Our drive from Jacksonville to Bluffton and Hilton Head was completely uneventful and unremarkable other than the pea soup fog early in the morning
and a seemingly out-of-place lighthouse.
While there, we reconnected with Ron and Carol Corkum … our best friends during the four years we lived in Burlington, MA (1968 – 1972) … whom we’d not seen nor spoken to in some 43 years! We had a marvelous reunion. It was another one of the benefits of our RV lifestyle … being able to visit friends and family; whether annually or after decades.
We also spent two days with my cousin and his wife, Bob and MJ Newbert
as well as his brother and wife, Mark and Terre Newbert.
Tuesday afternoon the six of us took a boat from Palmetto Bluffs (Bob’s home)
to Harbor Town on Hilton Head Island.
We took a courtesy shuttle bus
across the island to Sea Pines Resort Beach Club for lunch
and wandered a section of the pristine beach,
watched pelicans diving after fish
and saw stranded jellyfish on plies of oyster shells.
Heading back to Palmetto Bluffs there were several sailing yachts,
gorgeous estates, like this one recently built by a former NLF player,
typical docks along the Intercostal Waterway constructed to serve their owners during high or low tides,
kayakers,
seemingly deserted islands,
and a group of dolphins which entertained us for at least a half hour …
including one pair apparently mating.
During our stay we also decided to spend our time in Florida next year in Sarasota and not return to Naples where we’ve spend the past four years. We will, however, greatly miss many friends we’ve met there.