It's a Wonderful Life: First Beach Trip (Hilton Head Island)...7 months later (oops)!

I've been meaning to write about our trip to Hilton Head Island since we went last July. As it turns out, Kelly's Korner is doing a link-up today about favorite vacations! This was just the incentive I needed! My all-time favorite vacation has been a Royal Caribbean cruise since our honeymoon. We have now been on 3 cruises, and they never disappoint! However, this was the first vacation we've taken that Eliana has been old enough to really have fun and enjoy it! That alone made this one of my favorite vacations ever!

I have always loved the beach! I remember going to the beach as a little girl and thinking it was the coolest place in the world! I love almost everything about it (minus the things in the ocean that can hurt me)! That is why I couldn't wait to take Eliana to the beach. I wanted to take her the summer after she was born, but she was only about 3 months old, and her doctor really advised us that it wasn't worth it. I love her pediatrician, so I took his advice, and we waited a year. Eliana's first trip to the ocean was when she was 16 months old...and she LOVED it!

The first day we went to the beach she thought it was awesome! She loved playing in the water and the sand! The second day didn't go as well. As soon as we walked into the ocean a wave knocked her over, and that was it for the day! She still loved the sand, but needless to say we didn't play in the ocean that day. The rest of the week was great, and she was back to loving the water!

We stayed in a 2-bedroom condo that was about 2 blocks from the beach. There were so many great things about this condo. We loved having 2 bedrooms so we didn't have to worry about waking Eliana up if we wanted to stay up later. The condo had a pool as well as a membership to the gym across the street. The gym had an indoor pool which would have been great if we had bad weather (we didn't)! It also came with 2 adult bicycles and beach toys! We ended up having to rent a bike because we needed a baby seat for Eliana, but there are plenty of places to rent bikes from on the island. Hilton Head is very bike-friendly. There are bike paths everywhere! I also loved where on the island the condo was located. We were in South Forest Beach, which seemed to be close to everything! We loved going to the beach in the mornings and the pool in the afternoon!

We ate at so many good restaurants! I don't have a picture of all of them, but I can tell you a little bit about each one. We ate at Frosty Frog, Sea Shack, Marley's Island Grille, and Skull Creek Boathouse. All of these were fabulous! Frosty Frog is known for being a daiquiri bar, but their food is great, too! They have a little bit of everything, and our service was great! Sea Shack is apparently one of the most popular places to eat on the island, but you definitely wouldn't know it by looking at it. My advice...get there early!!! The line forms outside because the inside is very small! Marley's Island Grille has a tropical feel to it, and since I love everything about the Caribbean, it was right up my alley. Skull Creek Boathouse is a great place, especially if you have kids! This one is also super popular so be prepared to wait. The best part is that they have lots of fun things to do outside to keep you (and the kids) occupied.