Back in August (2016 😉) me and seven other girls
Road tripped down to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
One of my favorite places on earth!
It was a twelve hour drive so we started early and got there after dark.
It was such a fun trip and we made so many great memories
and tried new things together. I keep looking back
at these photos thinking 'When can we go again?'
I think it was probably my fifth time to HHI and every time, we always
find something new that we didn't do the last trip...
This trip included many new, exciting, & thrilling experiences...
Read on to see 😊
I just love when your driving and you can look ahead and see that view 😍
That thrill of FINALLY arriving and getting all excited about the week of adventures ahead!
And then there's the midnight run to Walmart when theres only one checkout line and they're closing and the line is at least 10 people long (Not including 8 of us!).... Just the beginning of the adventure.
And what a beautiful Sunday morning to wake up to in paradise 😊💙
The plant life on the beach is beautiful!
The beautiful ladies I got to spend my week with!
I can't even say how much I love Spanish moss... It is so gorgeous!! especially when the sun is coming through and makes it all glow! 💛
Our little home for the week.
One of my favorite ice cream shops I've ever been to!
Evenings hanging out by the water watching the sunset are some of my best memories!
And then the night time hot tub and star gazing is so peaceful!
Never been to Hilton Head and not seen one!
Bible time...
with a view!
Can you tell I love all the green or nah?!! 💚
And then there was biking... Endless biking and I couldn't be happier!
Having separate bike roads so you can bike EVERYWHERE is something I love about
Hilton Head. This was like my 3rd trip getting a tandem and it was so much fun! It requires
quite a bit of team work and determination but it's worth it! 😊
Biked to a little coffee shop and I got a smoothie... It was a hot morning and after the girls saw
(and tasted) what I got, some of them decided a smoothie was the right idea too! 😄
It was a pretty cool lookin place!
First time going on a sailboat.
We got to go on the Stars and stripes cruise (a cup winning sailboat).
Squinty smiles.
Sue... Just being a sailer model 😁💙
And GUESS WHO GOT TO DRIVE IT?!! Not only did I sail for my first time...
I also drove a sailboat my first time!
Let me tell ya... That was one giant steering wheel! 😄
Also... If anyone is looking for a full time sailboat photographer... I'm down! 😉
I think that should be a real career!
Look at those clouds! God really gave us the prettiest display for our sail!
Saw a helicopter and boat doing some sort of first responder training.
Decided to go paddle boarding for my first time since I'd been wanting to for a while.
When we'd been out a ways for some time, I was just sitting there dangling my feet and hands in the water and said to the girls "Put your feet in! Its so nice and refreshing!" and right then I see them paddling at great speed and saying "Alaina! Turn around right now!!"... I get back up and start turning around wondering what the panic was about. I said "What's the problem?!" and then they continued to tell me what they'd seen go by their boards. They think it was a hammer head by the looks of it. I never saw it so I wasn't really panicked but I still hurried back not wanting to be out there alone! 😳😄 The whole way back they were seeing bubbles here and there and thinking there was more creatures...
That didn't help when we got back to shore and wanted to get in and get wet.
Me and Kinsey walked out a little ways together and thought we saw a jellyfish so we quickly ran back. (2 or 3 of the girls had gotten jellyfish stings the day before so we were a little cautious)! Mary decided to be brave and go out and I think she ended up with a sting.
Love the shadows from the palm tree in this photo! 🌴
Also, more good homemade ice cream in Hilton Head.
Dinner in Harbor town at one of our usual restaurants. HHI is the place to get
she crab soup and lobster bisque! Mmmm.... Fresh seafood! 💕
Haven't had fish and chips this good since! Looking at this just makes my mouth water. 😊
It's a restaurant with a view too!
This photo does not one bit of justice for how beautiful it really was.
The washed out, sunburnt, tired but so happy, night time beach selfie.
Another day, Another beautiful ride!
My brave tandem partner who took the lead every ride!
Almost bought a hermit crab but decided that 12 hour trip with it may not be my favorite!
If you've never had Salty Dog's hush puppies, you're missing out!! This has to be one of the best foods I've ever had! they're sweet and served with a brown sugar butter.... So good!
More delicious soup.
And fresh catch tacos.
Then there's the key lime pie... 😱
What the attempts to the jump shots look like... I crack myself up looking at these sometimes!
And then the jump shots!
Just doing what I love! 💓📷
Harbor town lighthouse views...
The wind decided to make our shorts blow up like balloons! 😂
Don't let the photo fool you. My arm was BURNING on that metal rail!
More delicious homemade HHI ice cream.
So much beauty in this place!
So... After an afternoon in harbor town, we biked back with the idea of parasailing in the back of our minds. Not really thinking it would work out. Sue and I spent the next hour talking about the pros and cons of going. I decided I wouldn't parasail this time because I wanted to video my first time doing it and I didn't have a GoPro handy. I also didn't want to spend the money for it at that point. But I said I'd be more than willing to pay a small fee to go ride on the boat and be Sue's photographer so she didn't have to pay for photos. After deciding yes, no, yes, no, we finally decided yes. Kelsey dropped us back off in harbor town and I sat around with Sue (mentally preparing herself for her upcoming adventure)! About half an hour to an hour later, our boat arrives. We get. on board as the last riders for the day and I'm getting so excited for Sue and for the opportunity to test out my skills in water sport photography! I had my camera all ready, I was set. The first 3 ladies went up first. In the mean time, I see the guys giving the rides over talking... Then one of them walks over to me and says "Well, how do feel about parasailing with your friend today for free?" (well, for the small boat fee)! It didn't really, but I felt like my mouth dropped to the floor! I looked at Sue kinda panicked/ nervous while she looked back and forth from me to him saying "YES!! yes, she wants to! Right Alaina?!"
I finally spoke up and said "But... I won't be able to take my friends pictures!" and then he said "Well, I thought I'd offer! You just can't tell the people back at checkin that I let you go, free!" Going through it in my head I thought 'Who ever has the chance to parasail for next to nothing? Who cares about pictures! It's about the memories I'm going to make with my best friend!' I spoke up and said "I'll go!"... within the next 5 minutes, I was all harnessed up and my camera was safely tucked away. I didn't even have time to mentally prepare myself for what was about to happen because the next thing I know, I'm sitting on the black strips on the back of the boat about to fly up! the whole way up me and Sue were just laughing our guts out! and yelling over the wind "Are we really doing this?!!" and "I can't believe this is actually happening!" It was such a beautiful ride with an amazing view of God's creation. Every time I look back on that day, I'm just reminded of how good God is and how much He really cares about the random little desires and dreams we have. I'm so thankful for that random thing that just came about! Now I have quite a story to tell about my first time parasailing than any video or picture would've been able to describe.
Everyone may have been staring at me like I was some weirdo with my guitar
on the beach but I enjoyed every minute of playing on the beach. Beautiful views while
playing one of my favorite instruments!
Our last morning sunrise at the beach for this trip.
We all somehow matched in purple.
There goes Sue, modeling again!
Cannot ever get tired of that view!
Soaking up our last day in the sunshine by the Atlantic.
Enjoying our last sunset at the beach.
We left early the next morning because we had a full car and no AC (which meant windows down all day... even through the rain) and wanted to get home at a reasonable hour!
We even ended up driving through tornado warnings (the windows were up at that point 😂).
But after all the stormy weather, we drove back into Indiana with a beautiful sunset display.
Mary was laughing at me because of the insane amount of sunset photos I was taking... No wonder I run out of phone storage! 😂 I can't help it that God's creation just kept getting prettier!
We may have felt like cooped up hens in a hen house all day but we all learned to put up with each other and have a memorable drive home despite the exciting circumstances! 😁
Have a whimsical day!
Alaina
