We spent last week at Hilton Head Island to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. Our anniversary is actually in March, but we were already at the Isle of Palms with extended family, so we went to a nice dinner in Charleston and decided to plan a trip for the fall since this is a big milestone.  We were looking at a few different destinations, but when Jeff shared that we would be going on a trip soon to celebrate a quarter of a century together, a family from our church reached out and offered a week at a condo on Hilton Head Island.  They purchased it at a fund-raising auction but recently realized they had a conflict and couldn’t go.  They hoped to gift it to someone so the week wasn’t wasted and they offered it to us.  Of course, I was all on board.  The beach in late fall or early spring is my favorite.  The weather is still warm, but you’re not roasting.  The sun is a little less intense.  The beach, roads, and restaurants aren’t as crowded either.  And, of course, that meant I could do some shelling.  Jeff was mostly interested in finding good places to eat and the Hilton Head area offered plenty of restaurants with accolades and solid reviews.  So, we treated ourselves to a luxury rental car and drove down to South Carolina for a few days.

We left after church on Sunday, so it was going to be a long day and a late night, but we listened to podcasts and the Commanders’ game (which was so exciting, by the way), and were settled into the condo before midnight.  Since the biggest to-do on Jeff’s list was to eat out, we decided we would eat just breakfast and dinner, which was ample.  We ate breakfast on the first day at The French Bakery, a restaurant & bakery recommended by one of my blog readers.  It was right up my alley and we loved it so much we ate there three of the four mornings we were there.  The menu is big, the food is delicious, and they even served greens with some dishes which is right up my alley!

This is the quiche Astori and it was heavenly.

Since they had such an amazing pastry selection, we both selected a pastry to eat later in the day.  This cherry/cream cheese pastry was so good!  Even if you don’t eat breakfast or lunch there, it’s a nice place to stop in and get a sweet or savory pastry for a picnic.

There is a pretty park and walking path along the inlet right next to the restaurant, too, so we walked off a few bites of breakfast before heading back to the condo to get ready for the beach.

The condo we were staying in was a part of the Westin resort, so we could use their amenities and beach access.  They have a shuttle to take guests to and from the hotel, but it was only about a five-minute walk, so we just walked over.

We walked on the beach by the resort for a bit, but the shelling didn’t look very promising (there weren’t even little bits of shells), so we decided to try a beach that had better reviews for shelling.  The beach in front of the Westin, though, was a nice walking beach and, with chairs and umbrellas available for rent, a nice place to sit and watch the waves.

There were people on the beach, but it was a pretty light crowd.  The temperatures were in the high 60s to low 80s so it was plenty warm to be on the beach.  The water was on the colder side, but I still waded and it was tolerable.  I didn’t see many swimmers, though!

When I researched shelling on Hilton Head Island, I wasn’t very encouraged by what I found.  Several avid shellers said it was a waste of time and not even worth visiting if that’s the goal.  Hilton Head is protected by a string of sand bars (you could see them in the distance.) Sandbars offshore can play a significant role in the size and number of shells that wash up.  But, I did find a few hopeful suggestions.  Fish Haul Park on the north side of the island was the top suggestion.

It’s a well-maintained beach with ample free parking, bathrooms, a shower/foot-wash station, and a few other thoughtful additions like baskets to clean up trash and a bin of beach toys for borrowing.

We went when the tide was at its lowest, so there were exposed mudflats, tide pools, oyster beds, and patches of wetland grasses.

It’s not the best beach for walking at low tide because you’ll sink in some of the mud-like quicksand, there were patches and globs of sticky dark sand, horseshoe crabs, and thousands of abandoned clear tubes made by Spiochaetopterus costarum, a kind of worm.  It’s just kind of gross when you’re a barefoot beach-walker.  If I went back to that beach at low tide, I would wear some wellies.

The area was lovely, though, and filled with wildlife.  A pod of pelicans collected on an exposed spit of sand.  Sandpipers scurried and pecked at buried treasures.  Cranes and other long-legged water birds were in the shallows and grasses.  Small sand crabs darted into little holes when you got too close.  There were several photographers capturing the action weighed down by large telephoto lenses and bags of extra gear.  It’s a more natural, quieter beach experience.

I checked in the tidepools first, which is always a good place to look for deposited shells.  I did find a few whelks, but they were all occupied with hermit crabs.  As a shelling note, shells that are a bit more rugged-looking, like the one below, tend to be occupied with either a live whelk or hermit crab.  Once a shell is “dead”, it will usually be scrubbed clean by the friction of sand and waves.  You can always pick them up and check, though. Of course, don’t ever take a live shell.  Not only is it illegal, but it’s not very nice, and that animal, which will eventually die, will stink up your car or house.  Just leave it on the beach.

Low tide is generally the best time for shelling (or two hours before as the tide is receding), but I found most of the shells worth collecting at this beach along the high tide line.  These was a deposit of dead grasses, driftwood, and shells that had some fun things if you were willing to look carefully.

I didn’t find anything spectacular, but I did find some oyster shells I liked, a few olive shells, lady’s ears, and moon snails.  I also found a couple of pieces of fossilized bone, but I wasn’t able to identify them from my new beach-combing fossil book.  It looked most like a raccoon ankle bone (based on the book photos), but I’m not willing to bet any amount of money on that.

I am going to share a separate post with specific shelling tips from the beaches we visited, so that’s coming soon!  I did end up finding some great shells during our stay.

We ate dinner at Ombra Cucina, a fine-dining Italian restaurant.  I didn’t take a picture of my dinner, but I ordered a handmade orecchiette dish with sausage and broccoli rabe.  Since I’m not a big meat-eater, I asked if they would go heavy on the veggies and very light on the sausage, which they did and it was perfect.  I wasn’t going to try a dessert, but I was too intrigued by the strawberry, pistachio, and chocolate gelato truffle.  I am so glad I got it because it’s one of the most delightfully surprising things I ate the entire trip.

More on the Hilton Head trip coming up.  If you like my travel posts, you can find more HERE.