When I
was younger – end of middle school or beginning of high school – my parents
started bringing our family down to this tiny island off the coast of Hilton
Head for vacations. To say it was remote is an understatement. You need to take
a boat from Hilton Head to get there. The boat ride is long, not as a result of
distance but due to wake restrictions. After about forty-five minutes you would
reach the island, then take a ten-minute bus ride to reach the resort. For the
remainder of the week you would drive golf carts seeing very few vehicles.
There were no shops on the island other than some local artists (no bookstores!). You spent your time lying
by the pool, golfing, walking, and relaxing. |
| Iron Fish Gallery, pay by putting $$ under the door. |
I’ve been
back so many times; I’m guessing this trip is about my tenth. I came here for
more family vacations, our honeymoon, and vacations with Chris and the boys.
This year we met up with my parents and an aunt and uncle. I was beyond ready to
come.
As I’ve posted about already on this blog, summer is a time I think I will relax but truly I feel busier than I do during the school year. The boys are involved in so many things I feel like a shuttle most days. I do embrace that, I’m well aware I’ll miss it when they’ve grown, but I also crave downtime.
From the moment I step on the boat to come over (now only thirty minutes) I begin to breathe deeply. Looking at the Calibogue Sound, my heart rate slows down. I know I have days stretching ahead of me with nothing to do. The biggest choice we have might be how many hours will we stay at the pool today? Should we tour the island by golf cart or go to yoga class. Ahhh. So I might be quieter online this week. You will find me poolside reading as many Newbery books as possible. (Five since Saturday – woo hoo!) I hope to be completely relaxed so that some of that feeling will survive the fifteen-hour drive home.
