This past month I took on a booking in South Carolina. The wedding took place at a local camp where the couple had originally met. The camp overlooked Table Rock State Park located at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Pickens. Although Pickens is relatively inland, and just barely over the North and South Carolina Border, I was beyond thrilled to book such a sweet couple in a state I’ve come to love. You see, two years ago my husband (Ryan) and I took our Honeymoon on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina and I viewed this as a great way to celebrate our second anniversary.
Now that I’ve exposed myself as a complete and very sentimental romantic, you should know that I am also slightly Type A and wanted to make sure we were entirely prepared for our travel by making a VERY in depth travel document. There are so many aspects that come into play while planning to travel for a shoot but I think the thing that always gets me is the unknown. Travel is a beautiful thing but can be unforgiving when things go wrong. You know what they say: expect the best and plan for the worst. That being said, I always take time to research things in the surrounding area and make sure we know what the travel schedule and event schedule need to look like for success. With the recent gas shortages there was very real potential it would impact our travel plans, that being said we became extra intentional about refilling our tank often and making sure we planned extra time to search for gas if need be. Thankfully we were able to avoid the shortage for the most part and our travel itinerary went off as planned.
We arrived at Hilton Head on May 22nd and barely got our bags through the door before we found ourselves standing on the natural beach just minutes from our condo. I may not be traveling super frequently, but let me just say that if the listing you’re looking at while trying to book an airbnb says “natural beach” chances are it will be much quieter and only accessible from the spot you’re staying. Unlike Myrtle Beach or Rehoboth (insert more popular beach spots here), Hilton Head feels small like you’ve run off to the tiny beach town to restart your life after a big life event. The people are sweet, the tea is even sweeter, and the bike access throughout the entire island is an absolute dream.
One spot I’d been dying to get back to was this little cafe set in Coligny Plaza by the name of Skillets. Ryan and I had gone here on our first morning on the island during our Honeymoon and loved it enough to return the same during the same trip. I was hoping I hadn’t idealized it in my head over the last two years, so when we arrived I was thrilled it was indeed as good as I remembered. There’s just something about sitting in a cafe, midmorning, in a different place… I feel like it's this romanticized ideal but I continue to love it nonetheless. Beyond finding little hole-in-the-wall restaurants and sweating it out on the beach, we loved the fact that we had access to a pool, sauna, and hot tub right by our little home for the week. We even made some friends from Chicago hanging out and chatting by the pool one day! We decided to capitalize on our last morning on the island with a paddleboarding excursion out on the water. We got to spend an hour watching dolphins, trying to find sea turtles and working on our life vest tans.
It’s strange how you can look forward to something for so long, then suddenly it’s here and so quickly gone but I guess some of life's sweetest moments always tend to feel that way. There’s something to being by the water and having nothing to do but sit while listening to the ebbing and flowing of the tide. I had a really hard time taking time off during the week but when I was by the ocean it all just evaporated, it kind of makes me want to uproot my life and go find a small place on an island somewhere… and maybe someday I will. Until then, if you ever need to feel good about playing mini golf you should invite me along, my score will probably be double yours but you’re supposed to get the highest score to win… right?
If you’re curious about some of the spots I’ve mentioned I have linked them below for you to check out! If you also want to know the airbnb I booked out for the week then shoot me a message and I will happily send you the information on it!