An Unlikely December Beach

by Jonathan Schultz (United States of America)

I didn't expect to find USA

We crossed the Karl Bowers Bridge from Bluffton onto Hilton Head Island around 9:45pm the Sunday after Thanksgiving. There was not much traffic. It was the complete opposite of the last time we were in Hilton Head with 10 family members in a beach house. This time, my wife and I were celebrating our anniversary, which happens around Thanksgiving, and we are pretty low key about it. We like off-season, so places like Taos, southern Vermont, and Puerto Rico during the first week of December have been destinations for our annual celebration. In fact, not much happens the week after Thanksgiving, so we find it a perfect time to travel. As expected, the roads and hotel were basically empty, and honestly, we had pretty low expectations for just about anything over the next 3 days. Really, we were killing time before seeing our favorite band, Phish, for 2 nights the next weekend in Charleston, SC where we knew the action would be. What we didn’t expect, was 3 days of serene solitude biking along the beach, easy dining at fantastic restaurants that normally have 2+ hour waits to get into during high season, and live jazz that was world class with tables available for walk-ins mid set. The weather in Hilton Head at the end of November, early December, is about what you would expect…perfect bike riding weather. No, we didn’t go in the ocean, but with the beach empty of pale northern sunbathers and rainbow umbrellas, we were able to ride our beach cruisers with giant “s” turns in the bright sun, blue sky, and gently lapping Atlantic waves from one end of Sea Pines to the other. The mid afternoon stops at the Tiki Hut and Salty Dog for a couple of cold local beers, fresh popcorn, and familiar music of a lone guitar player was ideal considering it only took 30 seconds to place an order. Just as we like it…suns out, but no buns out. Our dining experiences were simply fabulous. Traveling to HHI many times over my life, most of what I remember has been crowded, long waits, loud spots with lots of kids, and wait staff that seem to just want to turn the table. But without crowds, people love to give you the time. A Low Country Backyard greeted us with the friendliest server who loved to talk about the Grateful Dead (bonus), luscious fried green tomatoes, a mouth-watering seafood purloo, and hands down the best banana pudding I have eaten. I talked about it for the next 2 days, trying to convince my wife we needed to go there for desert after every meal. And, our favorite lunch spot, Marley’s Shrimp and Burger Shack, gave us just the fried seafood basket we were craving, with perfectly soft and crunchy hushpuppies, and a first time enjoying a shrimp burger with a spicy sauce. We were able to book spa treatments within 24 hours, hit the top of the lighthouse without squeezing by people, and about the only thing we didn’t do was a kayak tour. We decided that the cool morning temps on the water might a little chilly if we rolled, but that was just us being wimpy. Because we love live music, our heads were really focused on our next destination of Charleston, SC. But, as we walked into The Jazz Corner on what we thought would be a pretty sleepy Monday night, it felt like walking into the Blue Note or the Village Vanguard, with soft leather booths, small candles on the table, and an Aperol Spritz I might put up against one you would get on the Italian Riviera in the summer. The evening may have been cool, but Martin Lesch’s bop quartet was hot, and the crowd was loving it. It was the perfect 3 days of outdoor activity, spa indulgence, great food, and live music that we couldn’t have planned any better (we didn’t plan a thing). And, as my wife and I packed up for Charleston Thursday morning with all smiles after exceeding any and all expectations, we kept thinking…”this is Hilton Head in December?” Sign us up every anniversary for this.