Sea Island and Savannah

Before I write about our trip to Sea Island, I want to take a moment and let everyone in Denver know that we are all thinking about you. What a horrible tragedy that I wish you did not have to experience. It is so hard to understand why some things happen in this world. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Denver, especially those who were in the theatre at the time of the shooting and their friends and family.


On to a happier note...

Welcome to Sea Island! My sister lives in South Carolina, so we decided to meet her and vacation for the 4th of July in the quaint, southern beach town of Sea Island. We flew to Houston and then had a short, 2 hour flight to Savannah. We rented a car in Savannah and drove an hour and half to Sea Island. We first stopped in St. Simon's to eat dinner and meet up with my sister. People were out and about, excited to celebrate the 4th of July tomorrow! After dinner, we had a quick jaunt to Sea Island. We couldn't see much because it was dark, but our cottage was easy to find. We were welcomed with a Sea Island cooler bag, water bottles and a few treats. The cottage was spacious, cute and reminded me of grandma's house. It would have been featured in Southern Living about 30-40 years ago. The pictures that surrounded the house were cute...you could tell the grandchildren visit often and have many memories at the cottage.

Happy 4th of July! Sea Island knows how to celebrate! We woke up the morning of the 4th and headed down the beautiful main street of Sea Island where you will find beautiful cottages, huge mansions and many, many families riding their red, white and blue decorated bikes to catch the fun 4th of July parade! Before the parade began, we visited the beach club and grabbed a delicious latte in the diner. Everyone was there to watch the parade. Decorated cars, golf carts, people in costume paraded down main street throwing candy to the kids with American music playing in the background. Once the parade was finished...a group of Sea Island moms flooded the streets and did a choreographed dance to "Dixie." It was amazing!

Most of the action on the 4th of July took place at the Beach Club in Sea Island. There were tons of activities for kids, music, food, snow cones, etc! The beach chairs were filled and the pools were packed! We hung out and relaxed at the beach for most of the day and made our way over to The Cloister (the main hotel on the island) to get some pictures.

The hotel was gorgeous! It was fun to walk around and read about the history of the place. Politicians, celebrities and socialites from all over the world have stayed at the Cloister. Winston Churchill's daughter was married on the grounds and it was the host of the G8 Summt in 2004. After touring the hotel, we headed back to the cottage to freshen up for the 4th of July BBQ. The BBQ took place at the Beach Club. We had a table overlooking the water and this BBQ was like nothing I had ever seen. They had beef, shrimp and grits, a salad table, a hotdog and burger table, a seafood table...anything and everything you could imagine. The dessert table had ice cream sundae's with toppings galore, cobblers, chocolate chip cookies, etc. It was quite a treat. We enjoyed a great band during our dinner and watched kids run around and play in the sand with huge smiles on their faces. After stuffing ourselves, we headed down to the sand to grab a front row seat for the firework show. It was a beautiful evening!

Welcome to The Lodge on Sea Island. We ventured a few miles to head to the Lodge for dinner one night. I'm so glad we did. The Lodge has 3 golf courses, a pro shop and a few restaurants. It was a beautiful building, surrounded by gorgeous golf courses overlooking the ocean. We had some snacks and drinks on the porch and took in the beautiful view and setting of the Lodge. Then, we headed into dinner at the Oak Room and had a delicious meal. Once we finished with dinner we walked the grounds once more and took some pictures.

Our sweet little girl enjoyed the trip as well! :)

After our pleasant, relaxing stay in Sea Island we headed back to Savannah to spend one day. We stayed at the Olde Harbour Inn, walked along River Street and took a trolley tour around the city. It's a very historic city. During the Civil War, General Sherman burned the city of Atlanta and everything else in his path on his "March to the Sea." When General Sherman entered Savannah, it is said that he was so blown away by it's beauty that he could not burn it. Therefore, some of the old mansions and buildings in Savannah are the oldest in the South. They are beautiful and the trees that surround the paths and squares of Savannah are breathtaking. Many movies have been filmed in Savannah, including Forest Gump. Below, you can see the bench where Forest Gump sat at the bus stop in the movie. The trolley ride was informative and we were able to see a lot, but it's not recommended to women that are pregnant. It was HOT!

Forest Gump's bus stop

My dad got a recommendation for dinner in Savannah from a bartender at the Beach Club in Sea Island. Let me tell you, she knows what she is talking about! Our last night of the trip, we went to 700 Drayton for dinner. It is the restaurant inside the Mansion on Forsyth Park. The decor was so incredibly unique and there were chandeliers in every room. Our waitress was from Russia and was very interesting to talk to and extremely attentive. Most of all, the food was delicious!

Overall, it was a lovely trip. I definitely recommend Sea Island, especially if you have a family. Kids can rome the streets freely by foot or on bikes, the activities are endless and the hospitality is southern hospitality at it's best. As much as I enjoyed this vacation, I can't say I had the same love affair with Sea Island as I did with Kiawah. Kiawah still holds a very special place in my heart and maybe...just maybe...I'm getting one step closer to finding my perfect little beach town.

Happy weekend!!