Fall Break Recap – The Inn at Sea Island

Our oldest boy is now in kindergarten, which means we are bound by the school calendar.  Our kids get roughly 62 weeks off a year for various reasons: asynchronous learning, winter breaks, etc.  It is up to us to make vacations fit into those breaks.  All kidding aside, it makes things a lot easier, yet managing the demand can be challenging.

Mrs. RCS got an email from Sea Island way back in February offering a room discount at The Inn if we booked/paid within the next couple of weeks.  We jumped at the chance.  Given that we were planning to bring the boys, we asked for two adjoining rooms, which they were more than happy to accommodate.

Fast forward to the last week of September…

Admittedly, St. Simons is one of my favorite places on Earth.  I love the town feel, and the access to the beach, the activities, and the people make it ideal for the type(s) of vacations we like to take.  Not only that, we are very lucky in that we can get access to Sea Island through friends.  I don’t take that for granted.  It is a HUGE benefit.

We called the Inn and asked if we could check in early that Sunday…they were happy to accommodate, so we left our house around 6:30 AM.  We stopped by McDonald’s, loaded everyone up with Egg McMuffins, and headed south.  The boys did great!  Mrs. RCS does a fantastic job of building them ‘travel boxes’ with tons of crafts, games, etc. that they can do on their lap desks.  Our boys also have the Amazon Fire tablets, which they will use, but they aren’t obsessive about them (which is nice).

We made it down to The Inn around lunchtime and went to check-in.  The boys enjoyed the luggage carts…we got everything into the rooms, and I took the boys to the pool while Mrs. RCS unpacked.  Since the rooms at The Inn are typical hotel rooms, there isn’t a kitchenette.  We packed my Yeti GoBox full of food/snacks – essentially our pantry.  Each of our two rooms has a mini-fridge and freezer, so we were able to stock up with milk, drinks, juice, wine, beers, etc.  Honestly – not having the kitchenette wasn’t a big deal at all.  Our boys ate plenty of peanut butter and honey sandwiches, carrots and hummus, cheese and crackers, pouches, etc.

The weather was GREAT on Sunday afternoon.  We spent a couple of hours at the pool, then headed over to a playground.  The boys had a blast getting all of their energy out.  There were a bunch of other families and kids down there, so there were plenty of games of ‘boat captain’ and hide and seek.  We eventually made our way over to a local Mexican place for dinner.  It’s hard to beat tacos and beers after a long day of traveling…this place was legit.  Delicious.

After we finished up, we headed back to The Inn and got the boys wound down for bed.  Their room had two double beds, so they each had their own space.  We got everyone tucked in and they fell asleep in no time.  Mrs. RCS and I cleaned up a bit and turned in for the night.

The Inn offers a fantastic on-site breakfast every morning.  Eggs, grits, bacon, sausage, potatoes, breads, cereal, waffles, etc.  All you could want…we were there at 7AM every morning.  The boys loaded up, which was a great way to start the day.  We finished up breakfast and headed over to the Beach Club on Sea Island.  We had a GREAT day!  We enjoyed the pool, the beach, the playgrounds, and all the outside stuff.  We had cheeseburgers for lunch, and made a TON of friends (who were on this ‘Fall Break’ thing as well).  There were some serious Marco Polo games in the shallow end, and some deep holes dug at the beach.

Knowing that the weather was going to be a little suspect over the next couple of days, we took advantage of the sun.  We dropped Mrs. RCS off at the hotel, skipped nap/quiet time and I took the boys back to the playground (the boys requested).  We got another hour of calorie burn and headed back to The Inn.  Mrs. RCS had a babysitter coming that night so we could go on a date (Drinks at The Lodge followed by dinner at Georgia Sea Grill on recommendation from dear friends – fantastic).  We got back and the boys were out like lights.

The next morning we were scheduled to go fishing.  We had a charter booked, but the weather did NOT look good.  the boys were VERY excited to go out, so there was no way we weren’t heading to the dock, even with the dark clouds popping up all over the marsh.  Unfortunately, the fishing trip didn’t happen, but the Captain was nice enough to give the boys a boat ride around the bay.

We headed back to The Inn, changed clothes, and headed back to the Beach Club to take advantage of the inside stuff – the arcade, the nature center, and the playroom.  What a blessing…the boys had a BLAST.  The good thing about Sea Island is that it’s contained.  No worries about the boys finding too much trouble, no matter how hard they tried.  We got some breaks in the rain, so we headed to the beach to look for shells and count birds.  While the weather wasn’t great, we did have a really good time.

Our babysitter came back for a few hours at lunch so Mrs. RCS and I could go bum around the Village and get some lunch.  We did some window shopping, saw our friends at the new Sea Island Forge shop, and had lunch at Gnats Landing.  That afternoon we took advantage of the golf simulators at The Inn.  The boys LOVED it.  It’s not just golf, but throwing the football, kicking the soccer ball, and other games.  The staff at The Inn (especially Michelle) were WONDERFUL to the boys.  After an hour, I loaded the boys up and took them back to the arcade for an hour or so, and Mrs. RCS cleaned up the rooms/etc. and did a little work.

The next day the rain was around but not as bad.  We went over to the Beach Club and did a lot of the same stuff.  We played a lot of games, went outside when the rain stopped, kicked the soccer ball, and rode bikes.  Mrs. RCS and I had another date night – we did drinks at The Lodge and then DeLaney’s (our personal favorite).  After eating way too much, we went home and were asleep by 10.

On Thursday, we had the babysitter come early, and Mrs. RCS and I played golf on the Seaside course.  One of my favorites…however that day we were treated to 20-25 mph gusts of wind.  It made for a FUN day of golf.  After the round, we made our way back to The Inn, where the boys were riding bikes with our babysitter.  The Inn has a bunch available to the guests, as well as helmets, and a cool (safe) spot to ride.  After the babysitter left (and tears from the boys), we went in and had lunch, and did some quiet time.

I booked an afternoon air gun session at the Sea Island Shooting School for our older boy.  He’s six, which is old enough for him to get comfortable in a controlled environment.  We had a BLAST.  The guys at the school were wonderful.  They were very patient with HJS, who asked one million questions per minute.  The good news: our boy did GREAT.  The better news?  He wants to go back!  Guess what Santa may bring this year…

While we were gone, Mrs. RCS was packing up the rooms.  We elected to hit the road at about 6:30 PM and drive home that night (similar to what we did during the week of the 4th).  A little Chick-fil-A and a Braves game on the radio, the boys were asleep around 8, and in their beds at about 1 AM.

All in all, The Inn is a GREAT way to experience St. Simons.  We were very lucky that we had access to Sea Island, but even if we didn’t, there is SO much to do down there, both at the hotel and around the island.  Playgrounds, movie theaters, the beach, the hotel pool, and all the amenities make it an ideal spot for a quick family vacation.

We’ll be back…