Pedals Take 3

Well I’m sure you've all been waiting on the edge of your seats. I'll keep you in suspense no longer. Bike ride on the beach? Check!

I am happy to report no causalities today. Not even close. And no dirty looks from other cyclists or pedestrians either. At least that we could see. It might be because I wasn’t paying attention. For the first ride this week, I could actually kind of look around at the scenery and not the backside of the 9yo and what was immediately in front of him.

It’s amazing what you can see when you actually take the time to look around: Lots of clamshells still attached at their hinge. A bald Eagle flying around. A shrimp boat with dolphins chasing it....attempting to get a free lunch. A live sand dollar (which we were quick to throw back…we’re good, law-abiding citizens). Probably at least 100 horseshoe crab shells; some with their guts inside but mostly were well cleaned out. And seven weird spiral-shaped things but we don't know if they are plants or animals. Again, I did not have the camera to capture any of this…for questions on why, see Pedals Take 2.

Yes, the tide is high, but I’m holding on…I’m gonna be your Number One…sorry, channeling again. Artist, anyone? Yes, it is Blondie…people get us confused often, both in voice and looks. The younger Debbie Harry…not so much now. I channel a variety of different types of music, don’t I? I like to think of myself as well-rounded, but unfocused might be it too.

Anyway…high tide was still this morning but we were able to get in an hour and a half ride before the beach got too small and too crowded for riding. Answer me this: how can it be that we were intentionally riding into the wind on the way there so we could use the wind to help push us on the way back. But by the time we headed back the wind seemed to have shifted and we had to ride against it again? I'm certain it was only because we were riding SO fast.

One would think it ends here, right? Well it should. And part of me wishes it did. But then how could I continue to entertain my loyal fan-ship?

One little thing I neglected to cover above was that on our ride this morning, we rode down to an inlet we've never been to previously. But as the tide was coming in, there wasn't time for us to stay long and still be able to ride back on the beach. But we'd all wanted to stay longer to explore the area and were disappointed to have to leave.

Later this afternoon, the 11yo asked if we could ride back down there. I wasn't up for another ride (oh the irony, right?) but instead I looked up the area on a map. Imagine my delight to discover that a public beach access was right there. So we hopped in the van and headed off. We found the signs for the public beach and turned in. There was only one other car in the lot (which seems odd, right? Insert foreshadowing here), but we weren't concerned because we knew what the sign had said. “Public Beach Access. 

So....we saw a path that led through a gate. We followed it. There was a long boardwalk that went past a hotel and there were signs posted…something about a shuttle service. But we pressed on. We got to the end of the boardwalk and had to walk maybe 100 yards to the inlet. Perfect.

We spent an hour or so exploring along the shore and the tide pools, and then headed back toward the car. We were getting tired (exploring the shore is hard work) and some of us were getting a little fussy because of hunger. I don’t want to name any names, but you might know her. And she might be the writer of this blog.

Walking back to the boardwalk, it was there that we noticed the sign “Boardwalk access to guests at Hilton Head Resort ONLY”. Oops. That was NOT us. But we felt vindicated. We’d checked. There was no such sign on the way there.

So we start walking on the Boardwalk. I was already nervous because we were “doing it wrong,” but we didn’t really have another option. We walked along and we played it cool. As cool as we could with the 11yo reading the signs and trying to tell us that we’d made a mistake. Of course there were plenty of people within earshot and I was absolutely certain that someone was going to rat us out. But we kept going.

We were doing ok and were just about home free. Until we got to the gate leading to the parking lot (where we could see the van…fortunately it was still sitting there, especially since it belonged to my parents) and, yes, you guessed it…the gate was chained closed and locked with a big padlock. For a moment, we pondered hopping the fence. It was a big wooden fence and probably would have not been an overly-easy climb for 3 out of 4 of us. 

But fortunately my husband and I came to our senses quickly and realized we were going to have to walk. From the back of the complex up to the front, walk along the highway (sure it had a sidewalk but it was still walking close to cars driving by quickly), cut through a gas station parking lot, and walk all the way to the back of the lot to the van. All in flipflops, and carrying the treasures we’d found on the beach. I’d worked hard for some of those and was not about to leave them by the wayside.

Our decision to not scale the fence was quickly affirmed when we started walking toward the front of the complex and a police car turned into the lot. I thought for sure we were in trouble. I was convinced that they’d been casing our car, waiting for us to come back. They saw us sneak in illegally and had called the police.

As it became evident that Mr. Officer was not there to arrest us and take our children to CPS, I started to relax. And then began to giggle; I giggle sometimes when I’m nervous. And then I kept thinking about how I thought the police were going to take us away in handcuffs, and I really got to laughing. But the real problem was when my 11yo asked why. I just told him I was nervous. He’s a nervous-enough child. I didn’t want him to think there was really a risk of us going to jail for using a non-public beach access (even though his mother clearly thought there was). He had already started apologizing that we even went on this little jaunt and had to walk so far, because he’d been the one who’d asked to come back in the afternoon. Don’t worry…I assured him it was not his fault, but I’m not 100% certain he believed me. I don't know why he jumps to such far-fetched conclusions about things...

So…to recap: We got our bike ride on the beach checked off the list (which was especially great because today was our last day here). We discovered a fun new place and when we went back, we almost got arrested. And always read the signs...even the ones which face the opposite direction from the way you are traveling. Trust me...it may save you a bunch of steps. Consider it your own personal PSA.