While we don’t often take overnight trips, David and I enjoy taking day trips to various places nearby. And our most recent trip was to Isle Of Palms, South Carolina. I have to say, it won’t be our last trip there either!
Planning A Trip To Isle Of Palms
On Monday, David and I decided we were going to take a day trip on the Harley if the weather was going to be nice. It was Memorial Day, and we both had the day off from work. When it came to where we were going to go, David asked me to pick a place we’d never been.
We have a few places on our list that we want to visit, including Lake Jocassee, Edisto, and Myrtle Beach. David also mentioned Bridgeway Station, which is in Simpsonville, South Carolina. We decided some stuff might not be open at Bridgeway Station, so that will have to be a trip for another time.
If you ask me where I want to go if the beach is an option… I’m going to choose the beach. Now, I was worried that with it being a holiday the beaches might be busy. Because of that, I posted on Facebook asking my friends which would be better – Edisto or Folly Beach. I got a bunch of answers, but another beach came up… Isle of Palms, South Carolina.
I’d heard of Isle of Palms before but had never been or thought much about it. But reading a few comments, I decided it might be a good spot since they have areas to change/shower, and some beachside restaurants.
So that was the plan. We were going to get up early and head out on the Harley to the beach. And I’m so glad we did!
A Day At Isle Of Palms
We left North Augusta around 5:15 a.m. and stopped for gas. Then we hit the road about 5:30 a.m. The ride started off a little chilly for me, just because the sun wasn’t up yet. Overall though, it was a beautiful ride. Google Maps actually took us on some “backroads” (as in, not interstate the whole way). But we wound up going by some beautiful horse farms in Aiken’s countryside.
The ride from North Augusta to Isle of Palms was right around 3 hours. It might’ve been a little less, but when I’m on the motorcycle I occasionally need to stop and stretch a bit. We got to Isle of Palms right around 8:30 a.m.
We had no idea where to go or where to park. We wound up in an area with a lot of rentals but there was a lot of beach parking on the street. Later, we realized that if we’d gone straight at a light versus turning, we would’ve ended up at Isle Of Palms Community Park. But we left the bike parked where it was.
We did walk down toward the pier and the park to see where everything was and to get changed. Then we went a little ways back toward where we came onto the beach. We found a spot where there weren’t a lot of people yet and set up our stuff. And I’ll just say, our “stuff” is simply a backpack with a couple of towels and our sunscreen. We aren’t the type to need a lot when bumming it on the beach!
The morning consisted of us heading down to the water, which was cold to start. We spent some time enjoying the water and getting tossed about by some pretty strong waves. Then we took a break to lay out in the sun. I think we both almost fell asleep a few times because it was so nice out and at that point it was really quiet. All we could hear were the waves, breeze, and birds.
Once it got a little too hot, we went back down to the water to cool off for a bit. As the morning progressed, it did get busier at the beach, but we still had a great time just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather and water.
Lunchtime In Isle Of Palms
As it got closer to lunchtime, I looked on my phone for places nearby to eat. That’s when I found Coconut Joe’s which is right on the beach. And when I’m at the beach, I love eating at restaurants right by the water. So around 11:45 a.m., we decided to pack up, rinse off, change, and head to grab food.
Honestly, we might’ve been better off walking all the way to the restaurant! We got on the motorcycle and spent way too long making circles trying to find parking. We were about to just leave and find somewhere else to eat, but then decided it wouldn’t hurt to walk. So again, we found ourselves walking almost a half a mile to get to the restaurant.
When we got there, it was pretty packed, but the hostess told us the bar was first come first served and there was a bar upstairs, which was outdoor seating. We decided to go that route versus waiting 30-45 minutes for a table. And we got lucky! There were 2 barstools that had just opened up when we got up there.
While we weren’t sitting on the railing to overlook the beach, we still had a great view. And to top it off, we also enjoyed some great food. I’m not a seafood person, so I ordered their beach burger, and David did go with the famous coconut shrimp.
The meal, the drinks, the view… it was all great. The whole day was really great. It was nice to enjoy some beach time and relax a little bit. It was something I definitely needed.
Isle of Palms is definitely one of my new favorite places, so there’s no doubt we’ll be going back. But I do think our next trip will be another spot we haven’t been. Honestly, I’ll tell you I already looked at pet-friendly Airbnb’s in the area… so I’m dreaming of the next time we get to head to Isle of Palms… just another beautiful beach on the South Carolina coast.
We are definitely blessed to be so close to so many great beaches in South Carolina. Of course, Beaufort is one of my favorites, but Isle of Palms is a new favorite too!
