INSIDE HILTON HEAD ISLAND

Planning the perfect vacation to Hilton Head Island is easy for insiders. And it can be easy for you, too. Why? It’s the kind of island where locals, and even Mother Nature herself, welcome visitors with open palms.

Whether it’s finding the best place for a bike ride or a beach stroll, world-class golf, a tasty meal, or one-of-a-kind shopping, the Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center, located on the island just after crossing the bridge, will help you start exploring. Get insider tips from the helpful local staff, who’ll likely send you about a mile down William Hilton Parkway to the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn. The island’s last working farm plantation has become a center for environmental and cultural tours and hands-on experiences, with a special emphasis on the island’s native Gullah heritage.

Originally published in USAirways  Magazine

The staff also can help you find accommodations ranging from villa and home rentals to oceanfront resorts and luxe options, such as the recently redone Inn at Harbour Town, overlooking the famed Harbour Town Golf Links’ first tee box. It’s a bucket-list course for golfers because they can play on the same scenic links as the pros — while golf widows can enjoy Harbour Town’s shopping, dining, and sunsets, best viewed from one of the red rocking chairs along the scenic marina. Don’t miss the short climb up the iconic red-and-white Harbour Town Lighthouse, where you’ll find a priceless view of the surrounding Sea Islands.

In addition to Harbour Town’s vibrant restaurant scene, breakfast at Signe’s, the island’s longest continually owned restaurant, is a local favorite for its decadent deep-dish Blackberry French Toast. For lunch, it’s hard to top the plentiful waterfront restaurants serving up freshly caught shrimp and oysters. Be sure to order the longtime Southern staple — shrimp and grits.

While Hilton Head Island is a classic resort destination with a bevy of good eats and lively attractions, it’s also surprisingly natural. In fact, Mother Nature rules on this southern Sea Island. Locals fiercely protect its lush natural beauty, and you can take advantage of the many dolphin-watch tours, parasailing, paddleboarding, kayaking, boating, and other water-filled activities available at the island’s marina villages. Experience nature on land via horseback riding at Lawton Stables in Sea Pines Nature Preserve, or through exploring the peaceful Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge. Like much of the area, it’s surrounded by indigenous pluff mud and oyster beds.

Thanks to an array of environmentally friendly attractions and decades of eco-development, Hilton Head Island is a place where neon signs, streetlights, and tall buildings simply don’t exist. You can see sprawling live oaks by day, with no buildings to tower over the plethora of preserved trees. At night, you’ll enjoy the stars, free of light pollution interrupting the evening sky.

Once you discover the native Gullah culture at the Coastal Discovery Museum, you’ll want to experience it even more. So stop in Mitchelville to get a peek inside one of the South’s most interesting historic tales. Founded on Hilton Head Island during the Civil War, it was the site of the first self-governed community in the nation developed by freed slaves. Take the Gullah heritage tour to explore the fascinating culture and history told by the ancestors of Mitchelville’s founders who still live on the island. They’re extremely knowledgeable about the Gullah culture and can speak the distinct Gullah dialect of their ancestors. For plans about a new historic park, go to mitchelvillepreservationproject.com.

By this point of your tour, you’re speaking the island lingo. For in-depth info, go to the online concierge at hiltonheadisland.org, where you’ll find everything from favorite hot spots to where to spot bottlenose dolphins. Next thing you know, tourists will be asking you for advice!

To plan your stay, visit hiltonheadisland.org and coastaldiscovery.org.