Hilton Head Island, South Carolina | Eastern North Carolina Now

    When I visited Hilton Head, I stayed at one of the many timeshare resorts that share the recreational facilities within the sprawling campus of Shipyard Plantation, located on the Ocean side of the island. Shipyard Plantation is known for their long trails, where jogging, walking or bike riding is an invigorating exercise. As nice as that may seem, these trails are no substitute for an early morning run on the beach.

    On one morning's bike ride, before the warming sun got too high in the sky and hot on the ground, we found an inland lagoon full of an underwater herd of huge loggerheads that later we found out were substantial food stuffs for a number of very large gators. When one is as far south as Hilton Head Island, one may have the chance occurrence to happen upon alligators in the wild as we did that morn.

    The subject gator was about 10 feet long and as you can tell from picture quite well fed. How powerful was he? Let's just say it took just three good bites to finish off a loggerhead that had to have had a diameter of 16 inches - shell and all. When I got too close, the gator charged me, and I must say, the gator was fast. But that early morning as I jockeyed to get a few good pictures, I discovered ole Stan still has a quick first step.

    In the evenings, we would often explore many of the quaint shops and restaurants along the waterways on the west side of the Island, and almost without fail, each of the inlets would provide a safe deep harbor for boats of all lengths.

    In Hilton Head, the days were mostly sunny and the evenings were cooler and perfect for a stroll in the natural splendor of one of the least disturbed (in terms of nature) of any beach I have visited south of Ocracoke, North Carolina and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore to the north. Regardless, it has many splendid beaches, bike trails, a late Indian summer well into October, and if you love to return to the seashore, as most living creatures do, you have to visit Hilton Head Island. I will again and I shall report my findings in a story told in words and pictures. Until that moment in our lives: I pray that you have safe and happy travels.

    This article is provided courtesy by our sister site: Better Travelers Now.