Recap Of Our 2024 Hilton Head Vacation

If you’ve been following along with me for a while, then you know my family has a Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, vacation tradition. We’ve been going there ever since my parents chose the island randomly for their honeymoon almost four decades ago, so it feels like a second home to us. We just got back from a 7-day vacation there, which is why I didn’t end up posting anything to the blog last week. I completely shut down work, and had an absolutely dreamy beach escape with my mom, sister, and her boyfriend, too (Dad and my husband, John, stayed back home in Virginia this time).

My family and I are creatures of habit, so we do the exact same things every single time we visit the island. We always go to Skull Creek Boathouse for a late lunch when we get to the island that first Saturday afternoon, visit the same petting zoo, get ice cream at the same beach counter, climb the same lighthouse, and shop at the same outlets. You can read more about our past trips by clicking here to my Hilton Head archive, which offers lots more photos and travel tips in case you’re planning a vacation to the island. Today, though, I wanted to create a new digital photo album of this year’s adventure.

Another thing that has become a tradition year after year for us is the rental home that we stay in. In decades past, we would pick a different house to stay in each year, but then we discovered 335 S. Greenwood Drive, and we haven’t changed things up since then. It’s the perfect size house for us, has a gorgeous view of the golf course and lagoon, plus it has a hot tub in addition to the pool, which is such a nice perk to have on chillier overcast days.

I had reached out the new owner of the house last year when we stayed there to let her know how much we enjoyed the improvements made, and she ended up commissioning one of my ceramic pieces for the house. My dad and I collaborated together on a beach-inspired wooden tray and porcelain bowl that the owners lovingly placed on the front entry table of the beach house. It was so thrilling to see it there in the house this year, and we used it every day to hold our collected seashells and car keys. That made it feel even more like home to us.

One of our favorite traditions of all is climbing the lighthouse at Harbour Town in Hilton Head. This area is always bustling with local boutique shoppers, people there to listen to live music, kids running around the playground, Quarterdeck diners, and families there to take advantage of the boat tours and lighthouse. It’s not a very tall lighthouse, but it’s certainly high enough! My legs are always shaky after reaching the top, but the views of the boats, sunset, and ocean make the climb well worth it.

While we are definitely creatures of habit with our repeated traditions, there are times when we step outside our normal routine. This year we made candles at the newly opened Sea Love Boutique in Sea Pines Center (I plan to write a whole blog post about that, so stay tuned), and we also had some delicious appetizers for the first time at Fraser’s Tavern. I had heard about Fraser’s during the Heritage Golf Tournament back in April, and definitely wanted to try it out. It was delicious. Our recommendations: get the Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Grand Bavarian Pretzel, and a bottle of La Jolie Fleur Rosé.

Oh, and another new highlight specific to this year’s trip was playing mini golf at Pirate’s Island. We used to play putt-putt a lot when we were kids, but that tradition was eventually replaced by other more “adult” activities (like drinks at Coast). The last day we were on the island this year, was a little overcast and drizzly, so my mom, sister, and I decided to go try mini golf out again. It was actually a blast, and I managed to get a hole in one! I’m definitely adding this back to our list of annual traditions.

At any rate, I know this story is a departure from my normal home-focused content, but I love having these posts to look back on over the years. What are your family vacation traditions? Do you go to the same exact place year after year, like we do? Have you been to Hilton Head Island before? What do you love to do there that I haven’t mentioned in my recaps from years past? I want to know all about your memories and future summer plans, so comment below and let me know.