Hilton Head Island, SC

Last week Chris and I revisited Hilton Head Island, SC and joined our friends the Moulders in a beachside condo. The weather was warm, sunny and perfect for our lazy beach days, our long bike rides and island exploring.
Saturday night we all drove down to SeaPines Plantation for a yummy dinner at The Crazy Crab. Just outside the restaurant, we enjoyed the enormous trees that add so much character to the island.

Mark, Merci and their daughter, Julia (and baby Moulder in the oven)

Monday morning we all took off on our rental bikes for an island adventure! In an effort to avoid the wind, we switched several times between riding on the bike trails and the beach. Chris and I were lucky enough to have a tailwind for our 10 mile beach ride back to the condo at the end of the day. On our honeymoon, we weren't so lucky and had a strong headwind that nearly killed us!
Chris and I snuck into SeaPines Plantation via the beach and explored the various bike trails. We revisited The Wreck of the Salty Dog, a harborside restaurant with delicious food and beautiful scenery. While exploring SeaPines, we rode by many golf courses--of course--and happened upon this sun worshipping alligator! I jumped off my bike to get the closest picture possible . . .
It was only AFTER I snapped the picture that I realized I was only 5 feet from another alligator on MY side of the pond. I've never been so close to a live, non-caged-in alligator in all my life.
But, since I was so close, I had to get a proof and made Chris come take my picture with the big ol' reptile. Another pic to add to my collection of "Kathryn and animal" photos.
After approximately 28 miles of biking and 6 hours later, Chris and I returned to our condo for an evening of beach strolling. Here is the beachview from our condo!

On our walk, we found dozens of shells--still alive and inhabited. We had fun collecting the shells and later . . . cleaning the shells!!

And of course, I picked up everything that I could get my hands on! Here is a squirmy little sandcrab!
Okay, so I didn't pick up everything! The jellyfish really freaked me out!!


On our last night in Hilton Head, we had to take advantage of the all-you-can-eat crablegs at Nick's Restuarant! Mark, Merci, Chris and I joined up with Mark's sister Christy and her husband Steve! Five of the six of us ordered the crablegs and we kept our waitress hopping!
Christy was by far the most experienced when it came to crackin' the crabs, but I think I learned pretty quickly. I was only 1 plate behind the other four when the night ended!
We each got 5 refills (me, only four) . . . but the waitress claims that the record is 13 refills (each refill being about 1 # of crablegs). Regardless of our wimpy intake in comparison to the record holder, we all left quite full; our crab cravings satisfied for quite a while!

All in all we had a wonderful vacation! Our affection for Hilton Head Island continues to grow as we make more memories there! But who doesn't love the BEACH!!!!!