It started with an email in April 2017. Carolyn, the creative force behind Prone to Wander Retreats invited me to teach at one of her retreats in Italy.  Our potential move was just starting to take shape and it seemed unwise to commit to an international trip.  I was interested but kept pushing the possibility down the road.  As providence would have it, Carolyn and I were brought together by Jeanne Oliver for a Mastermind Group in the fall of 2021.  We have been meeting together monthly since then and I’ve gotten to know her as a friend and fellow creative business owner.  When she invited me to teach at her flagship retreat, La Dolce Vita in Tuscany, in the fall of 2025, the timing was finally right. Carolyn invited me and now I am inviting you! The La Dolce Vita Creative Lifestyle Retreat is October 4 – 11, 2025,

When we decided to go to Hilton Head Island for our anniversary trip, the first thing I looked into was the shelling.  It is one of my favorite things to do while at the beach, so I wanted to find out where the shelling hotspots were.  In my initial research online, most forum posts didn’t recommend Hilton Head Island for beachcombers.  As I shared in other posts, the island is a part of a chain of sandbars and that prevents a lot of shells from reaching the beach.  There were some shelling/fossil-hunting tours, but I wasn’t sure we would want to make that big of a time commitment to an excursion.  So, I looked into beaches that were considered the best in the area even if shells weren’t as abundant as other South Carolina beaches.  This led me to Fish Haul Beach Park on Hilton Head Island and Hunting Island

For our third full day at Hilton Head, we decided to drive over to Savannah.  It seemed a shame to be so close and not visit.  We knew we would enjoy the architecture and just walking around, but we wanted to find something specific to do so we could wander with some intention.  After a bit of research, Jeff wanted to see John Wesley’s marker and statue (he’s a history buff and a pastor, so the Great Awakening hits a sweet spot with his interests) and I wanted to see the Telfair Museum which includes two art museums and a tour of an early 1800s house.  We also marked Forsyth Park in the historic district and the river walk as places to go. We found some paid public parking and decided to walk around first and finish the day with the museum and house tour. As I expected, I loved

If you missed part one of our Hilton Head trip, you can find it HERE.  On day two, we decided to check out Hunting Island State Park, the self-proclaimed “best shelling beach in Beaufort.”  It was a little over an hour from Hilton Head, so it seemed reasonable.  I was tempted to go to Edisto Beach, which is renowned for its quality shelling, but it was over two hours away, and spending over four hours in the car for a day trip for shells seemed a bit excessive.   So, we had the breakfast buffet at the Westin Resort and headed out to Hunting Island. A few points of interest – Hunting Island has a historic lighthouse that I was looking forward to seeing.  There are several beach access points with parking and a few have bathrooms and places to shower and rinse your feet.  There is also a drive through

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