Golf on Hilton Head Island

There are many who might say Golf is Hilton Head's middle name. They think of golf immediately when they think of Hilton Head. While others might think Beach. I think History, Civil War, Good Food, and more. For some good background on all Hilton Head has to offer, see these two post:
Meanwhile, back to golf. There are 26 golf courses on The Island with many more nearby. 20 of those 26 are championship courses. The Island, Hilton Head isn't all that large measuring 56 square miles, so 26 golf courses is Alot! That many courses gives you much to choice from. There are golf packages sometimes associated with a specific hotel or timeshare; there are packages which group certain courses together also.
These views are from the top of The Harbour Town Light House viewing The famous Harbour Town Golf Links Course where the prestigious Heritage Classic takes place.
The course is right next to the beach and the ocean, on land formerly a plantation. A plantation owned by The Lawton Family. A plantation that had owned slaves. Following the beautiful golf course along the tree line on the left, and you'll find a graveyard presumed to be mostly slaves, or freed slaves and their descendants. The Lawton Plantation then Stables has been moved to a new location within Sea Pines Plantation. The new and the old world with 2 vastly different uses.
It hasn't been a golf course all that long. I've read conflicting information about when the course was opened, one article said in 1969 and one in 1967.
The beautiful course offers views such as this sailing boat, and is open to the public. I'm not a golfer, though hubby is he's not played this course; but perhaps on another trip he will.

Enjoy the present, come and enjoy and play; but please remember and honor the past. They had a heavy burden and deserve our remembrance.

Harbour Town Hilton Head

Beautiful landscape, and The Lighthouse off in the distance. This is the view I had from the sidewalks edge from my accommodations at The Heritage Club. A short walk or ride on a bike through this path and you're smack dab in the middle of the shopping and dining area of Harbour Town.

One of the many restaurants. There are many, and most are opened both in and off season. Some have both inside and outside seating, many have great views. There's casual as well as more up scale dining options. Harbour Town Grill, C's, Harbour Town Bakery & Cafe, Quarterdeck to name a few. Want to combine dinner and entertainment, schedule a sunset dinner cruise on The Spirit of Harbour Town.

Enjoy the many sites as you walk, ride or sit and enjoy. Watch the boats, the fishermen, the golfers off in a distance. In season there are many activities such as The Junior Golfer's Program, Ghost Stories, and free concerts by Gregg Russell to enjoy in Harbour Town. This particular scene made me think of Captain John and his Salty Dog. (if you missed that post, click here).
Plenty of beautiful homes, condo's and ships to view. Lots of shopping options too.

Another famous photo opt, probably almost as notable as The Lighthouse is this statue, "Out to Lunch", by J. Seward Johnson installed in 1975. Amongst the beautiful scenery are rows of rocking chairs where you can just sit and enjoy the sites.

On trip is not enough. In fact, I've been to Harbour Town on 3 different vacations, and am looking forward to a return trip.

Harbour Town Lighthouse, Hilton Head Island

Due to the number of photo's in this post, I opted for small photo's, but do click to enlarge them. All pictures are always clickable so you can see them better. But, using smaller photo's helps bandwidth and blog loading issues.
A very famous lighthouse, that's really NOT a lighthouse. The red and white 90 foot lighthouse was built in 1970, never served as a lighthouse...not a beacon to welcome weary ships in from their dangerous journeys at sea. It was built at Braddocks Point after Lawton Stables (formerly Lawton Plantation) was moved; as development for the area was in full swing. Shops, lodging, boat docks and of course The famous golf course, Harbour Town Golf Links where the famous Heritage Golf Classic takes place. If you've ever viewed this on TV, you've seen this lighthouse. It's the most recognized and photographed item on Hilton Head Island.
In the inside of the Lighthouse is a museum with historic pictures and memorabilia, as well as 2 gift shops. A gift shop on the bottom where you purchase your tickets, and a larger gift shop at the top. One u-tube video claims there are 114 steps to the top. Pete Dye with the help of Jack Nicklaus (the one I recognize in the picture) helped design the course.

Tried to get a photo through the glass without the glare of the flash didn't quite work. But, light is limited inside the Lighthouse and time to take photo's with lots of folks on the steps coming and going is difficult. I count 45 stars on this flag. Our flag got it's 45th star when Utah was added in 1896. The 45 stars remained until 1908, 12 years later. 3 US Presidents served under that flag, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was the only one not from Ohio.
The views from the top include the shopping area, some forest area, and some lodging.It's quite windy on top, so flag is always blowing.Looking towards the golf course you can see the long boat dock area.This boat dock area is right off the front side of Lighthouse
To the right of above boat dock area is a parking lot and wonderful beach area. As you can kayaking is popular.
And at the very point, almost looking straight down from The lighthouse an outside eating area from one of the many eating establishments in Harbour Town.

Harbour Club at Harbour Town, Hilton Head

Harbour Club in Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island has a very nautical feel, as well as a very southern low country atmosphere. It's located only steps from restaurant and shops with fabulous water views, and still within the confines of the prestigious Sea Pines Plantation; just as Heritage Club is. If you're into boating more then beach activity this is an idea location. Tennis and golf activities are at hand as well.
Looking through the moss covered trees towards the resort you truly feel like you're in the low country. In fact, if you don't look carefully....you could miss it.
A comfortable large lobby area with plenty of common space gets plenty of use. Many social activities take place here for both Heritage Club and Harbour Club.
And what we look and feel more southern then a grand staircase leading to wide balcony's where you sit in rocking chairs and enjoy the serenity? Beyond the beautiful waterfall area is a large cheese game if you feel like making a challenge to another quest.
Sit in the shade and swing, or collect up at the nightly fires and review the days activities with friends, family, and other quests. This area is also used for common social activities between both Heritage Club and Harbour Club.
Relax in the hot tub and gaze out on sound, or take a dip in the pool to the left of this picture.

I would highly recommend this resort to those who prefer a quiet, more adult vacation spot.

*Check back for information on Monarch, Marriott's first time share*

*-*-Families are gearing up for the kids to be out of school, planning vacations, and summer activities, let Flat Stanley help you. He used to have a series here; but now he has his own blog that will be filled with ideas to make every activity a learning opportunity and promises to be fun. He's inviting you all, kids, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, teachers, and baby sitters to get in the act. Please visit Flat Stanley and Friends, click HERE*-*-

Harbour Town Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

A common site when one thinks about Hilton Head. This is the little lighthouse in Harbour Town, a symbol of the Island. Seen often when watching golf from the area. The lighthouse is 90 foot tall, is open as a museum to the public for $5.00. A small gift shop at the base and on top provide shopping opportunities. As you climb the stairs you're viewing the museum items. I'm told this is a good place to watch the sunset. It was about to close the first day we were here, and the 2nd day I tried to tour it; it was closed for maintenance and painting.
Harbour Town Golf Links right on the water's edge is a view you might be familiar with, as it's often shown during competitions on TV. Harbour Town is the toe area of the Island.
As you walk the boardwalk you can view the gorgeous ships, soak in the sun (this was one such day), shop in the quaint little village area; or eat at any of the many restaurants. Though we found many restaurants closed during our stay; as it wasn't "in season".
This, I'm sure is a favorite past-time during the season. The folks you see behind the red rockers are lining up for ice cream. Further down we saw some folks rocking taking in the sun, and a few looked to be taking a nap, while others...like the statue reading a book enjoying the view.

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, History Part I

In my first post about Hilton Head Island, the overview, I talked about the shape of the Island being like the shape of the foot. This drawing helps you see that. We stayed about where the A in Atlantic is, so it was a reasonable 3.5 ish miles for me to ride my bike to The Stoney-Baynard Ruins on the bike path. The dot on the far right indicates where the families were buried; but it's quite a bit further and along the highway so I did not travel there on bike.

A drawing of the ruins, explaining how the building was made with a method called Tabby. Tabby is made of sea shells that are washed, mixed with sand and fired to form lime. The walls were quite thick, which would have kept the plantation house cool. This is located on the south end of the island in what is now Sea Pines Plantation. The pathway is very much forested, and much of the ruins are hard to see until you're right on top of it. I was alone in the dark woods except for the sounds of birds chirping. A rather strong feeling of excitment and sadness came over me. Excitment because I was standing where history took place. I was standing where a lush plantation once grew, where sadly slaves worked, where Union and Confederate soliders had trod. It was a very moving experience for me.

This is what is left of many lives. This chimney, and foundation of what was probably the cellar.

You can walk around the ruins, and imagine what had been a grand house. Historians feel this is only the main portion of the main house.

This is a drawing of what they, the experts believe the house looked like with it's grand steps, cool walk way and entrance to the cellar where the slaves would have stored much of the fruits of their labors, 360 porches where the wealthy plantation owners could view their holdings. Indeed this was a grand house.

This drawing depicts what was believed to be slave quarters. Notice the 2 doors and 2 chimneys. This small dwelling would have housed 2 families. Two families living in damp, dark over crowded quarters.

Standing at the end of what had been the above slave quarters and looking towards the ruins of man house, you can see how close the buildings are. It is believed this building would have housed the house slaves. The tree stump on the left and what is left of a support log on the right in the center of the ruin was the half way wall, dividing this small building. This small structure measures only 336 square feet. Records indicate 129 slaves were on the plantation in 1850, and probably 20 of those were domestic or house slaves.

This close up of the ruin allows you to see the shells used in the tabby process.

This is must see when you visit Hilton Head. It gives meaning to those that lived and worked the land before us; those people who weren't here for the beach or golf vacation.

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, OVERVIEW

The first words I thought of to describe Hilton Head Island prior to planning a trip there were:

Expensive

Rich and famous

Golf

There is so much more to the island than what those words can describe. So much so I will make a post for each of the words I now think of to relate to Hilton Head Island such as:Golf,History,Environment,Food,Rich and famous, Beach***in no particular order of importance. It took some doing to get here. We ran into an unexpected snow storm in our travels and altered our accommodations on the way down as a result. Hubby's booked his golf around the weather and our site seeing also revolved around the weather. Thankfully I got lots of pictures to share with you BEFORE the camera broke. This is very upsetting to me. The camera is new, only a few months old. I'm hopeful it can be returned when we get back home.

The island is relatively new...new in terms of what we all think of that is. The vacation spot, the golfers paradise haven't been around all that long. Electricity only got to the island back in 1950 so you can see what I mean.

The short history is the area was initially inhabited by Native American tribes, then the Spanish arrived (back in the 1500's). The Spanish mistreated the natives and were ousted by them. Along came the English, Captain William Hilton in search of land to grow sugar cane and indigo. Plantations flourished.

The Island was over run with Union forces during The Civil War, Confederate prisoners, and escaped slaves. After the war, the island was all but abandoned. The crops were destroyed by the Boll Weevil and the people who remained were escaped slaves and their descendants. They fished and farmed in isolation; not being connected to the mainland. They developed their own language and culture based on their African heritage. It wasn't until 1940 the island was re-discovered by wealthy sportsmen, who saw the commercial potential of all the Pine Trees. In 1950 electricity hit the island and in 1956 the bridge connecting it to the mainland made transportation to and from the island more accessible; thus the period of tourism began in earnest. Charles Fraser's family owned a large portion of the island (specifically the area now called Sea Pines). He was a lover of nature and forward thinking with development. Though the island is commercialized, and highly developed; it is done so with protectionism for the land in mind. Buildings, signs, lights etc. all must meet a strict environmental standard. Large areas of land are put aside as a preserve for the birds, alligators and turtles. Even lights from the hotels are regulated during important nesting times.

The island is 12 miles long and 5 miles wide, with lots of bike trails, beaches, golf courses, and nature preserves. Charles Fraser is buried under an Oak Tree on the island he so loved. Much is still being learned about the Gullah culture (the culture of the slaves and their descendants), which no doubt will add to what we know about Hilton Head Island.

The photo's show our less than pleasant drive here, and the cloudy beach when we first arrived.