We had a relaxing morning and left the campground to do some sightseeing around 10:30. We drove the Wm. Hilton Parkway which is the main road to the Shelter Cove area. This gave us our first view of the King Neptune sundial. It was a very striking statue.
We saw quite a few boats in the marina as we walked around the harbor. The harbor was surrounded by shops and restaurants, but it was pretty quiet with not many people around.
We left there and continued on through Hilton Head Center, which is the commercial hub of the island. There we discovered more traffic and more people. Upon leaving Hilton Head Center, we encountered tree-canopied roads, lined on both sides with bike paths.
There were people everywhere! Our next stop was at Harbor Town, on the western side of the island. We had to pay a $5 toll to pass through the Sea Pines area of the island to get to Harbor Town. The whole area is gated off.
We paid our toll and continued on to Harbor Town. We had a difficult time trying to find a parking space. After 10 minutes of waiting, we finally did. This area was really hopping with tourists. We walked along the harbor to the distinctive red and white lighthouse.
For $3.75 you could go up to the top of the lighthouse. So up I went, while Bob waited for me below.
From the top, I had a 360 degree view of the area on the wrap-around balcony. From above, I had a great view of Calibogue Sound and Harbor Town. I could see the 18th hole of the world famous Harbor Town Golf Links–the site of the Heritage Golf Tournament played every April. The sign in the lighthouse said that from the tee on the 18th hole, golfers use the lighthouse to line up their shot.
In moving along the walkway at the top, I could also see the dock where all of the tour boats departed from.
On the other side, I faced the marina below. The skies were clear and I could see forever.
We stopped for a beer at an outdoor cafe and did some people watching as they meandered through the shopping area.
I spotted this cute little guy who had just returned from the Pirate Cruise. Can you tell? His little sister wore the same disguise.
We finished our trip with a drive along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline on the east side of the island. Hilton Head Island is actually shaped like a tennis shoe with Broad Creek acting as the “shoelaces”. Can you see the resemblance here?
Bob thought that it should be called Hilton Shoe instead of Hilton Head for obvious reasons. On our way back, we stopped at the San Miguel Cafe for nachos and a beer. We arrived back at the campsite around 3:30 to relax and give Auggie some outdoor time.
Later, we relaxed with a cocktail as we checked out the progress of Tropical Storm Chantal on TV. It looks like she won’t be giving us much of anything, except maybe some rain. That’s a good thing! In checking with our neighbors back home today, we found out that we had no damage from the waterspout/tornado on Tuesday night. Other homes in our community weren’t so lucky, but at least no one was hurt. That’s a good thing too! We skipped dinner and took our evening walk where Auggie got to play with 2 other dogs. He was pooped out by the time we got back to the campsite. We’ll all sleep good tonight!
