Visiting Daufuskie Island

Each Summer we spend one week with my family on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. This is where I grew up going to the beach as a child, and while the island has changed a ton over the years, its been fun to keep up the tradition with my own children.

Because we have been visiting the island for so many years, we know pretty much the ins and the outs of it. Where to eat, what to see, what activities to participate in.

This year we were looking to throw a little something new into the mix, and decided to make a day trip to Daufuskie Island.

Daufuskie is a small island across the Calibogue Sound from Hilton Head Island. It has a ton of history, and has a small population (like really small), but even with all that untouched beauty so close by the island still maintains a rural feel. One of the nicest resorts in the area was located on the island and years ago due to poor management, illegal financial happenings, and ongoing lawsuits it now resembles something out of a horror movie set (do a quick Google search for all the sad details).

I haven't been on Daufuskie since I was a teenager. Most of the people in our group have never visited. I thought this was funny since where we stay each year literally looks right at the island.

So we booked our ferry ride, reserved our golf carts, and got ready for a day of exploring.

VISITING DAUFUSKIE ISLAND

TRANSPORTATION

The only way to get to Daufuskie is by boat. There are several ferry services that will take you to and from the island. The cost is around $40-50 per person and takes about 20 minutes from Hilton Head. The island has its own ferry system as well. I think it is a lot cheaper, but takes around an hour from island to island.

Because of the island's set up there are very few cars on the island. That means you get to ride around on bikes or golf carts as modes of transportation. We opted for golf carts for this trip. Some people in our group were very excited about this. (I'm looking at you Mr. Magnolia and Grandpa Magnolia).

WHERE TO EAT
We arrived on the island just before lunch. So we rode around for a bit on our golf carts enjoying the scenery and then decided to get an early lunch at one of the local restaurants. There are a few on the island - The Melrose Beach Club, Daufuskie Crab Co., the general store to name a few - but we made our way to Lucy Bell's Cafe.

Lucy Bell's was amazing! The seating is mostly outdoors under grand Spanish moss covered oaks. The southern style fare is all made to order and is beyond delicious.

The portions are on the generous side so you definitely won't leave hungry. For those brave enough to tour the island by bike I commend you because after I "shared" the heavenly piece of homemade Carrot Cake all I wanted was a nap.

Next time I'm in Hilton Head, it will definitely be worth a visit to Daufuskie just for a little more Lucy Bell's in my life.


WHAT TO DO
Daufuskie was first inhibited in 1728. There's a ton of great history on the island, and a few structures have survived the elements over the last few centuries. Most native residents are descendants of slaves and have a deep rooted history to the island. There are several tabby structures, historical churches, and homes that you can visit.

There are guided tour services on the island that will take you around via golf cart, but we chose to give it a go on our own.

Bloody Point Light House & Silver Dew Winery
First stop on our tour was the Bloody Point Light House. The original lighthouse fell victim to mother nature years ago, but the homesite contains a ton of local artifacts and information.

Bonus for this wine lover, it was also the site of the Silver Dew Winery.

While the winery isn't currently active it sounds like there are plans in the works to make it so in the future. You are able to enjoy a taste test or two though.

Melrose Community
Next up we toured the Melrose end of the island. This is where the famous Melrose Resort and golf community was located. The area now resembles a ghost town that the movie industry is missing out on making it's go-to for apocalypse films.

It's a gorgeous area with tons of potential and I hope someone comes in and revitalizes the property. There are a few developers renovating the beach homes, and they are super cute with beautiful beach front access. I would scoop one up in a nano-second.

(Scary abandoned hotel and golf course not pictured because I think we were so shocked. It had been gorgeous in its hey day.)

Daufuskie Island Rum Company
After our pass through of the Melrose area of the island we must have gotten a little thirsty again because we found ourselves on the doorstep of the Daufuskie Island Rum Company.

The Daufuskie Island Rum Company was founded in 2013 and is an active distillery of rum, vodka, and bourbon. Tours are given daily, including taste testing and craft cocktails to enjoy.

A few of us decided to take the guided tour, and were given the option to each try a different rum product that they produce as well as their signature vodka, Hair of the Dog. 

We each had our favorites but I think the top choices were the Vanilla, Kona, and Blueberry Vodka.

Taby Ruins
There are several tabby ruin structures throughout the island. We attempted to visit one of them. The one we chose we had to walk to by foot. We started out as a group of ten and by the end only three of us were willing to battle the mosquito army protecting the seemingly majestic ruin.

In the end, we could only find this small 3x4 foot wall remnant.

Not sure if it was user error in regards to map reading or this was it. But there are some larger structures on the island.

I wish we had planned for more time spent on the island. We missed several things and could probably spend a whole other day touring around the sites. We missed the Haig Point community, several of the historic sites, Bloody Point Beach, and Daufuskie Wine & Woodworks just to name a few major notables.

My husband and I fell in love with the island and its laid back feel. We loved the pristine untouched beaches, beautiful golf course, and the quaint restaurants. We would love to visit and stay for a long weekend with our little crew. The rest of my family, however, felt like the "mainland" was more their style.

And then we saw tons of dolphins five feet from us on the beach and maybe it swayed them a little.

TIPS & TRICKS FOR VISITING
Here's a few tips and tricks to help navigate your trip to Daufuskie.

• Bring bug spray. Lots of it. 
• Book your transportation ahead of time. It saves a lot of time to be able to pay and fill out the release forms ahead of time. 
• Grab a free map at the church right off the arrival dock. It has both great directions (something that is a necessity considering street names are few and far between), as well as a quick over view with pictures of each tour stop.

• You can stay on the island. There are tons of rentals available. A full 24-48 hours would be a great way to see everything. 
• Pack lots of water. While there are restaurants and a general store on the island. Hours vary and they are few and far between. 

Have you visited Daufauskie Island? What are some of your favorite local spots? 

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Hilton Head Island, SC 2018

Each year we vacation with my family for a week on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. We've been coming here since I was a little girl, and now it's so fun to share those same experiences with my children.

Here are some of our past trips we've taken...

2015

2016

2017

This year we approached this trip much differently. We stayed in the same house. We frequented most of the same places. But, overall we were lazy. 

And I mean L.A.Z.Y. 

Like we crossed the threshold of our favorite rental home, threw on our swimsuits, hopped in the pool and didn't emerge for three days unless it was in search of food. Typically we try to pack as much in as possible, but when we don't even step foot on some of that low country sand until three whole days have passed you know we've all hit ultimate vacation laziness. 

So this time around we took it waaaaay easy, and our biggest adventure was finding a free spot on the beach where high tide wouldn't reach us. And in actuality that did happen one day, and even though everyone's chairs were in a eight inches of water, not one of them moved. 

Lazy. 

And I only say "them" because I am the mom on this trip. So until the toddler set decides they don't need supervised help in all things related to sand, and decide almost drowning isn't really a fun time, a beach chair is just a dream. Carrie Beth sent this saying to me a few weeks ago and I died laughing because it's true!

"No one is full of more false hope than a parent bringing a chair to the beach."

Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I am a beach girl and love playing in the sand, boogie boarding in the waves, and searching for seashells right along with the kids.

Otherwise, I was right there enjoying in my laziness with the rest of our crew.

We did venture and try one or two new (to us) spots, but otherwise we kept this trip pretty low key. I feel like we blinked and then the week was over. We all needed the recharge and it's always fun to catch up with family and make new memories.

I'll give a quick little recap of each of our days - so be prepared for the pic overload! I've linked up what I thought would be helpful and what we wore, but feel free to comment or email like always with any questions!

HILTON HEAD ISLAND 2018

DAY 1
Road trip!

We arrived into Sea Pines before our rental was ready so we headed straight to the Salty Dog for a little pre-happy hour happy hour.

| Girls Striped Jumpsuit |

Once we were finally able to check in, we ordered a pizza dinner and settled ourselves poolside for the rest of the day.

| Papasan Floats | 

| Flamingo Float | 

We ended the day with our favorite view and slipped right into full vacay mode.

DAY 2
Father's Day was a repeat of the day before. The dads woke up and Mr. Cute spent the day doing this...

and this...

At some point in the late afternoon someone mentioned we should at least put some clothes on make an effort for dinner. We are within walking distance from Harbour Town so we made our way to the Crazy Crab.

I dined on my favorite meal of all time - Riesling and hush puppies.

Don't judge. It's excellent.

I think we threw the dads some ice cream, watched the sunset, and called it a night.

DAY 3 
The boys left bright and early for an offshore fishing trip for the day so that just left the girls. And you guessed it...

We went out back to the pool.

The boys had a great time though. They caught a ton of fish and Cute couldn't stop talking about how awesome it was.

Even though it was late in the day when they got back, I put my foot down and declared we had to go to the beach already. So we drove to the Beach Club and enjoyed the beach at what I think is the best part of the day.

| Ruffled One Shouldered Swimsuit |

We made it home just in time to catch this view...

I contemplated not ever going home.



DAY 4
Now that we've fully settled into our pool routine, the boys decided it needed a little upgrade in entertainment.

This occurred approximately 9,872 times before we left the pool and they didn't tire of it once. Cute thought it was hilarious to be "caught" in the raft.

We headed to Harbour Town for a burger lunch at Harbourside. We let the kids have a Shirley Temple for the first time and they didn't know what to think. I remember loving those growing up!

After we had refueled, we made our way to the Beach Club for the afternoon. Mr. Cute was a good sport at carrying everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) in the beach cart. After St. Augustine I have nothing but love for beach cart warriors everywhere. 

The kids spent the entire time trying to catch a fish in their nets. Their technique might have been a little off, but at least they had a blast.

| Swimsuits | Fishing Nets | 

The highlight of the afternoon for the kids was when we let them take the trolley back to the rental house. The driver let them sit up front with him, and they thought this was hilarious. 

And this scene never gets old...

DAY 5
I decided to change things up a bit and took the kids to the Harbour Town playground first thing in the morning. Oh my, was it HOT.

The kids had a blast, but we were all melting before long so we made our way back to the house to splash in our favorite spot. 

| Girls Swimsuit | 

After cooling off in the pool the rest of the day, we headed to South Beach for dinner. We thought got there early enough to eat at the Salty Dog Cafe, but it was already packed so we ate at the top of the Wreck of the Salty Dog. To be honest it's such a great view, and atmosphere I actually prefer it. Same food. Different gorgeous view. 

Afterwards we did our usual routine when in South Beach - grabbed some new tees from the shop, let the kids get their face painted and checked out some of our favorite stores.

Once we made our way back home we realized we had a new guest enjoying our view...

To give you a size reference - this yacht was the size of a small cruise ship. The building in the background is a large hotel. Ahh...to dream in color. 

DAY 6

Mr. Cute woke up bright and early to play golf. The temps were super hot, but I took advantage of the kids being entertained in the pool with my parents and went shopping with my sisters. 

The rental we stay in has a view of the infamous Habour Town Golf Links 18th hole. So when Mr. Cute approached he had a cheering audience.

After golf we made our way back to the beach. This was the day we arrived just before high tide and our tent ended up being with in the tidal line. The cool water felt so good not a single person moved their chairs.

The kids made a great attempt to build a wall to save the tent. 

| Orange Ruffle One Piece - Seriously cutest suit on! |

Then we went straight from the beach to dinner in Harbour Town. My sister went ahead to save a table, but before we left she and I had done our hair. I was laughing and sent her this pic saying, "Did it last??". Because two seconds in the wind and humidity it was a hot mess.

| One Shoulder Dress - Here or Here | 

We ate at one of our long time favorite restaurants - The Quarterdeck.

While we were eating Cute lost at tooth! He was so excited the tooth fairy was going to visit him at the beach!

We wound the day down the best way we know how - with ice cream and a view. Side note: the Nutty Coconut ice cream from Cinnamon Bear is out of this world!

DAY 7

We made the most of our last full day and headed straight for the beach after breakfast. It was a gorgeously hot day. 

For dinner we tried a new restaurant at Fraser's Tavern in the Plantation Golf Club. It was a "cooler" evening so when they sat us outside on the deck we thought that would be excellent.

| Blue Halter Top | Pink Tassel Earrings | Pink Sandals | Shark Shirt | Watermelon Pom Pom Dress |

The food was yummy, but holy cow it was hot and humid out there. Great view, but oh so not worth melting for. Fast forward to September and October and I'm totally in!

The kids love the alligator fountain in the front. I was taking bets on who would jump in first.

We burned off the last of our energy doing cartwheels and playing tag on the golf course in front of our rental with an epic sunset in the background. Such a great last night!

DAY 8

We left around mid-day towards home, but made a stop first at Skull Creek for some lunch. My family has eaten here a ton, but I've never been. It was so good and I loved the atmosphere! 

We had a blast eating and watching the World Cup everyone. We will definitely be back on our next visit!

Cute is all of us when vacation is over. He pouted for a good thirty minutes and begged to get back to the beach. He is totally my child. 

We had such a blast on Hilton Head as always and am already looking forward to what next summer holds! 

Have you stayed on Hilton Head Island? What are some of your favorite spots? I've been going for a lot of years, but love discovering new things to see or do. Share with me! 

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