After much discussion, we decided to get on the road again for the beach! We looked into Hilton Head Island, Charleston and St. Simon’s Island. It seems that since Hilton Head and Charleston just recently reopened, they don’t quite have their ducks in a row just yet. St. Simon’s Island, being in Georgia, which was reopened in early May, gave us more options to choose from. We eventually settled on the almost brand new hotel, Hotel Simone.
Day 1: We left the house in the morning and drove to St Simon’s Island. If you’ve never driven the route from Atlanta to Coastal Georgia before, be prepared for a short afternoon rain as you get towards Savannah/Brunswick. This has never seemed to fail in all my experiences of driving down here.
Lunch/Dinner: Skipper’s Fish Camp, Darien, GA. This is SO GOOD. The beer comes in mason jars – neat! The restaurant is located right on the water. You can sit outside, or inside by the window – the view is beautiful. We enjoyed the Scallop Prosciutto, the Blackened Daily Catch Sandwich (which we chose Grouper), and my favorite, Good Time Charlie’s Crab Stew. The sandwich came with salad, and their citrus vinaigrette is amazing. The tartar sauce is the best I’ve ever had – the waitress told me the secret is the garlic in it! Yum!!
Lodging: Hotel Simone, St Simon’s Island. Hotel Simone is an adult-only boutique hotel. The rates typically include breakfast, but because of COVID-19, that service is unavailable right now. There’s a rooftop lounge and pool, free WiFi, and free parking. It’s about a 1 minute walk from the beach. We got a King Premier suite, their largest room available at 594 sq ft. This gives us a nice size living room, table, minibar, and a king bedroom. The bedding and pillows are SO comfortable! Hotel Simone is next door to a few restaurants and bars and we are looking forward to trying them out tomorrow!
Day 2: Today we walked from Hotel Simone to the Lighthouse area. It’s about a mile walk one way and the walk was very pleasant. We had breakfast near the Neptunes Park, and walked back mostly on the beach.
Breakfast/Lunch: Palmer’s Village Cafe, St Simon’s Island, GA. They have a limited menu due to the COVID, but everything we had was delicious.
Snack: Barrier Island Brewery, St. Simon’s Island, GA. We had the flight (GREAT HAPPY HOUR – $5 for 4 5oz pours). We ate it over Brussel Sprouts – the best! This brewery is the only brewery in town, and located right next door to our hotel, Hotel Simone.
Dinner: Crabdaddy’s, St. Simon’s Island, GA. Crab soup, salad, shrimp n grits, white chocolate bread pudding. All were very good! This is a very popular restaurant and reservations are strongly recommended. This restaurant is located right across the street from Hotel Simone, next to Crab Trap.
Lodging: Hotel Simone.
Day 3: Today, we walked to the lighthouse, the WWII museum, and enjoyed the beach and ocean. The museums offer a discount if you buy it as a combo ticket. There’s also veteran discounts in addition to the combo discount (as well as individual veteran discounts if you only wish to visit one but not the other). The museums are very interesting and educational, and we enjoyed climbing to the top of the lighthouse for a beautiful view of the ocean and Neptunes park.
Breakfast/Lunch: Echo, St. Simon’s Island, GA. Eggs Benedict with crab cakes!!!!!! I think I died and went to heaven. This restaurant is located inside the King and Prince Resort, a beautiful ocean front resort that has many amenities. We got a table outside, watching the wave as we enjoyed our food and drinks. Besides the wonderful crab cakes eggs benedict, we also had Bloody Mary and oatmeal with berries.
Snack: Catch 228, St Simon’s Island, GA. This place has an awesome Happy Hour special, from 4pm to 6pm. Dollar oysters by the dozen, wine and beer are $1 off. We enjoyed 3 dozens of oysters (raw). They were SO good. We also had the crab soup, which was more bisque-y than the rest of the restaurants we’ve tried around here.
Dinner: Crab Trap, St. Simon’s Island, GA. We ordered the crab soup, and the crab legs dinner. The crab legs are BIG and JUICY and DELICIOUS! This restaurant is located right across the street from our hotel, Hotel Simone. So convenient!
Lodging: Hotel Simone.
Day 4: Today we walked to the sandbar near East Beach. It’s wonderful to feel the breeze and walk into the middle of the ocean without even having to get wet! After breakfast, we started heading home as our wonderful vacation must come to an end.
Breakfast: Echo. Breakfast was so good yesterday that we decided to visit Echo again!
Lunch: We had to stop for lunch on our way home so we could get a last chance at seafood! We stopped at Shellhouse, Savannah, GA. It’s literally right off the highway and it really hit the spot! We ordered the crab legs and oysters combo. This was a great deal at $36.99, as it came with 1 pound of crab legs and a dozen steamed oysters. The crab legs are a little smaller than the day before (at Crab Trap) but they are delicious nonetheless.
Now our trip has come to an end. We can’t wait to go back!