Barbie World + love

Carolina Dreamin'

In 44 short days, we will be hitting the dusty trail for our annual Hilton Head Island excursion.

I cherish and treasure time spent on vacation. I guard it fiercely, determined not to let outside forces interfere in my seven-day stretch of doing absolutely nothing. Nothing more, that is, than laying by the pool, standing in the pool with a book, laying on the beach, drinking wine, eating too much, singing along with guitars, and generally acting a lazy fool.

Which is precisely what a vacation should be.
In preparation for this stretch of gluttony and sloth, I've been scouring the internet for some restaurant ideas. We always hit the same places to eat each year, which I love. The owner of my favorite Greek restaurant brought photos back from Greece for me a few years ago, and told me he had to meet and approve of Kyle before we got married. There are always a few feral cats around a cherished seafood spot, which sounds gross but is actually charming. We can walk into "our" pizza place and feel right at home, surrounded by tons of Pittsburgh sports swag. It's awesome.

But once in awhile, it feels good to shake things up. For as often as we go to Hilton Head, we only really know a handful of restaurants.

This year, we're going to try some new places. We'll also cook up a few dinners ourselves at the villa this year, for the first time ever. With 6 fully-grown adults, most of whom enjoy an adult beverage or three, it's a smidge expensive eating out every single night. And you know I am nothing if not (slowly becoming) frugal.

So here are some of the cheap eats we are planning to try out...
A Lowcountry Backyard Rated #4 on the island by Trip Advisor, this restaurant looks adorable and affordable -- win, win!
Drydock I am a sucker for places that claim to be local hangouts... oh, and good BBQ. Bring it, Drydock.
Fancy Q Sushi Quirky little name for a supposedly delish sushi joint -- the fish really couldn't be fresher, so I'm extra-excited for this outing.

Raw fish fiends
(Must get better about that diet, or it's going to be a beached whale sort of summer).
Any recommendations for Hilton Head eats?