Liz and Ben Do Hilton Head South Carolina 2020

Saturday 14th Harbour Town in the sun! We packed everything up and left the condo at 10.00 am.  We did not need to be at the airport until early evening so we had a trip to Harbour Town followed by a shrimp lunch in the 'Salty Dog' which is always a treat.  The trip to Atlanta was uneventful in good weather.  We had a comfortable flight back in our business class beds which is a very civilized way to travel.  We landed on Sunday morning and were home by lunchtime. We are now 'self isolating' for 7 days (at least Liz is!) and watching the worrying national developments where the current advice is not to mix with anyone - they are discussing mandating self isolation for the over 70s for the conceivable future.

Friday the13th March The day dawned with blue skies and a gentle breeze and a temperature forecast of low 80sF (shorts again!)  We played our last round at Port Royal Robbers Row course with Barb and Reid who were also heading home to Canada on Saturday due the dreaded 'C virus'.  We stuck to the same format but despite a valiant effort by the boys the girls sneaked it again!  Liz got 37 points which was 1under her handicap and Barb must have played at least 5 shots better than hers so we were really up against it.  In the evening we met up for a meal in a local Mexican restaurant which rounded the day off nicely. We did not see any today! The post match pic - note the girls taking it seriously in their team tops!

Wednesday & Thursday Expert fishing competitor Liz with Barb & Reid at Bear Creek Golf Club We had a day off from golf on Wednesday.  The weather was excellent - Ben went fishing (no one was catching) and Liz went for a long walk on the beach and was very impressed by some of the 'mansions' overlooking the Ocean.  Later we both went to Mathews Beach near the airport where Ben had another go at fishing - this time from the beach; again no luck - even the expert competitor went home hungry! Liz 'vegging' Today we played golf at Bear Creek with Barb and Reid - again a lovely day with blue skies, gentle breeze and temperature in the mid 70Fs.  The boys had a better day today and sneaked a win - Liz says that they thought she and Barb ought to let us have a win otherwise we would be grumpy - ha ha not! We ate in this evening followed by a 'veg' watching rubbish TV.

Even warmer as I have been able to wear shorts and no sweater. Yesterday we played with Reid and Barb at Oyster Reef. There seems to be a pattern now that the men like to play against the ladies but unfortunately for the men the ladies are still winning. Today we had a later tee time so Ben and I went to Sea Pines in the morning and walked around the south beach area and Harbour Town. We had a shrimp lunch in Harbour Town prior to our golf round on the Barony course at Port Royal. This was a new course for us but similar to the other courses we have played. It was another 'pretty' (very American description) course with mixed holes of dog legs and straight holes. Once again I have to admit that I beat Ben, he has been disappointed with his play around the greens today (hitting the ball 220+ off the tee and good shots up to the green - then ……). A new wood frame house under construction The iconic light house in Harbour Town - the 18th Green on the PGA course is the ...

smaller alligators here... The temperatures are beginning to rise with today forecast to reach 64 degrees. We have been for a walk along the beach this morning but there is still a cool breeze coming from the north east on the exposed area of the long white sands. Yesterday afternoon surprisingly the men decided to take on the women for our round of golf at the Robber's Row course. Even more surprising was that Barb and I beat Ben and Reid, despite Ben's 2 birdies. The course was looking slightly greener yesterday but it is still difficult to get used to the different type of grass here compared to what we are used to in the UK. The victors!!!!! This afternoon we are going back to the Oyster Reef course and who knows what format the men will think up today?

Liz saying hello to the local bear before we started! This was a big alligator... Saturday was another sunny day with a cool wind but 'hotspots' as soon as you were out of the breeze.  We played golf with our Canadian buddies at Bear Creek - a pretty course with lots of water which Ben unnervingly found!  On the other hand Liz played very well and easily won - back to a 4-4 score!  We saw the biggest alligator we have ever seen today - certainly not like Florida golf where they remove them when they get above a certain size. There was a meal and drink included in the golf package so we both had salads.  We then did a mini shop for a snack in the evening. This morning (Sunday) Ben went fishing but it was not very fruitful with the tide flooding out.  We are playing golf this afternoon at Robbers Row.

Yesterday dawned without a cloud in the sky but windy.  We played golf at the Golden Bear - buddied up with Betsy and Lynn - 2 elderly ladies (company!!).  Neither of us played particularly well and Ben just prevailed - helped by a birdie when his second shot stopped 6 inches from the hole!!  We saw a few alligators on the course - Ben tried to sneak up on one for a closer pic but it scooted into the water as he approached! Take your pick Nearly got a close-up!! We ate in again - we have come to the conclusion that the UK is much better for getting 'ready meals' than over here, where the choice has not been great.

Thursday, 5th March Chucking it down Yesterday was wet, very wet and then very very wet with thunderstorms. We ventured out in the rain during the afternoon to Belks department store where there were loads of women's clothes, nothing which tickled my fancy though (Ben went and sat in the car while I browsed!). We called into Harry Teeters, a great grocery store, to top up with food necessities. We have preferred to mostly eat in the condo finding it easy to cook steaks, sausages etc and eat with salad. The salad bars in the supermarkets are very much more interesting than any we have seen in England. It is another rainy day today so no golf.  The forecast is much better for our remaining time - we shall see!

Monday & Tuesday Report Ben went fishing for an hour on Monday morning but returned empty handed.  He had been chatting to a fellow fisherman who advised that the main fishing season was May/June so Ben is not expecting much success with rod and line! The weather has been much warmer with temperatures in the afternoon approaching 70F.  We have played golf for the last 2 days with Reid and Barb at the Port Royal Golf Club on the Robbers Row course - an apt name as Liz has had 2 storming rounds and honours between us are now even at 3-3. This evening we went out to a fish restaurant and had a shrimp based meal.  Whilst the shrimps were very good it was a messy affair as you had to peel them to eat them! The next couple of days are forecast to be rainy so we have not yet decided what to do - you will of course be the first to know! The course is located on an old battleground (I think v the English)

It has been a much nicer day today with lots of sunshine - the wind is much less which has made it feel warmer albeit the background temperature is only 60F; it is forecast to get warmer in the next few days - up to 80F but there is an accompanying risk of thunderstorms. If you go down to the woods today..... We played golf at Oyster Reef today which is a good course.  There were some lovely houses tucked in the pines - some with quirky garden features! We were buddied with a Canadian couple from Toronto - Reed and Barbara; they were good company and they have asked us to play with them tomorrow at Port Royal Course.  Ben took the honours today - mainly because Liz's 'red hot' putter cooled off!  My highlight was a birdie on the signature par 3 hole (pictured). After a drink in the Clubhouse we stopped at the Fresh Market to buy pizza for supper. Liz on the signature par 3 with the Ocean in the background