A Low Country Labor Day Weekend

A few weeks ago I headed to South Carolina to hang out with Ryan and Lauren and take advantage of the family discount at the resort where they both work. It was a fun long weekend.

I flew down Saturday afternoon and Lauren picked me up from the airport. We drove straight into Savannah, where we walked around with a beer by the river and checked out some craft booths, then ate a good noodle dinner before heading home to Bluffton, SC.

The next day I checked into the resort. They upgraded me to a cottage (instead of a hotel room), which was awesome. I had my own screened in porch, and all the cottages have bikes outside to ride around the property. 

My cottage and bike!

Me on the bike!

View of the river from my screened-in porch.

Overlooking part of the lagoon at the resort. That dark speck in the water was an alligator!

 Since Ryan wasn't working that day we got to hang out. We ate lunch at one of the resort's restaurants, then went kayaking on the river. We saw dolphins!

Paddling.

Afterwards we got cleaned up and joined Lauren (after she got off work) for a holiday oyster roast at the resort. They had steamed oysters plus tons of other food.

Oysters steaming over a fire with a five-story tree house in the background.

Yum.

Say cheese!

The roast was next to the river, so while eating and drinking we also got to take in really pretty views.

Sunset moon over the river.

When I actually ate my cotton candy a stranger lady took a picture of me. Awkward.

Monday I slept in and enjoyed my cottage, then biked over to lunch and explored some more of the resort. I went kayaking again, only this time on the lagoon side so I could see alligators. Sure enough, I saw two: one on the bank of the lagoon, and another in the water not too far from me. I stopped paddling for a while just to hang out with him. There were also a ton of neat birds to see. Afterwards I biked over to the pool and read.

Ruins of the mansion that once stood on what is now the "village green."

One of the three pools.

That night after Ryan was off work he and I went into downtown Bluffton to walk around and eat dinner. When he dropped me back off at the resort I stopped by the s'mores cart and roasted a marshmallow before hopping back on my bike and heading to my cottage for the night.

Tuesday I went for a run, then got in a little more pool time before meeting up with Ryan and Lauren for lunch in Bluffton. After lunch I hung out with Ryan a bit and said goodbye to his dog Tess at their house before going back to the resort to pack up and check out.

Tess!

One of the "canine ambassadors" in the lobby of the resort when I checked out.

On the way to the airport Ryan and I drove through the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge and looked for alligators. We saw two. We got out to look at one, but when Ryan made "mating noises" at it and he clearly turned toward us, we booked it back to the car.

Hard to see, but the dark spot in the middle of the murk was an alligator.

It was a quick trip but good to see Ryan and Lauren, and fun to hang out at the resort!

(P.S. They ended up evacuating out of South Carolina the next weekend due to Irma, so I saw them again in Virginia. Two weekends in a row with them is unheard of!)