Drive From Orlando, FL to Hilton Head Island, SC
After a busy few months of work, birthday prep, and school, the Hayes family was ready to enjoy a relaxing Spring Break at one of our favorite destinations to chill, Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort. We first visited Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort on our east coast road trip in 2008, when Hunter was just a year old, and we have been in love with the place ever since. We have been back a few times since, but Hunter was excited to spend his 10th birthday there and we were happy to oblige.
I worked from home on Friday (St. Patty’s Day) so that we could leave as soon as I was able to wrap up my day. I have to say it was quite a crazy day, but I was glad to be wrapping up the project that I had been working on for over a year. We geared up the car with technology and Emily’s famous snack options and departed the house, immediately greeted by a caravan of cars making their way from Orlando to Daytona for the final weekend of Bike Week. Quite a few hogs on the road. The traffic on 95 seemed to open up a bit as we made our way to Jacksonville.
We took the 295 bypass around the city and located a perfect stop for dinner, Pieology. Although we have never eaten at a Pieology, it is very similar to the new restaurant at Disney Springs called Blaze Pizza. The concept is like Subway but for pizza, where you load up your pizza crust with whatever sauce, cheese, and toppings that you want. They fire it up for you and it is ready in like five minutes. The pizza was delicious and quick, the perfect cure for our growling road stomachs. The setting sun was coming in through the restaurant’s front window, providing the perfect lighting for photos. I think Emily took about a hundred pictures of the boys that night because they were being so silly.
Pieology just so happed to be two doors down from the Sweet by Holly cupcake store so… why not? Emily has had a love of cupcakes for as long as she has been alive, so if I wanted to remain alive, we were going to stop and see what they were serving. We snatched a four pack of minis and we were back on the road.
The remainder of the drive was relatively uneventful. We did take the opportunity to pull off at the Georgia Welcome Center to get a photo of the boys on the torpedo (or whatever that thing is). Emily just wrapped up putting together a photo book for Hunter’s 10th birthday that we will be celebrating on Monday, so she was eager to begin the fun photos of the next ten years. She captured a few photos as the sun was setting and the weather was cooling down for the evening. We got the boys bundled up in the car and made the rest of the drive.
We arrived at the resort at about 9:30 and got checked in the at front desk. We were lucky to have a room right next to the main building, so we didn’t have to go far. We unpacked the car, got in our pajamas, and got the beds set up and crashed. I think we are all excited to spend some relaxing family time on Hilton Head Island.
Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort – Day 1, Saturday, March 18th
Like most Hayes family vacations, the tribe was a bit hesitant to get out of their cozy beds in the morning so I offered to pick up breakfast from Tide Me Over, the quick service food location on the resort property. I always enjoy the plethora of food that comes on the Bounty Platter and the rest of the gang got Chicken and Waffles and Mickey Waffles.
While I was getting breakfast, the boys started playing the Jurassicopoly (which is basically Monopoly themed around Jurassic World) board game, and you can imagine my astonishment when I returned to see them doing this instead of burying the heads in their technology. I contemplated moving into the resort permanently, but alas, the magical spell of the board game was short lived.
One of Hunter’s birthday bucket list items for the trip was to go crab hunting. During a previous trip to Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort, Emily purchased buckets and shovels for the boys, who had a blast taking them down by the water and catching the tiny crabs that go in and out of the holes by the rocks and sand. The boys got dressed and headed out, leaving Emily to relax a bit and get showered and ready for the day. As per usual, we saw a ton of crabs that Hunter caught and put in his bucket. Sawyer just enjoyed filling his bucket up with sand and water and watching his brother catch crabs. It was the perfect start to the day, but Sawyer quickly lost interest. We cleaned up our gear and took a luggage cart ride back toward our room. For those of you who haven’t been to Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort, they have these really neat rustic wood luggage carts to get your bags around the grounds. They also serve as really fun ride vehicles to push the kids around in.
On our way back to the room the boys spotted the basketball court and wanted to play around. Our boys have never been much the sporty type but for some reason they got the itch. Since I love being outside it was the perfect opportunity to play with the boys and enjoy the morning weather. Hunter practiced shooting baskets and Sawyer and I used the basketball as a soccer ball and he spent his energy scoring goals on a less than agile goalie. I texted Emily where we were, so after she was finished getting ready, she joined us.
We had our fill of LeBron dunks so we made our way to the pool and recreation area to see what was going on for the day. Because it was a bit too cold to take a dip, we checked out the games and activities that were offered. The first stop was a rousing game of foosball followed by a less than entertaining game of ping pong (not sure the paddles did us any good). The game area is situated just underneath the community hall, quick serve restaurant, and merchandise shop. I swear Emily can smell merchandise, because it wasn’t long until we were up the stairs checking out the new resort offerings. One of Hunter’s birthday vouchers was for a pair of sun glasses. Since Hunter and Sawyer were into Iron Man, they each got a pair that they insisted looked like Iron Man and Rhodey.
All of our morning activities built up quite a hunger, requiring a stop at the nearby Tide Me Over quick serve location for some lunch. I got a burger and Emily got a pulled pork sandwich. After lunch, since we were already on the other side of the resort from where our room was located, we hung around for a few more activities. Two of the Hayes family favorites at the Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort are shuffleboard and corn hole (maybe we are more ready for a retirement community than I thought)! The boys had a blast playing shuffleboard, not so much for the scoring aspect of it, more just to see how far and fast they could fling the discs.
Lucky to escape shuffleboard without any broken fingers or toes, it was over to the bike barn to get our bike rentals for the week. Renting bikes at Hilton Head has to be my favorite aspect of the vacation experience. Each time we have visited the island previously, we have rented bikes, which provides the perfect way to explore the island and get some exercise in the process. Hunter has recently mastered the art of biking without training wheels and was ready to get a big boy bike and join in the fun. Sawyer was still at the middle age where he needs training wheels so Emily got a tandem bike for the two of them to share. We checked out our locks and helmets and were ready for life on the open road.
We took our first test ride back to our room on the opposite side of the resort. Emily’s parents had updated us that they were nearing the resort so we locked up our bikes for a future ride and headed up to our room to await their arrival. Since our room was overlooking the arrival parking lot, it wasn’t hard to spot the Toyota Highlander with the Hilton Head Island sticker on the back windshield. They checked in and got a room assignment a few doors down from us which was perfect. We got their bags moved in and took some time to chill.
Emily and I were ready for some chill time, so Colonel agreed to take the boys for a nature walk while Emily and her Mom chilled in the room and caught up. I took some time to relax in the room, unsuccessfully attempting a nap. After their break, Emily and Kee headed to the nearby Kroger to pick up some food essentials to keep in the room to feed our growing boys. I also took the opportunity to take my first of many afternoon bike rides to the beach.
When we were all back at the room we ordered our traditional first dinner of Giuseppi’s pizza and calzones and had our traditional Hilton Head Island family game night. The night started with a calm game of New England Bingo and quickly escalated into a competitive flurry of Hit or Miss. It is fun as the boys get older and can participate in some of the more challenging games. They had a blast. The board games were played with the backdrop of squeaky sneakers of the NCAA Basketball tournament in the background. It was a great night for the Wisconsin Badgers as they beat Villanova 65 to 62 to move on to the elite eight. It was the perfect cozy ending to our first full day of our Hilton Head Island Spring Break trip.
Check out more of our fun adventures on day two of our Hilton Head Island Spring Break vacation.
