We left the house at precisely 1:00:00 on the dot, per the commands of a drill-sergeant-like father. We traveled approx. 7 hours to the lovely town of Spartanburg, SC. As great as "upstate" sounds, there was nothing upscale about our overnight stay. We did stop at The Beacon, which was featured on "Drive-ins, Diners and Dives" but seeing as it was late, we didn't get the full experience and just settled for huge ice cream sundaes instead. Don't get too excited, their banana split had nothing on Whipty-Do's version!
The next day we woke up and drove about 2 hours to the University of South Carolina where we met my cousin, Annie for a personal tour of her campus! All of Columbia reeked with southern charm, from its horseshoe quad to the yellow, pink and white dorm buildings. If Kate ends up there I will have no problem making the trip during the cold Chicago winters.
We finally arrived in Hilton Head at about 5 o'clock that night, a relief to the rest of the very traveled out family (what can I say, they are weak). Then that first night was spent in the familiar South Beach Marina, where the Salty Dog Café is, although we were too hungry to wait to eat there, so we ate at one of the other restaurants.
On Monday we woke up very early to go out on Jet-Ski's, which was totally worth the loss of sleep. The previous year, my cousin Caroline and I beat everyone with the fastest pace and were determined to do the same this year. We spent alot of time racing, doing doughnuts and going at break-neck speeds, but we also saw dolphins and went through creeks. When we announced to the family that we had gone 79, they were amazed, what they failed to realize (not that we minded to correct them) is that our speed was set to kilometers/hour. Hahaha...
We had an intense conversation Tuesday night at dinner, more than once the waitress looked afraid to be at our table. The fam didn't stray far because the topics went from College Football to Pro Football to T.O. to Chad Ochocino, (who Katie meet the other night at J. Alexanders!) to Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch to Rock of Love to the Bachelorette (Katie? were you happy about Roberto, I forget, I don't think you ever told us your opinion). Basically Annie's nightmare of conversation topics, she will be providing approved conversation topics in the future. Even if it was a bit juvenile, I ended up spitting out my food because of laughing. Way to keep it classy family.
On Wednesday morning my Dad and I were the only ones who woke up to go to one of my favorite places on Hilton Head Island, the Flamingo Café. Here they have a small shop, no frills, where the specialty doughnuts, glazes and toppings are all written in chalk and you can pick anything you want. I have heard that they don't even fry the doughnut until you order it, so when you get the doughnut, it practically melts in your mouth and leaves you happily in a sugar coma for the rest of the morning.
Continuing with our adventures, we decided to rent bikes and go to South Beach again. We got ice-cream and then headed back. Kate decided to finally step up and bring out her "A-Game" at the exact minute when my cousin Caroline had a minor spazz with her bike, and lost the chain and ended up like a greasy mechanic fixing it!
We had an intense conversation Tuesday night at dinner, more than once the waitress looked afraid to be at our table. The fam didn't stray far because the topics went from College Football to Pro Football to T.O. to Chad Ochocino, (who Katie meet the other night at J. Alexanders!) to Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch to Rock of Love to the Bachelorette (Katie? were you happy about Roberto, I forget, I don't think you ever told us your opinion). Basically Annie's nightmare of conversation topics, she will be providing approved conversation topics in the future. Even if it was a bit juvenile, I ended up spitting out my food because of laughing. Way to keep it classy family.
On Wednesday morning my Dad and I were the only ones who woke up to go to one of my favorite places on Hilton Head Island, the Flamingo Café. Here they have a small shop, no frills, where the specialty doughnuts, glazes and toppings are all written in chalk and you can pick anything you want. I have heard that they don't even fry the doughnut until you order it, so when you get the doughnut, it practically melts in your mouth and leaves you happily in a sugar coma for the rest of the morning.
Continuing with our adventures, we decided to rent bikes and go to South Beach again. We got ice-cream and then headed back. Kate decided to finally step up and bring out her "A-Game" at the exact minute when my cousin Caroline had a minor spazz with her bike, and lost the chain and ended up like a greasy mechanic fixing it!
Fun at the Beach!
We sadly left at 6 am on Saturday to be sure we would get home with enough time for Katie to go to the Saint Margaret of York Festival. About half way home I realized that I had forgotten Happy Bear, which I have had since I was born! Luckily my mother's new bestie, Adam, found it and he is on his way home soon! Now I am really glad that I never actually met the guy that she went on about all week.
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