If you told me this morning that I would be eating dinner outside today in my winter coat, I wouldn’t have believed you. I surprised even myself with that one. I won’t be ringing in the New Year at midnight, but I did enjoy both sunrise and sunset along with some adventures in the Sea Pines Plantation today.
I started my day well before dawn, and was on the beach as the first light of day was hitting the horizon. I always walk south on the beach for my sunrise walks, and today I was bundled up in my winter coat, sweatshirt hood, and gloves. The wind chill made the temperature well below freezing. There were no clouds in the sky, so the sunrise itself wasn’t spectacular, but I still enjoyed watching the top of the sun break the horizon for the last sunrise of 2025.
After my walk, I headed to Plantation Cafe for breakfast. I had an unmemorable (not bad, just boring) eggs Benedict, delicious hashbrowns (they tasted like they were loaded with butter!), and cinnamon apples to start the day.
Then it was off to Sea Pines Plantation, on the southern end of the island. Sea Pines covers a large part of the island and requires a $9 entry fee for the day. My first destination was Harbour Town, with its quaint shops and iconic lighthouse situated around the yacht basin. I walked around for a while taking pictures and trying to stay warm (feels like temperature: 30 degrees). I managed to add a new sweatshirt and key chain to my collection of Hilton Head souvenirs, had a lukewarm hot chocolate, and then moved on to the Sea Pines Forest Preserve.
Sea Pines Forest Preserve is a 600-acre preserve filled with lakes, swamps, trails, and boardwalks. I parked, looked briefly at a trail map, and then set off walking. The trails are primarily sandy and I followed a loop around Lake Joe, then through the Vanishing Swamp and across the Rice Field boardwalk before circling back to my car.
I spent the afternoon relaxing for a while in my room and then taking another long beach walk. I headed north this afternoon, but was met with a (literal) roadblock where the beach was closed for renourishment. I turned around and headed south for a while before deciding I had had enough.
Next up was a very early dinner at the Salty Dog Cafe in South Beach (also in Sea Pines). I skipped the coat for my afternoon walk, and wasn’t too cold in the sun, which may have contributed to my false sense that dinner outside didn’t sound like a bad idea. In my defense, there were plenty of other people crazy enough to be eating outside as well. By the time I finished my shrimp tacos, my whole body was cold and I was regretting my decision.
I tried desperately to find a parking spot in Harbour Town for sunset to no avail. On my way out of Sea Pines, I passed the trolley lot and decided to park and take the trolley back to Harbour Town. Harbour Town hosts the island’s New Year’s Eve celebration, so it’s not like I didn’t know it would be crowded. And it was. I walked around the yacht basin, watched the sunset over the 18th hole of the Harbour Town Golf Links, and then headed back to my car.
It wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without a little fun, so I spent a few minutes in the hot tub when I got back to the hotel, snacked on Buc-ee’s Beaver Nuggets and chocolate, and had a glass of Bailey’s while settling in to watch the latest episode of Jet Lag: The Game on YouTube.
Traveling with Laura 