i bless the rains down in africa

I drove down to Hilton Head Island, SC on Tuesday to visit my best friend Allison.  The drive is approximately 8 hours.  It was a long drive, but I managed to entertain myself with my music.  Before I left, I checked the weather, and there was supposed to be scattered thunderstorms the entire week.  And on the drive down, it was raining off and on.  When I arrived in Hilton Head around 3.30ish, it was 85 and clear skies.  I road around on Allison's bike while I waited for her to get home from work.  I looooove her beach cruiser.  When she got home, it was so crazy to see her in the flesh.  I felt like I hadn't seen her in so long!!  We decided to go to San Miguel's for happy hour and dinner.  For drinks we ordered Firefly with lemonade and water (my new favorite drink).  It tastes just like sweet tea, so you have to be careful on how much you drink!!  But it tastes delicious.  We had quesadillas and got to listen to live music.  Jordan Ross played famous acoustic covers and was very talented.  We ended up buying his album.  Happy hour turned into late night, and it was such an amazing first night on the island.

Allison and I at San Miguel's

Allison, Jordan Ross, and myself

Everyday I was there, the weather was GORGEOUS.  The next two days, we went to the beach that was for residents only which was nice because it was very empty.  I definitely got a lot of sun the whole time I was down there.  We would pack our lunches and snacks, take a radio, and basically spend our days at the beach.  Our first day on the beach, a sting ray got washed up on the sand, but some locals pushed the sting ray back into the ocean with their beach chair.  I had never seen a sting ray at the beach before (only in museums/aquariums) so it was pretty cool to witness.  I didn't go in the water the rest of that particular day...

Walking on the beach, feelin like a tourist : )

Later that night, we went to Wise Guys... I think this would have to be my favorite place on the island.  They only serve tapas (which I love), so me and Allison shared shrimp, calamari, and crab dip.  I couldn't get over how good the food was, and I absolutely LOVED the atmosphere.  I would have thought this place would have been in DC - it was pretty fancy.  Allison and I both had pineapple cosmos, Wise Guy's drink special that night -- 3 bucks!!  After dinner, we went to Big Bamboo for reggae night.  Although I'm not a huge fan of reggae music, it was fun to go out and go dancing.  It was interesting because Hilton Head Island is a huge vacation spot, so we did get to meet a few interesting people -- but they were only in town for the week.  Which could be a good thing... if you meet a bunch of creepers, they're only in town for the week.  I think living on the island (like anywhere else) definitely has its ups and downs.  

Allison and I at Wise Guys... Pineapple Cosmos, YUM

Allison and I made dinner two nights: spaghetti and tacos.  We also stayed in one night and watched a movie.  The movie was a bust, but me and Allison managed to make it funny :)  We also made a funfetti cake, which was hands down amazinggg.  Everyone loves funfetti cake.  Allison took me to visit her place of employment, Hilton Head Health.  It was very nice and I loved walking around her place of employment.  Allison is in a management position, so she had her own nice area.  I had heard Allison tell stories about some of her coworkers, so it was good to finally put faces with names.  She is good friends with a lot of her coworkers which I think is awesome.  I know how having fun coworkers makes your job 10 times better.   Later that night, Allison and I went to Piano Bar to meet up with a few of her girlfriends.  This pianist can play almost every song you can think of.  He played a good mix of songs; I even requested a few songs, and two of mine got played.  After the Piano Bar, we went to the Triangle which had a bunch of bars together.  So we went out dancing with Allison's friend/coworker Adam.  The Triangle was a very happenin place.  The night was hilarious and good times were had by all. 

Me and Allison at the triangle.

The next morning, we went to Coligny Beach which is the more popular beach for tourists.  We met her friend LD there, and all 3 of us went to Frosty Frog's for drinks to take on the beach.  All three of us got the "Hurricane" which consisted of raspberries and cranberries - it was just the thing we needed for a long, hot day at the beach.  Allison's friend LD was so funny, and I can see why Allison is friends with her.  :) 

Me and Allison drinking our hurricanes.

On our last night, we just layed low because I had to get up early the next day to drive home.  I love hanging with Allison because our conversations just flow, and we can finish each others sentences.  Our conversations went from work to friendships to religion to movies... really anything that just pops into our head, we could talk about for hours on end.  Both of us like to laugh a lot, so that definitely helps :)  Neither one of is very serious, so it's refreshing to be with someone who can laugh things off and not take life too seriously.

All in all I had an amazing time.  And I was in a need of a good vacation getaway.  The weather couldn't have been nicer... but even if it had rained, I was in good company.   I am so blessed to have Allison in my life.  Although I do wish she lived closer, I know she is only a phone call away.  I'm so proud of her how she just up and moved to a new state not knowing anyone for her job.  She is honest, funny, caring, dedicated, and someone I want to be like.   She is my friend that I can laugh with and cry with.  I love you Allison and miss you already!!