered off season? From talking to the hotels, it sounds like there won't be that many drunk underage spring breakers there (god, now I'm sounding old! ... but we're traveling with Sarah's three-year-old, so... ya gotta!). But I'm not quite sure what the peak season is. We're mostly just hoping to have a nice private getaway for three.

 

[jdechko]

<- Super jealous... of all of the cities I've ever been to (including Europe), Savannah is by far my favorite. I know I'm actually from GA and I've been to Savannah more times than I can count, but each time has been great. (Especially the last time, which was my honeymoon - we were poor, but who cares. )

mkrishnan, there are a lot of historical tours that you can go on, which always seem to be interesting. During the day, there's Tybee Island which is about 15-20 min away; there's the historic lighthouse with a great view of the atlantic, and the civil war fort. At night, River Street is the place to be. It's so alive whether you're enjoying a drink at one of the many bars or just taking a walk down the street. There's even a ghost tour of the city. As far as food, theres a ton of awesome seafood restaurants down there; look at the menus and you'll find just about everything.

Never, been to Hilton Head, though, so I can't offer up anything there.

So, since it seems to be travel advice day...

My girlfriend and I are planning our next weekend getaway for mid-March. We were originally going to go to Savannah for the St. Patrick's Day fun, but we could not get a hotel room quickly enough. So, we decided that a good alternate was to stay on Hilton Head, and spend half the weekend there with one or more daytrip(s) out to Savannah to also enjoy Savannah.

Has anyone been before? I'm reserving a hotel room this weekend, and then we're going to try to put together some to-do items for our itinerary.

 

[Frozone]

Whatever you do, MAKE SURE you visit Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in Savannah. It's without a doubt one of my favorite places to eat. You're seated at one of only a few large tables, and will be sitting next to and across from other people dining at the restaurant. Then they will bring out an assortment of the best southern dishes and set them on the tables in this HUGE bowls, which you pass around like and old southern family dinner. The sweet iced tea is amazing.

 

[mkrishnan]

I think everyone's advice is going to have to be a for-next-time thing... we had an amazing time on the island, though.

This is what we did:

Friday -- Sarah arrived super late. She was supposed to get there at about 3PM, and left on time, and hit mad traffic. She arrived at 7. I left an hour + late (would also have arrived at 3PM), hit no traffic, stopped for outlet shopping, and still got there by about 4:30. On the other hand, in addition to an amazing linen Ralph Lauren hoodie I got myself, I found Sarah a pair of patent leather red ballerina slippers at Guess. She had wanted slippers like that for some time, but every time we went looking, we found ones that were not quite right. These were perfect!!! But after Sarah got in, I got her unpacked, we went to the beach to see the sunset, and then went to Ruan Thai (out on Bus 278 by the mall), which was really, really nice. Excellent Thai, nice atmosphere (red lighting), very friendly and attentive, and $35 for two adults and a three-year-old. Drunken noodles...mmm.... We came back and had Riesling in the hotel room to end the evening.

Saturday -- we took Sarah's daughter to a story reading at Barnes & Nobles with real live ballerinas, and then to the Sandbox interactive museum, where we stayed past lunchtime. We got her some quick McDonalds (so it could be a vacation for her too! ). Then we went and explored the mall and I took Sarah for tanning, because the beach was mostly too cold to lay out on. It had been perfect on Friday, but she got there too late. So I really wanted to make her glow a little bit, so we found a tanning salon. Then Sarah took me back to the hotel to give me a massage. And I glowed. Later in the day we got low-key Mexican for dinner and explored the island some more.

Sunday -- we slept in and then did a little more island exploring. We got greek salad, turkey / brie / apple wraps, chocolate flavored soda, and a fudge / pecan / caramel torte at Fresh Market and had a beach picnic. And Sarah's daughter got down on the ground and had a tantrum when she found out she had to go home. I came pretty close to a tantrum myself.

The hotel we stayed at was ok... nothing special. I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Very basic, small rooms, but they were clean. Very, very nice staff. Good parking and location, and not expensive. However, we did have a three-year-old with us, and the people staying downstairs from us called the staff and complained about noise every single night.... On the second night they made the staff call us about the noise at 8:30 in the evening, because she was walking around the room. I think that's a little over the top.

But all in all, it was an outstanding getaway. Sarah told me on Sunday that she hadn't worried all weekend and it surprised her. Mission accomplished. Plus we kissed whenever we hit a stoplight or stop sign.

Pictures on the camera coming up sometime soon.

 

[mkrishnan]

Pictures:

 

[Mr. Durden]

Sounds like a great time. Nice pictures. You 3 make a beautiful family. The bottom 2 pictures make me sooo home sick. Cant wait to get back out there.