Boat trip and Bradenton on Anna Marie Island.

About 5 days into our holiday, we ran into a few days of bad weather.  I say bad, it was still 90+ degrees, but there was thunderstorms and lots and lots and lots of rain....

Here are a few photos from those days.

We had some parakeets nesting near the house.  A little bit of investigating let me to find out they were black faced parakeets, an invasive species, probably released by an exotic animal dealer in and around Tampa.  They are slowly but surely moving into the local area.  Not always a good thing.  Florida has a big issue with evasive species.....

We had to do a boat trip. There are plenty of different companies to go with.  We choose Lil Toot Charter, out of Cortez.  They offer family friendly fishing charters and dolphin watching tours.

Luckily for us it was quite a cloudy day, otherwise we would have baked!  The dolphin watching trip last just over 90 minutes, and we had the whole boat to ourselves!

We were amazingly fortunate and saw lots of dolphins.  Even the captain was surprised by how many we saw.  There were storms brewing in the Gulf, and he thought that may have bought more into the Bay.  When you are looking out for your first one, and you see a fin less than 10 feet from the boat, then see the dolphin in the water, it is truly amazing.  Never ceases to send shivers down my spine when I see a dolphin in the wild.  

It was so worth going on the boat ride.  We all enjoyed it, the captain was nice.  Not overly talkative, but our kids make up for that!  It was also good value, considering the fact we had the whole boat to ourselves, and the amount of time we were out there.

We headed further down the island to Bradenton Beach for some lunch. I had spotted Bridge Street Historical area, so we thought we would go and check it out.  We found somewhere for lunch, sat inside, as it was so dang hot! Afterwards we went for a little explore, and the kids all got to play a game of Mini Golf, which they were very happy about.

We had a little walk down to the end of Bradenton Beach City Pier.  There is a restaurant on this pier, but it  was closed.  In fact, the whole pier was pretty deserted, bar a dolphin cruise about to leave, and a couple of fisherman.  I was quite surprised. It is a recently renovated pier, after being damaged in hurricane Sandy in 2012.  There are plenty of boats moored in and around the pier, and I am led to believe they often get manatees in the area, though we did not see any.

This is a really nice pier.  We were even fortunate enough to see a baby dolphin with its mother in and around the boats you can see behind me in the picture.  So cool!!!!

Hilton Head - part one

Friday morning we packed up the car and headed to Hilton Head.  We managed to leave the house by 9am, thats early for us!  We wanted to make the most of our time there, especially as the weather was not looking too great.  We stopped for an early lunch, and the kids watched plenty of films on the way. We were making such good time, that we decided to take a detour through Beaufort.

Beaufort is the second oldest city in South Carolina, and is the home of the Marine Corp Air station.  We drove right past the front of it, and the boys loved the planes on display

We got to Hilton Head early afternoon and had a little drive around.  Most of the island are resorts, there is even a Disney resort.  We found a public beach, Colligny beach, and some free parking a short walk from it.  

My first thought when I walked on to the beach was Wittering.  It really reminded me of the beach there, with a little shallow pool before you enter the water when the tide was out.  Apart from the dolphins.  We had been on the beach about 20 minutes when we saw one.  So amazing to see them up close.  Typically I had looked at the weather, seen thunderstorms forecast, and not brought any beach stuff, apart from a towel.  The boys took one look at the sea, and off they went.

It was only going to be a matter of time before one or all of them were completely  soaked.  Seb and Isaac.  Despite the sky looking very grey in these pictures, it was really very warm.  

We managed to drag the kids off the beach, with the promise of coming back the next day despite the weather report.  We headed to our hotel, which was pretty central on the island.  We booked this hotel through a Living Social deal.  We got 2 nights for under $80 in a suite that slept 6.  We checked in to the Park Lane Hotel. The receptionist was very helpful, told me about a local restaurant, and that the pool was open, but not heated, though there was a hot tub.  We travelled to our room, on the ground floor in the block away from the pool.  It was sufficient, though they had forgotten the travel cot for Seb.  A quick visit back to reception sorted that.  We put away all the food in the kitchen area, and let the boys play their kindles while we decided what to do for dinner.  

We went with the restaurant the receptionist had recommended, The Smokehouse.  It specialized in BBQ, and it was delicious.  Everyone did really well with their dinner, so we took the boys to Frozen Moo Ice Cream for dessert.  

It was just trying to rain by now, so we headed back to the hotel to indulge of that lovely thing of all five of us sharing a room.  To be honest, it's never too bad.  Seb and Isaac get put to bed first, while Oliver reads, then he goes to bed, and Paul and I continue to read or play games on our phones.  We had a fairly early night, all ready for the next day

McClellanville and Myrtle Beach

Hello.....

Sorry this has been so long coming, I have been throwing myself into Uni work since coming back from the coast.  I think I will start this there.

The house

We left on thursday morning, had a nice leisurely  drive down.  Stopped for some lunch at Wendy's.  It would appear we have a regular stopping area around Orangeburg, which is full of fast food restaurants.  It is about half way from here to the coast, so that worked well for us. We were staying in a small fishing village called McClellanville, about an hour up the coast from Charleston.  It was very picturesque and small, with very few houses, many of which were holiday homes.  We arrived just after 3, the boys got settled in and awaited out friends who we were sharing the house with.  Whilst we were settling in, we took a walk down to the end of the garden, onto our dock.  As I looked down the sides, I thought I could see lots of big bugs.  On closer inspection, they turned out to be crabs, and there was hundreds of them.  We got to the end of the dock and were just debating the likelihood of there being dolphins in the water when, literally 20 feet in front of us, the backs of 2 dolphins appeared.  Magical.  They were swimming up the water, and we saw them again.  It is so amazing to be able to see dolphins so close in the wild.  It is something I think I will never get used to seeing on the coast here.

The dock

Our friends arrived just after 6, so we fired up the barbie.  The boys (there were 5 boys aging from 1 to 6 in the house, thank goodness out nearest neighbors were a good distance away)  ate dinner well, and continued to play while we cracked on with the beer.  Got all the children in bed by 9, and settled onto the screened porch to enjoy some adult time, and compare plans for the next day.  Prior to booking this trip, my friend had expressed a very keen interest on taking a trip to Bulls Island.  Initially I thought it was a great idea for us too.  At the last minute we decided not to do it.  We did not think the boys would enjoy it, and would moan the whole time.  Also the price of the ferry for a family of 5 was pretty steep.  They were very organized, and lucky in the fact their children are still young enough to be carried.  I could not imagine Oliver's stamina.... It would have been a nightmare.  We discussed lots of interesting topics, always nice to find out peoples view points and history, especially if you have not known them long.  We all turned in fairly early.

Ferris wheel as Myrtle Beach

Instead of doing Bulls Island, we decided to do Myrtle Beach.  This has been described to us as a redneck version of Blackpool.  We were already aware that there was a biker convention going on in the town.  We left the house about 9.30, and headed up that way (it was 60 miles away).  About 30 miles from Myrtle Beach, we became aware of the numbers of bikers on the road, and this increased proportional as we approached the destination.  The best way I can think of to describe Myrtle Beach???  At first glance in reminded me of a very small version of Miami.  If I had to describe a British coastal town that it is like, I think I would say Southend-on-Sea.  We drove through it first.  Loads of big hotels, some slightly better quality than others.... Obviously there was the bikers to factor in, the place had a busy vibe, despite the big amusement and water parks not being open yet (that happens this weekend).  We decided to look for somewhere to park, and went with the most convenient (definitely not the cheapest) option of parking right under the ferris wheel, practically on the beach.  We took a little stroll down the broad walk, man it was HOT.  We turned back to the car, and Paul went and grabbed the beach stuff.  The beach was lovely, though the sand quite grainy.  I later discovered, if you dig down about half a foot, you reach a layer of shells.  The sea was refreshing after the heat, with all 3 boys going in at some point.  Oliver loved the water, as did Seb.  Isaac, not so keen.  We managed to persuade him.  The tide was coming in by then, so we had to move up the beach. The sand near the broad walk was baking, too hot, lunchtime.

the beach

Paul chucked all the beach stuff back in the car, while we waited, in the shade on the broad walk (trust me, it was HOT).  We went to Landshark on the beach for lunch, I will not say too much, as I hope to blog about it fairly soon.  This was just under the ferris wheel.  After lunch we decide to try and walk to one of the piers, but we walked on the street front, until we found an arcade.  The boys were ever so keen, so we took them in.  Of all the games I had the change for, they decided to play an old fashioned levers and pull back baseball game.  Isaac was awesome, though he was just pulling levers and pressing buttons.  Think Oliver is too used to working out a strategy, so he went through quarters very quickly. Once my coins had run out, we exited on to the broad walk, and continued to the pier.  It was a fair distance. We got about half way there when we realized it was too hot, the boys would never make it, and neither would we.  We decided to turn back towards the other one.  En route, I stopped in a souvenir shop, hoping for my usual magnet and mug combo.  This place was full of shells.  So many shells.  There were a few  I liked, but the shear volume put me off..... I felt a bit funny.  I know people take from the sea all the time, it has been going on as long as humans have been on this planet, but this felt extreme.  Its almost like I got an attack of the conscious.  I know these items have already been taken from the sea, but I didn't like the magnitude of the destruction for pure commercial gain.  I left the store quite quickly, and we continued our merry walk past the ferris wheel to the other pier.  It was nice to see the hotels from the beach side.  Most of them had good pools, and a few even had beach bars.  And they were all pretty busy.  We reached the next pier.  Of course you had to enter through the gift shop, then pay a dollar for the privilege of going on the pier.  As my cash was all gone, we had to skip it.  But the boys were greta, very understanding.  I think by then they were all wilting in the heat, as were Paul and I.  We had seen quite a few mini golf courses on the way in.  So with the promise of mini golf, we were able to get them in the car, and leave Myrtle Beach.

I will say now, I really like Myrtle Beach.  I would like to go back there again before our time here is up.  I want to stay in one of the beach front hotels with an awesome pool, and chill, catch some rays and let the boys play.  I would not want to do it for more than 3 nights, I think we would all be bored by then.  It would be nice to park the car in a hotel car park and walk everywhere for a few days.

We stopped at mini golf for the boys, they enjoyed it.  Oliver has a good swing, Isaac's needs work.  He is so left handed it is unreal, but tries to swing like a right handed person would.  We don't keep score, neither of them are good enough for it (yet...).  They really enjoy it.  We passed more bikers on the way out.

We arrived back at the house, where Liene had ice cream waiting for the kids.  They sure were grateful.    We took ours to the local park, a 10 minute walk from the house.  This was next to McClellanville museum, which was closed, but looked very interesting.  There was a big look out tower nearby, and we took a little wander on to the community dock.  By now the boys were in need of dinner, so we took them back to the house, just as our friends were getting back from their walk down our dock.  We fed them, bathed them (they were covered in sand) and got them into bed as quick as we could.

Mums here

So much to say....

I got my mum from the airport.  That was a mad dash.  After running around picking boys up from school, and having lunch I jumped in the car as quick as I could.  A flight tracker app had alerted me to the fact her plane was going to be in an hour early!!! And it was.  She was there waiting for me at Charlotte airport.  It was so good to see her.  We drove home, to some very happy boys.

Paul had managed to get a car from work that had seven seats in it.  So the next day we all set off for Tybee Island.  I had managed to get a last minute booking on a house which turned out to be in a prime locate.  Right near a broad walk that took us directly onto the beach, and a 15 minute walk from the downtown area.  We were also just over the road from the supermarket.  We got some pizza, chips and garlic bread for dinner, and the essentials (beer).  We had a walk on the beach, which was lovely, then went home for some dinner.

The next morning dawned beautifully.  The boys did not wake too early, hurrah. We had a leisurely breakfast, and decided to go for a drive and explore the island.  It is a small place, full of really cool houses.  The downtown area is small, but full of bars and restaurants.  We drove to the north of the island and stopped at the lighthouse.  We got out of the car and took a little walk around the fort, then headed on to the beach.  This beach was beautiful, in fact they all are.  Paul spotted something in the water.  There was a couple of dolphins swimming along the shore line.  Amazing, as were the pelicans, so big, yet so graceful.  We took a drive back to the house, dropped the car off, and headed to downtown for some lunch.  Fannies on the Beach was a really nice eatery, with plenty of families eating downstairs.  We all enjoyed our lunch, and the cocktails.  In fact we ordered extra for the road.  We headed down the pier so the boys could see people fishing.  It was very picturesque, and the beach was pretty busy.  It was Easter weekend and spring break, the sun was shining, but there was a bit of a nippy wind.  Paul headed into one of the beachside shops to get some beach equipment, an umbrella was essential.  We got the boys back to the house and changed into their beach gear, and headed on down there.  The boys had a great time playing with their beach toys.  Oliver and Seb even went in the water.  It was too cold for Isaac.  The wind started to pick up, so we went back to the house, where the boys had a light dinner.  We packed them off to bed a little later than usual, and headed out for an evening on Tybee.   That was interesting...............  Lots of cocktails consumed, a couple of games of pool, some strange people, a pirate.  The whole place really felt like it was buzzing.   I can probably compare it to a night in a UK seaside town, but a little warmer, with cocktails.

Our heads were pretty sore the next day.  We took it easy in the morning, then headed to The Crab Shack for lunch.  I decided (in my stupid hungover state) to try a seafood platter, Paul went for ribs and mum had a shrimp sandwich.  I will not go into too much detail, but it was a disaster.  I don't like crab, or very much seafood it would appear.  It doesn't like me much either.  By the time we left, just looking at the plate of food was making me want to hurl.  One good thing about this place, it has lots of alligators (all captive) right next to it.  The boys loved it.  From there we headed to Fort Pulaski.  This place was awesome, the boys really enjoyed walking around it, and we enjoyed learning the history.  We even got to see a musket being fired.  I thought the boys would freak out, but they were really good with the noise (did help we were covering their ears).  We stayed in for dinner and had yet more pizza, sad in the fact the next day we would have to head home.

What didn't help was the fact we were all coming down with something.  Isaac and Paul both had colds, and Oliver appeared to be getting one too.  We drove back home on the Monday, and arrived back mid afternoon.  We took it fairly easy on tuesday, just a trip to the local garden centre.  Isaac has been on spring break this week, and him and Seb have been loving having nanny to play with.  Sure beats boring old mummy!!!!

To be honest, I have been quite ill this week, so we have been taking it easy.  I took my mum to Paris Mountain State Park, which was nice, and we have been out for a meal.  But I have been feeling sooooo rubbish.  Seb also has a streaming nose too.  We are all generally under the weather.  It has been a blessing having mum here, she has helped out loads.  The weather has been improving a lot, so we had a BBQ yesterday.  I have also done loads of planting, any excuse to be out in the garden.

We did make it into Greenville today.  We went for lunch at the Carolina Alehouse.  A little earlier than usual, but we could not get over how quiet it was.  We were the only ones sitting out the front for the whole time we are there.  Never seen that before.  Then we walked over the bridge, and back down the Reedy River, to show mum some sights.  It was a lovely relaxing day.

Isaac goes back to school tomorrow, Oliver has his first baseball game on tuesday, Paul goes away on tuesday, and mum goes home thursday......


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You can fiind the link to the photos from Tybee on Facebook (if you have not already seen them!!!)

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We did make it out to eat one evening too.  In case you didn't know, I also do a foodie type blog with restaurant reviews/recipes here