Nothing much about this summer has resembled any other summer, including our usual travels. Still, we needed a change of scenery and routine, most especially Tim, who had been working steadily from the basement office since mid-March. So he found us a beachfront villa on Hilton Head, and we packed up and headed out.
We were immediately pleased with the villa, both for its proximity to the beach and the deck facing the ocean. Dinner on this deck was a highlight every single night. Most days we made a late-morning trip to the beach, left our tent and chairs for a long lunch break that featured watching a movie and reading/snoozing, and then returned to the beach in the late afternoon. Tim did golf a couple of times, but for the most part we stayed with this groove.
We did rent bikes, and finally got Laura and Danny up and running on them (you may recall Clare taught herself to ride two years ago, on our last trip to HHI). Laura took to it very quickly; Danny not as much. Oh well.
The one outing we made as a family: renting jet skis on our last day. This turned out to be a rather ill-fated excursion. Just as we made our way out to the furthest point possible, and our guide gave us the thumbs up to begin our hour of “free play,” the clouds rolled in and a HUGE bolt of lightning struck uncomfortably close. This was quickly followed by a hard rain that made it difficult to see where we were going as we worked our way back to the shore. Laura was NOT happy. Danny, riding with Tim, thought it was fabulous. Clare also thought it was fairly fun, but also comical. We call this jet skiing 2020-style, I guess.
Aside from the multiple jellyfish and stingray stings that Clare, Danny and Tim endured, and the jet ski ride of doom, it was a great vacation. We hope to travel more sooner rather than later, but this will be remembered very positively.
