Thursday & Friday 24th + 25th May

'Archie' the alligator followed Ben round the lake!

We played golf early Thursday morning at Oyster Reef hoping to go to the beach afterwards. We were joined by Jim who's roots are from Northern Ireland. He moved to America from Northern Ireland when he was 16 and was drafted (national service) into the marines doing 2 tours in Vietnam. His wife is a GP and still works part time in the hospital at Hilton Head, while Jim enjoys a life of retirement - he is one of only 50 members at Oyster Reef!  Ben played well but my game was not good so Ben won today. We played the last 9 holes with thunder in the background and by the time we arrived back at the apartment it was raining. Ben went to the beach and spent a short time fishing. He caught one fish but gave up as the waves and current made casting difficult.  We ate the remnants of the BBQ from last night.

A grey heron looking for lunch

Friday was a lovely day with light winds and temperature in the low 80s, our last full day at Hilton Head. We played our final round of golf at the Golden Bear course - our third visit to a quality course. This time we were joined by Rich and his son Doug who were playing their annual fixture.  Rich lived in Texas and Doug near Savannah, Georgia.  They were very good company - so much so that after waving a few 2-balls through and 'chewing the fat' on a number of subjects, it took us 5 hours + to play the round, which was very entertaining.

Rich, Doug, Liz and Ben after a fun round!

Rich has encouraged us to visit Fort Worth Texas next time we come to USA and will arrange a game at the Colonial!  Ben had a shaky start but after 3 holes started hitting the ball well, including his irons which he has struggled with during the holiday (and before).  Consequently Ben won again so it's a good job we are coming home before he can catch me up!!



We ate out this evening using the last of our vouchers at a restaurant called Nick's Steak and Seafood.  We shared a starter of shrimps in coconut with a spicy dip.  Both our mains (entrees over here) came with linguine which were very tasty.  We had a bottle of Ernie Els red wine which was very palatable! Nick's was essentially a sports bar with several TVs showing sport but pleasingly not very noisy.  The TV near us was showing a baseball match between the Cardinals and the Pirates - neither of us could fathom out the rules!

We will be leaving Hilton Head tomorrow morning and have a leisurely drive to Atlanta. Our flight leaves there in the evening and we should be back in UK by 11am on Sunday where son Phil will meet us and take us to his home in Tring where are car is. We hope to be back home by Sunday afternoon and back to cooler weather and the 'normal' life we lead at home, having had a wonderful holiday.

Looking forward to next year...…….