For the last six years, we have used our vacation to combine our love for disc golf with our love for food. We take a road trip to Florida playing courses along the way. The first year we ate primarily at restaurants featured on the TV show “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives”. It was a fun, albeit intense, vacation. We played two to three courses each day and had no reservations so that we weren’t locked into a specific schedule. Over the years we have tweaked the trip to make it more relaxing. We have also explored DDD types of places to eat in addition to the ones from the show.
This year’s adventure started the day before our vacation began. When I went to pick up our rental car the rental agent asked her coworker to get the keys. He commented that the car we were picking up still needed cleaning and then asked if I would mind taking a Cadillac instead. Of course, I was alright with that. As we walked through the parking lot he asked if I minded that it was an SUV. A triple upgrade was a fantastic way to start our vacation.
Our trip started in the very early hours of the morning before the sun even thought about coming out. Almost an hour into our trip we crossed the James River. As we drove over the bridge, the sky to the east lit up with a spectacular display of pinks and purples. Though disappointed that I was unable to pull over for a picture, the gorgeous sunrise over the river indicated that we were in for an amazing trip.
Our first stop was at a Waffle House for hash brown bowls. No, hash browns do not fit into my keto diet, but vacation is a time for indulgence. We love Waffle House for their ease of access and quick, tasty food while on a road trip.
As we made our way over the back roads leading to Myrtle Beach we noticed that there was a lot of traffic heading towards us. There were what seemed like miles of cars coming the other way. At one point a beautiful deer ran across the road right in front of us, not close enough that we were in danger of hitting her, but still close enough that we could enjoy her beauty. Once we reached the southern part of North Carolina we noticed the fresh, new leaves popping out on the tree branches. I love the soft green color of the new leaves and the sign that we were getting to warmer weather made me smile.
We arrived in Myrtle Beach at lunchtime so we made our way to River City Cafe for a tasty lunch. There were cheerleaders everywhere. I found this amusing as the last time we were in Myrtle Beach there had been a cheer competition as well. After lunch, we played putt-putt at Mount Atlanticus Minotaur Golf. It was a fun course, with a beautiful view and our friendly competition kept us entertained.
After our game, we worked our way to Charleston. It was an uneventful trip. I did enjoy the beautiful spring flowers that were blooming everywhere. I laughed when I saw the old-school VW bus stretch limo in a parking lot. One of our favorite spots on vacation is the very small town on Isle of Palms just outside of Charleston. It has been one of our favorite stops on our vacation for the last few years. It is a lovely, out-of-the-way beachfront community but is still close to the activities of Charleston. We love to stay at the Seaside Inn, a quaint oceanfront hotel. This year we ended up in a room with an ocean view, which was nice.
After a lovely dinner at Acme Lowcountry Kitchen, we went for a walk on the beach. The tide was so far away that the beach had tripled its normal size. We could actually walk all the way out to the end of the pier before we reached the water. As we walked we could see jellyfish that had washed up. They were the strangest looking jellyfish that I have seen with thick, firm bodies and short stubby “tentacles”. We saw ten of them as we walked. We came upon a bounty of small seashells that had been left by the tide and enjoyed picking out the most exotic ones. As we looked up, we saw a giant ring around the moon. We really enjoyed the quiet time together, making up lavish scenarios as to what was causing the extremely distant tide and the strange ring in the sky. We were almost disappointed to find out later that the super low tide is a regular occurrence.
We started our second day in Isle of Palms with breakfast at Sea Biscuit Cafe before heading to Trophy Lakes for a round of disc golf. We first discovered this course on YouTube. Chris likes to watch disc golf tournaments. Before we started our road trips, one of the tournaments that he watched was at Trophy Lakes. We went to Charleston on our first trip specifically to play the course. We liked it so much that it has become one of the courses we play every year. It is a beautiful course that winds its way through a property adorned by two lakes. Several holes have water hazards, with a few tee positions throwing across the water. There are three tee positions for most of the holes. Trophy Lakes also offers water sports. It is a regular occurrence to see people wakeboarding on the lake as we play. We enjoyed watching the turtles basking in the sun on one of the ramps. One of the unusual fun features on the course is the hole with two baskets. There is one basket suspended in the air from a tree and the other buried half-way under the ground. At one point as we worked our way around the lake we noticed a large commotion in the water. I thought it was an odd place for that big of a fish and then realized that there were divers in the water.
Looking forward to playing a new course in the afternoon, we went to Page’s Okra Grill for a delicious lunch. I looked up the new course while we were at lunch to find out that it had closed the week before. Somewhat disappointed with this information, we decided to play another nearby course that we enjoy, Sewee Outpost. This is a smaller course that plays fairly quickly, but still with some challenging holes. It is a private course, owned by the employees of Sewee Outpost, a store that sells a variety of goods mostly geared toward outdoor living. If you buy something from the store there is no charge to play the course.
A few years ago we met the owner of Papa Zuzu’s on the course. Always on the hunt for a great gyro, we changed our dinner plans to include his restaurant. We were not disappointed. I am not sure why, but this year we decided to check out Tazikis, another gyro place nearby. We will not make that mistake again.
After dinner, we went for another walk on the beach. The tide was not nearly as ethereal an experience now that we knew it was normal, but we enjoyed the peace of walking the beach. Again there were bands of the tiniest, perfect seashells. At one point I looked down and found my first sand dollars. Granted they were in pieces, but not having seen them on the beach before, I was ecstatic to find them.
We enjoyed our dinner Acme Lowcountry Kitchen so much that we decided to return there for breakfast on our last morning in Isle of Palms. While there we talked to the server about a dill pickle vodka that they offer in some of their cocktails. It is a local vodka available at the liquor store. Our next stop was the liquor store. Not only did we get a bottle of the vodka, but we also found a bottle of amazing mezcal to take home with us.
We said goodbye to Charleston and headed for Florida. As we drove through Georgia we came across an amazing number of speed traps. It seemed as if they were everywhere. As we arrived in Jacksonville it looked like we might be in for a storm soon. We had lunch at 13 Gypsies. After a wonderful lunch, we went to New World Disc Golf. They have five different courses to play. After talking with the guys in the Pro Shop, we picked our course and headed out. At first, we thought the course was just going to skirt the golf course, but it turned into the woods and came out the other side to a large area of sandy hills. Halfway through the course is a clubhouse with bathrooms. The course was fun and challenging with some mando restrictions on how high you can throw. The weather cooperated, and though it looked like impending doom, the storm passed over us.
After our game, we continued our journey to St. Augustine. Last year I had some time to explore the historic area. This year we stayed in that area. From our patio, we had a view of the Lion’s Bridge. As we walked to dinner at A1A Ale Works, we noticed that the road was flooded. It almost looked like there may have been a water main break. When we finished dinner, however, the water was gone. We wandered through the mostly empty streets of the historic district taking in the beautiful architecture. I had received word earlier in the day that my Uncle Timmy had passed away peacefully in his sleep. We stopped at the Prohibition Kitchen for a shot of Slane, a lovely Irish whiskey, in his honor before returning to the hotel for the night.
I love that you add disc golf to your vacations. My sister and her husband plan their vacations around the disc golf courses, as well. Packing in as many courses as they can. 🙂
We started doing so in 2013. We used to pack in a lot more courses, but then would come home exhausted, so we have eased it back to just 1 or 2 a day. We have it narrowed down to our very favorite courses, but always try to hit some new courses as well.