My son Trey has really developed a love for fishing over the last year or two on seeing how Jimmy John Shark does. During our summer vacation to Hilton Head Island my wife searched hard for a fishing trip to take our six year old and his five year old buddy. We struggled to find a boat large enough for group of eleven and eventually found it would be easiest to just have the four guys take the boys out for this trip. Once the group was reduced down to six we quickly found Bulldog Fishing Charters and reserved their 2 hour fishing trip that was marked as great for kids ($350 for up to 6 people).

The Bulldog is 32 foot long and is captained by Christiaan Politzer, a second generation Hilton Head fishing captain for over 25 years. Christiaan’s teenage son Stratton was also on board for our trip serving as first mate. Both were extremely helpful and courteous throughout our entire trip. After cruising out for awhile we had reached our fishing destination above a pile of rocks that local legend says was formed by old sailing ships dropping their rock ballasts on their way into Savannah.

Once our anchor was in, the crew immediately threw in some lines for the boys. While doing so we were told of the history of the area and how the rock pile is full of sea bass that should given plenty of entertainment for the boys. Before the lines were even in the water for a minute they had already hooked one of these black seas bass. None that the boys caught were large enough to keep, but they still had a blast reeling them in and probably caught a dozen throughout the trip.

While that was going on they also threw in some larger rods for the adults. Though we didn’t see any sharks on this short trip, we did reel in 2 cobia and thought we might have had a shark or sting ray on but it broke the line after a good fight from my dad. We had an amazing trip on the Bulldog and would not hesitate to go on another trip with Captain Christiaan in the future.

After our exciting rafting trip my family and I walk over to Spring Creek Tavern for lunch. We arrived around 1:30 on a Sunday and found that most tables were occupied. Fortunately a high top table for four was just leaving as we arrived. We grabbed this table inside near the bar and kitchen. There is also a large outdoor dining area.

Kick’N Chick’N Sandwich

My wife and I split the Kick’N Chick’N Sandwich with blackened chicken, sautéed onions and mushrooms with a sweet Carolina BBQ sauce ($9.49). All sandwiches and burgers are served on garlic toasted Texas toast with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and your choice of fries, chili, salad or slaw. This was a really good sandwich and I especially liked the waffle fries.

Classic Burger

There is no kids menu, which was a little disappointing. We ended up with a classic burger with cheddar for our six-year-old son ($8.49). He really enjoyed having the burger on grilled bread rather than the traditional bun. This was a lot of food for him though.

Cheese Pizza

Our four-year-old daughter wanted pizza. Again there is no kid size so we ended up with a full cheese pizza ($10.99). This is why my wife and I split a sandwich. We knew there would be plenty of pizza leftover for us to enjoy. The pizza features handmade thin crust and a delicious red sauce.

There aren’t a whole lot of options in Hot Springs. While the Spring Creek Tavern was not very kid friendly, we made it work for a weekend lunch.

On our way back from Hilton Head, my family I and stopped for the night in Asheville, NC and the next morning visited the nearby town of Hot Springs. I had booked us on a calm water rafting trip with French Broad Rafting.

Given that my wife and I had both rafted a handful of times in the past, I booked the unguided 4 mile trip through class I-II rapids. The minimum age limit for this trip is 4 years old, so our little one just barely qualified.

After checking in at Hot Springs, we grabbed our gear and headed immediately for the water. There was another group that was going with a guide at the same time we were, so we let them go ahead and tried to follow them. But with only two paddlers we soon lost sight of them. Fortunately they have given us some verbal directions on which way was easiest to navigate throughout our three-hour float. Once our trip was over the staff was waiting with a van to drive us back to our car and where we started.

Our entire family loved the trip and wanted to go again right away. We will definitely be back.