Most people will start 2012 with a list of resolutions like:

1. Eat healthier
2. Work out 5 days a week
3. Be more organized
4. Stop procrastinating

We’d like to offer you a resolution list that’s not only more fun to achieve but also gives you tasks you can complete with your friends or family.

1. Try kayak fishing - The calm waters of our lagoon system make the perfect atmosphere for beginners to learn how to keep balance in their kayaks and reel in one of hundreds of huge red fish swimming beneath.
2. Become a pirate for the day - Grab your eye patch and hit the high seas on a sailboat out of Shelter Cove Harbour. Our Pirate Adventure cruise is only $30 a person and gives you the opportunity to help hoist a sail or take the wheel! 
3. Explore a little history- The historic Leamington Lighthouse sits on the Arthur Hills course and was built in 1879. This little piece of history is said to be haunted, and we dare you visit around Halloween for a fright!
4. Take a 2-wheeled day trip- Hilton Head Island is perfectly built for bikes. There are more than 50 miles of bike paths throughout the Island, and Palmetto Dunes has a little more than 5 miles of paths within the resort. Spend the day seeing all our island has to offer while also working on that boring “lose weight” resolution that’s on everyone’s list each year! Head over to Hilton Head Outfitters to rent the perfect bike for you and the whole family.

We hope these resolutions spice up your usual list and that on the very top of your 2012 list it says: Plan a Palmetto Dunes vacation! Happy New Year and we hope to see you all in 2012! 

Palmetto Dunes has everything: beautiful beaches, challenging golf courses…and even our own ghost. Residents of the island have been telling the creepy tale of the “Blue Lady” for years. This ghostly apparition is said to haunt the outbuildings surrounding the Leamington Lighthouse located on the Arthur Hills Golf Course and is apparently not too fond of stormy weather.

Caroline Fripp and her father, Adam, tended the lighthouse in the late 1890s. In 1898, a major hurricane hit the island without warning. Legend has it, that night Caroline and Adam stayed in the lighthouse trying to keep the light bright for a ship that was dangerously close to the shore. Sadly, Adam dropped to the floor and suffered a heart attack. Caroline took her father to their nearby house and on his death bed he asked her to keep the light burning throughout the storm.

When Caroline returned to check on her father he had already passed. It’s been said that she paced back and forth between the lighthouse and the keepers house for several days wearing the same blue dress she had on during the storm and calling out for her deceased father. Some sources have said that Caroline died of shock a few years after her father’s death but others say she lived a long life warning others of high tides and storms and always wearing blue.

Today, the story lives on. Many have reported seeing the “Blue Lady” or feeling her presence on stormy nights. So beware, the next time you visit the Leamington Lighthouse, you might just meet the ghost of Caroline Fripp, a spirit that awakens with the sound of wind and rain!

When you vacation at Palmetto Dunes, you’ll be hard pressed to find yourself bored. But just in case there’s a moment that finds you wondering what to do next, we have 5 great don’t-miss activities that are part of the ultimate Palmetto Dunes experience. Stay tuned for future posts on more top activities at the resort!