Around the United States Archives – Page 14 of 15

Daufuskie Island

July 26th, 2018admin0 Comments

Visible from Harbour Town, Daufuskie Island sits across the Calibogue Sound from Hilton Head. It is an island with a fascinating history and an equally fascinating present. With no bridge connecting it to the mainland, it is a place where time has seemingly stood still. Golf carts and bicycles are the main mode of transportation. There is no hospital, no police, no grocery store. The small country store has a sign in the front window stating “If we don’t have it, you don’t need it!” Life is simple here by choice and its roughly 400 residents love it that way. …

May River Excursions – Bluffton, SC

July 18th, 2018admin0 Comments

During our most recent stay in Hilton Head, we decided that we wanted to visit Daufuskie Island. Visible from the Harbour Town Lighthouse, Daufuskie Island sits across the Calibogue Sound and is only accessible by boat. There are several ferry or water taxi options, but once we decided to take a tour through Tour Daufuskie, we were left with two choices: the Daufuskie Island Ferry or May River Excursions. The Daufuskie Island Ferry leaves from Buckingham Landing at the foot of the Hilton Head Bridge. (It is across the bridge so actually off the island.) Round-trip tickets cost $35 (children …

Harbour Town – Hilton Head, SC

July 17th, 2018admin0 Comments

Harbour Town has a little bit of everything – shops, restaurants, boats, water activities, a playground, a lighthouse, a golf course. There is something for everyone there. Over the years we have been there to eat, shop, play, and even take a super fun pirate cruise with Pirates of Hilton Head back when the boys were younger. Located in Sea Pines, one of the largest plantations on Hilton Head, Harbour Town is a top destination for visitors to Hilton Head. If you are not staying in Sea Pines, there is a fee to get in – as well as a long …

Palmetto Dunes – Hilton Head, SC

July 9th, 2018admin0 Comments

Hilton Head is a barrier island featuring twelve miles of beautiful beachfront in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Located close to both Savannah and Charleston, the island offers pristine white sand beaches, more than a dozen championship golf courses, 64 miles of bike trails, and over 250 restaurants. That’s a lot to pack in to a 5 by 12 mile island! Hilton Head Island is divided into 11 gated communities known as plantations. Some of these communities are private (year-round residents only), but many are public or semi-private and offer resorts and activities for vacationers. We have been coming to Hilton …

Jenkinson’s Boardwalk

August 26th, 2017admin0 Comments

For a taste of real Jersey Shore family fun, we visited Jenkinson’s Boardwalk in Point Pleasant, NJ. Jenkinson’s has everything from your typical boardwalk arcade games to an aquarium, as well as unbeatable people watching. The boardwalk is roughly a mile long, with the ocean on one side and all the games, rides, and cotton candy you could ever want on the other. We came down in the evening and ate dinner on the outside patio of Jenkinson’s Pavillion Restaurant. The food was fine – typical boardwalk fare of burgers, pizza, and cheesesteaks. It was super windy but really pretty …

Sandy Hook, NJ

August 25th, 2017admin0 Comments

Sandy Hook is a barrier peninsula in central NJ with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Shrewsbury River to the west. Discovered by Henry Hudson, it is now a National Park comprised of beaches, a lighthouse, a fort, and an active US Coast Guard station. On a clear day it boasts views of the Manhattan skyline. The majority of visitors come to Sandy Hook for the beaches and recreation. It’s convenient to many parts of Central New Jersey and an easy ride across the NY Harbor for Manhattanites. There are multiple public beaches (including a clothing-optional beach) and …

Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort Review

February 20th, 2017admin0 Comments

Since we had limited time on our trip, we wanted to maximize our park time by staying on Disney property, preferably on the monorail line. Blair has always wanted to stay at The Contemporary, but honestly the theming of that hotel has never interested me. It feels more like an airport hotel than a Disney hotel. I stayed at the Grand Floridian as a kid and would absolutely love to stay there again. All of the resorts on the monorail line are deluxe resorts and tend to be at the higher end of the deluxe price range because of their …

Disney World Tips

February 18th, 2017admin0 Comments

There are literally thousands of Disney planning websites out there with more Disney tips and tricks than I could ever imagine let alone write about. I wrote a very few of my own tips and take-aways for each park at the end of each blog and here I will just offer two reviews and one word of wisdom. On this trip we purchased Memory Maker and the Disney Dining Plan, both of which were new to us. I researched them both extensively beforehand and hopefully sharing my experience can help someone else make their own decision. Memory Maker At …

Hollywood Studios

February 15th, 2017admin0 Comments

We started the morning of our third day in Magic Kingdom and headed to Hollywood Studios a little after noon. For our family, Hollywood Studios holds the least interest. The boys aren’t huge Star Wars fans and Tower of Terror is definitely out as a ride option. (They do thrilling but not scary.) But we have to balance that with the fact that their absolute favorite ride in all of Disney World is there, Toy Story Mania. So skipping it entirely wasn’t an option. We figured a half day would be fine. JB had used a birthday gift card to …

Epcot

February 11th, 2017admin0 Comments

One of my regrets from our first trip to Disney was not spending enough time in Epcot. I was pleasantly surprised at how interested the boys were in exploring the countries and how much time we could have spent there. I wanted to avoid making this mistake again but with limited days and lots of ground to cover, I was left with roughly 8 hours there. We arrived around 1:00 and planned to stay for Illuminations at 9:00. That seemed like ample time to ride a few rides and wander around the countries. But as they say, the best laid …