Nadines Travel Blog

The Marriott Grand Ocean is a lovely expansive resort on Hilton Head Island Beach.  It has many pools and hot tubs and a lot of amenities to make for a great vacation.  Grand Ocean is located right on the ocean at Hilton Head South Carolina.  There is a few raised platform access points out to the beach. We had a two bedroom two bathroom unit and it was great.  The living room was super huge with one of the longest couches I have ever sat on.  The primary bedroom was gorgeously laid out with an extremely large bathroom.  The tub was super comfortable to soak in and the lighting was amazing. We ended up getting an end unit that was accessible so it was bigger than most and exactly 37 steps from the master toilet to the front door, so very large.  The kitchen was just like any Marriott Vacation Club kitchen that had everything that you needed or desired to cook.  One night I needed an extra pot and they quickly brought it up.   The dining ...

  One of the nicest places that I have ever biked in my life is Hilton Head.  It is a bicycle dream.  Biking Sea Pines, if you are not living or staying in Sea Pines area requires a $9.00 USD daily pass to enter on your bike or you can enter from the beach for free.  Sea Pines is located at the South end of Hilton Head and takes up a large percentage of the island.  Sea Pines has golf courses that are so green that you would think that they are fake turf.  If you don't mind the occasional gator on the course, then you should be good. The flowering trees and Spanish Moss are dreamy and make everything look so pretty.  The bike trails are very established here and smooth to ride on. You still have to watch out and be aware that there are bodies of water here that can always contain gators lounging or swimming somewhere.  We spotted several on our different bike rides.   There are pamphlets with maps and maps posted around the island to hel...

 If I were to describe pure joy it is walking, biking or hiking and exploring new areas in the world.  Today we biked the beach at Hilton Head South Carolina.  I know this sounds weird because who can bike on a beach through the sand?   At Hilton Head when the tide goes out the Atlantic Ocean leaves the beach with hard-packed sand.  It is the smoothest ride you will ever experience  It is euphoria for me biking North with the wind behind my sails and the sun at my back.  The beach is wide and free of obstacles.  In fact, the beach is so wide that you can easily maneuver around people.   Occasionally you will spot a dead Horseshoe Crab and you have to stop to look at it. Horseshoe Crabs are so big and absolutely prehistoric looking.  Apparently, they have blue blood and you can't eat them.   What a shame. Or you will spot a live blue crab.   Even the dogs that are walking with their people have an extra bounc...

The Sea Pines Forest Preserve is located in Sea Pines which is on the southern end of Hilton Head.  It's quite large and absolutely wonderful with biking trails throughout the 605 acres.  It is reminiscent of Northern Saskatchewan for me with the pine trees and numerous lakes.  The Preserve is a very beautiful and well-kept oasis for anyone who wants to walk, bike or drive into.  There are picnic areas and sitting areas set up throughout the preserve.  There are Oak trees that are hundreds of years old that stretch out their branches in the most peculiar ways.  There are viewing platforms and boardwalks throughout the property for picture taking and watching the wildlife go about their daily lives. It is absolutely free to enter and you can spend the whole day there if you want.  We spent almost 3 hours in the preserve biking around stopping and taking pictures and checking out the sites.  The second time we went, it was more for the purpose of ta...

We finally completed a bucket list item and that was swimming with the Manatees.  These gentle 'sea cows' are curious creatures and do not fear humans  They have no natural predators and they act like it in the water which is very sweet and innocent.  We went with SeaDaddy's out of Crystal River and we actually got a Groupon and saved a few dollars.  With this company, you rent your wetsuits through them.  The wetsuits help keep you warm and they actually help you float as well.  They provide snorkels and masks and the equipment is very new and well-maintained. They drove us on a bus to the marina where we got on a SeaDaddy pontoon boat.  Here is Harold the Captain and Darren get kitted out for the Manatee excursion.  These photos are shady due to the waterproof bag on the phone We were a party of four and another couple joined us, so there were just six of us on the pontoon.  Harold took us to a couple of amazing spots one was Three Sisters....

We went Kayaking with a tour company that I  found on Groupon.  I was a bit hesitant because you never know what you are going to get.  However, everything turned out fine.  The company treated us well and the guide John was very nice and friendly and answered all of my questions about the area that we kayaked in. We kayaked around the Intercoastal Waterways between Hilton Head Island and the mainland of Georgia.  We kayaked in the Skull Creek area so we could see Pinckney Island and would love to go and explore that someday.  To the right is a partial map of Hilton Head Island which is sort of shaped like a boot.  We kayaked at the top of the boot area. One of the main reasons that I booked this trip was to kayak beside dolphins which is very common here. No such luck, not a one did we spot. We saw other wildlife. The boys saw turtles but I don't get as excited as they do with turtles. Coincidentally a week later we were biking in the Shelter Cove are...