Harbour Town, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Harbour Town at the southern end of Hilton Head Island is dominated by the lighthouse (sort of). A relatively recent addition (it was completed in 1970), it has become iconic for the area. It is only ninety feet tall but still give a good view from the top (more on that further down).

Maybe it is best viewed from the water

The lighthouse is surrounded by shops and restaurants, though we did manage to find Out to Lunch, a statue of a young man reading a book and eating a sandwich. The book looked like a novel by Pat Conroy.

I might have called this, "Making Me Hungry"

The harbor is not very big but has plenty of leisure vessels.

Ground-eye view of the harbor

We paid to climb the lighthouse, which has some local historical items displayed on the way up. The first items were from the pre-colonial era, the usual primitive pottery so well made that it survives today.

Pottery from long ago

Lighthouses are managed by the US Coast Guard and the small museum has plenty of Coast Guard displays and information.

Uniform and a model ship

View from above of a larger model ship

The American Civil War left its mark on the area. Blockading Union Navy ships were able to take over some of the land and occupy forts in the area. They left a bit of junk too.

Civil War-era bottles

Occupying Northern troops

Various implements

Buttons and pipes

A diorama shows America's first golf club. The South Carolina Golf Club was located in Charleston and established in 1786. Golf is a big part of the entertainment on Hilton Head Island.

Old golfers

Another bit of Coast Guard display

The best part of the visit was the end of the climb where we had views from the 93-foot viewing deck. 

A pier

Looking down

Looking out

Daufuskie Island in the distance

The harbor

A pirate ship!

For lunch, we drove to the nearby Salty Dog Cafe which is quite popular with the islanders. The "cover dog" for the restaurant has gone through many iterations.

Will the real Salty Dog please sit up and beg?

We had the classic pretzel appetizer which was delightful and a variety of seafood items. Only the pretzel got a photo.

Salty appetizer at the Salty Dog

The restaurant complex (they have indoor seating, an outdoor bar, an ice cream shop, a t-shirt shop, and a second restaurant) has a web cam for visitors to get their picture taken!

That is me on the web cam!

The web cam is part of a geocache, so I got some exploring credit for it!