We quickly decided that a long weekend wasn’t enough for us, so we decided to lengthen our 2018 trip. Since Charleston, SC was our most southern stop last year, we trailered down and started our journey there. Charleston is about a 5 hour drive from us so we decided to keep the first day’s journey a little shorter. This worked out great because our first stop turned out to be a cute little town!

First stop: Beaufort, SC
Trip mileage- 76 miles
Hotel- Beaufort Inn
Marina- Downtown Marina of Beaufort
What we liked about this stop- This was by far one of our favorite bed & breakfast experience we’ve had!! They had a couple of different houses and we opted for the “historical” one. The decor was amazing! We went to a restaurant called Old Bull Tavern and had great drinks and appetizers. If the dinner was anything like the appetizers we enjoyed, I’m sure it’s amazing! Don’t let the outside fool you. It’s a great place with a very European feeling. We wanted to try a few different places so we stopped at Plums for dinner. This was a very casual spot and we really enjoyed learning about the area from the bartender.

Second stop: Savannah, GA
Trip mileage- 54 miles
Hotel- East Bay Inn
Marina- Thunderbolt Marine
What we liked about this stop- This was a pretty short, easy journey because we wanted to make sure we got to see Savannah. Neither of us had been here before and we loved it! The East Bay Inn was another great hotel. We were impressed with the location and decor.

Third stop: Brunswick, GA
Trip mileage- 117 miles
Hotel- Brunswick Manor
Marina- Brunswick Landing Marina
What we liked about this stop- Not to toot my own horn, but I did pretty well on the hotels for the trip down. This one also didn’t disappoint. This was another neat bed & breakfast in a beautiful home! Brunswick wasn’t much to write home about, but more of a place to lay our heads for the night. A word of advice, there is NOTHING between Savannah and Brunswick (no marinas, restaurants, etc), so plan accordingly.

Fourth stop: St. Augustine, FL
Trip mileage- 109 miles
Hotel- Stayed with family
Marina-Camachee Island Marina
What we liked about this stop- We loved the trip to this stop, and the stop itself. Heading down from Brunswick, we encountered a submarine!! This was so unreal! We first saw armed military boats and didn’t know what was going on. All of the sudden we saw the sub and were in complete shock! It was really cool! Halfway through this trip, we decided to stop off for lunch at Palm Valley Outdoors Bar & Grill. It was right on the ICW and included a tackle shop. There we met Roo, the rooster. He was very friendly and his name made us feel better about our super original names for our animals (Billy the goat, Donald the duck, etc haha). Once in St. Augustine, we were able to spend some time with our family. We stayed two nights to recharge and have quality time with everyone. We happened to be there for the first weekend Red Snapper season has been open in Florida since 2016. My cousins took Rusty out fishing for Red Snapper and they met the limit! We also enjoyed lots of good food, including our favorite restaurant there, Cap’s On the Water.

Fifth stop (return trip): Jekyll Island, GA
Trip mileage- 105 miles
Hotel- Days Inn
Marina-Jekyll Harbor Marina
What we liked about this stop- Jekyll Island was a beautiful island that was once a private hunting club for the wealthy in the 1800s. There is a ton of history there and we tried to ride around and see as much of the island as possible. As far as food goes, we had a fantastic Mexican dinner right on the beach at Tortuga Jack’s.

Sixth stop: Hilton Head, SC
Trip mileage- 148 miles
Hotel- Hampton Inn
Marina- Skull Creek Marina
What we liked about this stop- Unfortunately, due to the short time we were there, we didn’t get to see much in Hilton Head. It’s harder when you’re in a place where things are more spread out, not to mention, we were both exhausted.

The trip back to Charleston from Hilton Head was 101 miles. As you can see, this trip was much longer than our previous trips. Yes, the last few stops may not seem that exciting but we both were sad to see our trip end. In fact, we both agreed that we could keep going!

Well, the long wait is over and we’re about to head on our next trip, which is 11 days!!! We can’t wait to journey to Key West this weekend! Be sure to follow along on Facebook (Dalen Woolard and/or Rusty Woolard) or on Instagram (dalenwoolard).