We were really excited to go--this was our first weekend without kids since Alex was about 14 months old. Matt's sister Shanna took the 3 boys and his parents took Caroline and Shanna's daughter Petra. The kids had so much fun and (except for Aaron) didn't miss us for a second.
The resort exceeded all expectations. Driving up to the resort (5 miles from the entrance) we were immediately met by hotel staff. They took our car, loaded our belongings into a golf cart, escorted us to the check in desk and then drove us to our cottage. Our cottage was incredible.
The view from our front porch
Looking at the back of the cottage
Each cottage was assigned a golf cart and two bikes. We took the golf cart a few times, but for the most part we traveled by bike. Inside the cottage was incredible. There was a screened in porch, a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom attached to the bedroom. There was also a dressing area with the closets. I think the bathroom was bigger than my bedroom is at home. It was the ultimate luxury. Really, it was the nicest place I have ever stayed. Everything was amazing. I can't really even describe it. One thing we loved was walking in the cottage after the heat and humidity (South Carolina, in July, on the coast) and the cottage was very cool and everything was extra plush and comfortable--it made you want to leave just so you could walk back in and feel how great it was!
Our cottage looked over the May River (some looked over an internal, man made canal). I could have spent the entire weekend looking out at the river. There were dolphins out there frequently, boats, birds, just amazing.
There wasn't a beach (thus the Bluffs in Palmetto Bluff), the coastline was just incredibly beautiful.
Another view from our back porch
We saw this sign every time we traveled from our cottage to the resort main building. I know it was because you were about to cross bridges that weren't designed for heavy vehicles, but I just loved the sign anyway. I made Matt let me take this picture our last morning (we had to wait until no one was around so I wouldn't embarrass him!)
For the scheduled activity we chose to go fishing. The other options were golf or spa--I wouldn't have minded the spa, but I would rather spend the 4 hours with Matt!
The fishing trip was nice. Matt and I ended up in a boat by ourselves with our guide. The boat ride to the fishing area was amazing. At one point we passed a huge pod of dolphins--there were several baby dolphins (or calves if you want to be technical) and the view as we passed Hilton Head and the coast all along that area was just beautiful.
We caught one stingray
and about 50 black tipped sharks. It soon became apparent that actually catching fish was not the goal of our guide (I'm sure the time of day was part of it)--but it seemed like they were happy to let us catch sharks and throw them back....it did not live up to other fishing expeditions that Matt had gone on at other firm retreats.
on the trip back--our captain in the background.
I loved this lighthouse that we passed on the boat ride to the fishing area.
Here are dolphins that we saw while on the dock one morning.
Crazy, yes, but we got up before sunrise both mornings so that we (Matt) could get pictures of the river and resort....it was amazing and Matt did a fabulous job with his pictures.
We had two great dinners with the rest of the A&B folks, and the other meals we ate at a restaurant on the property. The food was good--nothing to complain about, but the rest of the resort was so amazing that the food seemed disappointing because it was just great, not exceptional.
I loved taking our bikes everywhere. We went on a long bike ride each day The area really is amazingly beautiful. One problem we ran into is there are no maps with street names. The resort takes up only part of the development--the rest is made of of natural areas and private homes. The homes are owned by people who value privacy so the development doesn't have a map showing street names, just general areas with a couple main roads with their names. So the first day we rode all over the area, but then couldn't find our way back and finally resorted to using the gps feature on Matt's phone to lead us back to where we needed to get. I was very happy to find the resort!
Our last morning we got up early and took a couple of kayaks out on the May river. The person over loaning out the kayaks wasn't sure about letting us go out on the river (rather than the internal canal), but when we mentioned that we were experienced with kayaks they agreed to let us go (but we had to document when we left, the direction we were headed and how long we expected to be gone). It was amazing. We didn't venture too far off shore, but we explored the shoreline and it was so peaceful and beautiful.
The river was so calm.
There is a beautiful white bird in the center (in the grass area).
It was definitely hard to leave when our weekend was over. I would have loved to stay for a week (or buy a house there!), but I don't think I would ever justify the kind of money it would require to stay there...so I just will say that we had an amazing time and I'm so happy we had the chance to go!
1 comment:
Lucky you! What a beautiful getaway! Though I am sure it doesn't replace all the weeks M has been gone.
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