Hilton Head, South Carolina

I had no idea what to expect from Hilton Head, SC. I started to "google" images of island before we left to get an idea of where we were headed and I was SO excited. Ive been to Hawaii many times, and Cali, but havent had the beach feel of sand dunes. Russ of course jumped on the chance to come along. If you see a pattern in any of my work trips, he has only been to the ones that are along the coast..hmmm. Cant say I blame him! We had one day at the beach before I had to work. It was so much fun!!

The ocean water here was amazing! I have never been in such warm ocean water! I cant say it was very clear, but man oh man was it warm! And Dolphins!! We saw dolphins every single day playing in the water. There was one time I was wading out in the water and watching a dad play with his daughter, and trying to get her to catch a wave. Right as he sent his daughter on the board in the wave a dolphin shared the wave with her! It was crazy. It scared the poor dad to death not sure what it was at first. But I thought it was cool. We left mid day to get some lunch and to go para sailing! We had never been and thought it would be something fun and different. Waiting for our boat to come pick us up!

All suited up and ready to sail!

Up we go!

We got higher in the air than I anticipated. It was SO great. It was so peaceful and quiet, we couldnt hear a thing. No wind, no boats, nothing. We just floated through the air and chatted away looking for sharks and dolphins. We did spot a few dolphins!

As they brought us in closer, they offer you a little "dip"

It was such a great time and I am so glad we got to go up at the same time and share that together.

Russ on our way back to land. There were dolphins just feet next to our boat! I loved it :)

We had lunch and went back to the beach!

We wrote each other love letters in the sand

We went to another part of the island where all the oober rich folk live. It was BEAUTIFUL! You had to pay just get in and pretty much had no beach access unless you were a resident, or guest to a resident. There were golf courses everywhere, ponds, bike paths and cute little restaurants. We had dinner at the Salty Dog Cafe. It was really good, and I loved the logo.

We walked along some ponds in hopes of seeing an alligator but it never happened.

We also walked our way into a resort and spent a little more time on the beach there.

We drove back to our hotel, and spent the rest of the evening playing in the pool and walking along the beach at night. Russ is a fantastic swimmer! I love to watch him swim, he has such great technique and can hold his breath FOREVER! There was only the 2 of us and a couple of kids playing in the pool so I dared him to a handstand war. I knew he would clearly win since he can hold his breath so long, but we did. I held my breath until i thought my lungs would explode and came up out of the water and he was as strong and steady as can be. There was a little bar hut in the middle of the pool so I hurry and swam to the other side of the bar where he couldnt see me. He was still standing strong, nothing but legs out of the water until he finally came up, so proud of himself only to find he was alone in the water with a couple of kids searching all over for me. I was pretty much dying laughing. I swam over to him and we laughed forever. It looked like there was just this grown 35 yr old man doing handstands in the pool alone. I laughed so hard that night in the pool. So much fun.

The next day I had to work. We went to the BEAUTIFUL resort where the event was being held and Russ and I ran down to the beach for a couple hours before I had to go set up.

The ocean water was so perfect again, we swam for a couple of hours and played in the small waves. Russ even was spotted laying out for a sec. This doesnt happen very often.

We went back to our hotel and I got all ready for the evening. Russ went to a popular pizza place close to our hotel and brought back dinner so we could eat together before I had to leave. I worked the rest of the day and would text Russ when I got the chance to see how he was doing. Oh he was good, just hanging out with turtles, playing in good size waves, and reading a book in a hammock.

Sweet Savannah

I had an event in Hilton Head, SC so Russ came along for a FUN couple of days! We took a red eye flight hoping to take advantage of our time off. It wasnt as easy on us as we thought it would be. Especially because we had a layover at 4 am.

We flew into Savannah and spent a few hours before driving to Hilton Head. Savannah was the hottest place I think I have ever visited in my life. In a weird way, I love humidity though. I couldnt believe how lush and green and full everything was! This was by far my favorite building in the whole city.

We walked around down town to see what the city had to offer:

We had a really delicious Mexican food down by the river. Russ had some kind of fish I had never heard of. You know when they say Southern Hospitality? Its true, and its awesome. Everyone is SO SO nice! And So welcoming.

After lunch we went sunglasses shopping, and went to the coolest candy shop. It smelled DELICIOUS and even gave out a few samples. Its a good thing I was full of fajitas because I would have gone to town in the candy shop.

Caramel Apples are maybe one of my favorite things ever. Sprinkle a little sliced almonds on there and its borderline perfection.

We went to a cute little neighborhood to see a pretty park

I want a colorful house and a colorful neighborhood. Although, the whole time I was there, I couldnt decide what color I would paint my house. I saw a plumb colored house with black shutters and that was pretty cute. Russ and I were saying on this trip...if we only lived by a really cool park or something, we would work out ALL the time. We saw people running, and walking their dogs, and riding their bikes, even though it was unbearable hot. Then we thought about it, and realized we DO live right across the street from a really cool park and we NEVER work out. Time to pull ourselves together. But here is the really pretty park we would surely work out in all the time if we lived in Savannah.

There was a big photo shoot going on for Express and it was hilarious watching Russ make fun of all the models on balcony strutting their stuff. Im sure it was actually one of his favorite parts of Georgia.

On to the beach!!

Once we got to Hilton Head we of course wanted to go straight to the beach. It was unlike any beach Ive ever been to. I loved the sand dunes, I loved the board walks, I did not like being in my clothes and billions of people. Russ informed me that the exact beach we were on, was the one Miley Cyrus's "The Last Song" was filmed on. Dont tell him I told you thought.

Bounce Back!

Last minute Russ and I decided to "bounce back" to Lagoon, one Saturday morning. SO glad we did. Again, the lines were super short, and Russ did really well! He didnt even get sick! I was so excited.

We got all the rides in we wanted to, had lunch, and of course finished off our day with funnel cake.

Russ has been trying to get me to go fishing with him forever. We went and bought me a fishing license, Russ let me pick out all of the lures etc and we were on our way. We went up Logan canyon to fish in Mantua. Russ had heard the fishing was really good there. On our way, we stopped at a few produce stands and bought cherries, mangos and the most delicious batch of apricots ever! I think we literally ate this whole bag in a couple of days.

Fishing was a perfect way to end the summer day. It was really a perfect day. I sat on the dock, dipping my feet in the water thinking it had been a pretty perfect summer day. I wouldnt have changed a thing about it.

Turns out the fishing isnt great. I caught one and instantly felt so sad about it. We released the little guy asap. Russ wasnt too lucky and didnt catch anything, but he sure looked good trying!