Hilton Head ... part 2 Good Eats

I think I'll dedicate this post to where we ate on the island.  When we were in, (on?) Hilton Head four years ago, we were really disappointed with the restaurants we encountered.  For this trip, we were prepared to eat in every meal.  The reality of that though honestly didn't thrill me.  I did not want to spend this vacation cooking.  Luckily, that didn't turn out to be necessary.

Are you a fan of Food Network's reality show The Next Food Network Star?  We enjoy it a lot.  There aren't a lot of shows on tv I feel comfortable letting J&J watch, this is a reasonably innocuous one we can all share.  Jacob and Julianna were excited to learn one of their favorite contestants, Orchid, owns a restaurant on Hilton Head, One Hot Mama's.  I had done a little research and was intrigued to learn she offers a Sunday brunch buffet complete with omelet station, Belgian waffles, eggs, fruit, potatoes, grits, BBQ, you name it, for $8.99!  Can you believe that???  Honestly, at that price I did not have high hopes.  In our town, a similar buffet will easily run you double or triple that and most places do not seem to do brunch buffets well.  I had learned however that the very last thing you want to do on Hilton Head Island is go to the grocery store Saturday evening.  Almost all rental properties switch hands on Saturday and to say the stores are insane is an atrocious understatement.  I had learned the hard way last time and will never, ever, make that mistake again.  In hopeful optimism we planned to go to One Hot Mama's for brunch then head to the grocery store.  It. was. wonderful!!  Truly, so good!  The food was perfect, the atmosphere was fun.  Total win all the way around.  The price was a big bonus too.  Another bonus?  Meeting Orchid. She was so incredibly nice and gracious and terrific with Jacob and Julianna.  I think she was eliminated way too quickly on Food Network, I think she had great potential, she can definitely cook, the food at the restaurant is absolutely delicious, and I truly believe we'll see more of her one day.  We loved One Hot Mama's so much we went back two more times over the course of the week for lunch.  Highly recommended.

Another place we enjoyed on vacation was Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House in Savannah, Georgia.  (Savannah's only 45 minutes from Hilton Head, making it a lovely day trip.)  The last time we were in Savannah we had eaten at The Lady and Sons, Paula Deen's restaurant.  It was good, and fun, but a little "been there, done that" to do again.  We'd seen Mrs. Wilkes' in the book 1000 Things to do Before You Die book years ago and ever since we'd been hoping to go there if we ever got back to Savannah.  The line begins forming around 10 AM, the restaurant opens at 11:00.  The day we were in Savannah, was HOT.  Not as hot as the last time, thankfully, then it was 114 degrees, this time it was "only" 95!  Ouch!  Jacob and Julianna were definitely not all that thrilled with the wait.

When threatened with the loss of an afternoon meal they did manage to find their smiles though.  

Even though they tried hard at first not to.  :) 

(Don't feel too sorry for them, we were waiting in shade and there was a bench to sit on.  It was humid though.  I learned I could never live in the South.  How do they deal with that constant hot, humid air?) 

Rebekah, being older, took it all a little bit more in stride and enjoyed exploring the gardens and homes nearby while we waited.  She got some great shots.

The "dinner" was interesting.  The food was plentiful and very good.  Platters and platters graced the table, it's all served family style.  The tables all seat 10 and it too is family style, which means we were seated with another family of 5--complete strangers to all of us.  For someone who is an extreme introvert like I am, it was uncomfortable.  I would go back because Mark absolutely loved it, but I personally did not enjoy that aspect of it.


After lunch we explored Savannah some more.  Savannah's great, but have I mentioned it's hot?  Anyway, soon we departed back to Hilton Head and our beloved beach.


Another place we greatly enjoyed was Stack's Pancakes.  It's hard to express how good it was.  Maybe it's a good thing we discovered it the last day on the island, because we would have loved to have eaten there more often.  I had Eggs Benedict with blue crab, perfectly cooked, thank you very much.  Rebekah and Jacob both loved their crepes with Nutella and fresh fruit.  If I ever get so lucky as to go there again I'm definitely trying the Bananas Foster Creme Brulee french toast.  Can you imagine how delicious that sounds??


Honorable restaurant mentions go to Guiseppi's pizza and Hilton Head Ice Cream.  Twice, we ended perfect days on the beach with ordering awesome pizza, showering, and settling in for friendly (?) game competitions with that pizza.  Guiseppi's pizza is delicious, they have an x-large that is insanely big and insanely good.  Highly recommend it as the perfect thing when you don't want to cook and you don't want to go out.  Hilton Head ice cream was an adventure.  After receiving your ice cream, which seemed to be as premium as it gets, there was a table full of toppings to add--sauces, candies, you name it.  Jacob and Julianna were in overload heaven.  One word of caution, do not go near the place with someone with a peanut allergy.  There are in-shell peanuts on the tables and spanish peanuts sitting out on the toppings table.  There would not be a way to get a safe dish of ice cream there.


Well, that was the highlights of our culinary week.  I did cook, some, which was just about perfect.  It was nice to find the perfect balance for our family, and I'm looking forward to revisiting some of our old-favorites if we're ever lucky enough to get to go back.