Day 15 - Jacksonville to Hilton Head

Tony Cacciarelli • June 29, 2020

Jacksonville, FL (KCRG) to

Hilton Head, SC (KHXD) - June 29, 2019

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Original Instagram Post

Woke up this morning, did my daily weather check and saw a line of thunderstorms that had developed right across my planned flight path. The line was moving north-northeast, so I decided to hold off leaving Jacksonville to give the storm time to move up and out of my way. It was a bit of a risk, because another line could build up right behind it, but after about 30 minutes I didn't see anything else popping up so I got fueled up and headed out.

It turned out to be a nice, smooth flight. Climbed up to 3500' so I was above some smaller clouds, got on with Air Traffic Control and cruised the 90 minutes up to Hilton Head.

Once I got close to Hilton Head I cancelled my flight following with ATC. I had time and fuel, so I decided to drop down low and have some fun flying along the coastline for the last 10 miles or so. On my approach to land at Hilton Head there was a commercial airliner holding while I puttered in at 65 knots. Stay where you are, big guy, the runway is mine. 😂

I'd forgotten about all the Spanish Moss on the trees down here in the South. It adds a cool but slightly creepy feel to things. And seashells are the paving material of choice, apparently.

Tomorrow it's off to Wilmington, NC. Weather forecast looks clear, so hopefully no surprises in the morning

😀👍🏼

I enjoy these shorter flights where I don't have to worry as much about fuel or timing. I don't feel like I'm on a schedule and can fly just for the pure joy of it.

I was able to get a room at the local Red Roof Inn, but it wasn't available right away, so I had a late lunch at a nearby restaurant.

Once my room was ready I took a dip in the hotel pool. This had become a sort of tradition as I flew through the heat wave that was happening at the time. With a big front canopy and no air conditioning in the A5, things could get a bit...spicy at times, so it was nice to be able to cool off. I'd also developed a killer farmer's tan even using SPF50 sun block.

I got all my backups and charging going then headed out to explore the island. Hilton Head appears to be 90% golf courses. I'm surprised they were willing to sacrifice the real estate for an airport, but I guess people have to get to the golfing somehow. 😉

I wandered around for a while just relaxing and enjoying the scenery. Found a place for dinner and a few drinks, enjoyed a phenomenal sunset, some ice cream then headed back to the hotel.