October 2003

Hilton Head Island
By
Cory Tressler

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Vacations are one of the finest things in this life. Every year worker droids get a chance to spend one or two weeks away from their normal routines and do something fun, exotic, strange, boring, or whatever their hearts desire. For a few days us worker bees are allowed to just be and not have to worry about all those things in life that give people high blood pressure, heart attacks, hemorrhoids, and ulcers.

For my annual vacation away from Ohio State’s ever expanding book barn, I chose to visit my beautiful girlfriend, Amy, at her amazing summer job on Hilton Head Island off the coast of South Carolina. Every year Amy and I spend the entire summer apart because she needs to follow her heart to the Atlantic Coast to help with a sea turtle conservation project on the beaches of Hilton Head. Now this time apart is very difficult for both of us, but because she is doing such an extraordinary job in Hilton Head, and because I always have a place to go for my vacation, I can handle the hardships of being away from her. Throughout the summer Amy wakes up every morning at 5am and hits the beach to go check up on the sea turtle’s egg laying process. Amy and her co-workers get an amazing opportunity to see first hand the nesting process of one of planet Earth’s oldest animals. Sea turtles have been here longer than humans and hopefully with the help of people like Amy they will not become extinct like so many other animals do to the ignorance and vanity of humans. While visiting Hilton Head I got an opportunity to go out with Amy and see first hand how amazing these ancient turtles truly are. Observing Amy doing a nest inventory of a Loggerhead sea turtle nest I had the extreme fortune to see a few live hatchlings. These tiny sea turtles were absolutely incredible. They knew exactly what to do in order to get to their natural habitat the ocean. As the sea turtles climb out of their three-foot deep nests they struggle to get towards the water. Once these little creatures hit the ocean they begin swimming very quickly. To see these tiny turtles swim into the waves for the first times in their lives was exhilarating and made me completely understand why Amy is so in love with these sea creatures that are very misunderstood by land loving Northerners like myself. Seeing this amazing process was worth the trip alone.

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Along with visiting the beach and seeing the baby sea turtles, I also had the pleasure of visiting one of the Southern United States’ best cities, Savannah, Georgia. Savannah is a relatively small city that has a historic downtown and an incredible waterfront. Savannah is a major port city that contains cobblestone streets that were made from stones that were brought over as ballast for large ships by our European ancestors. Packed full of great food, exquisite artists, and incredible antique shops Savannah is the perfect place for travelers from all over the world to come shop, hangout, and just enjoy the scenery. I would recommend visiting Savannah to anyone who has never had the opportunity to enjoy the true American Southland.

Even though my vacation was plagued with the speculation that Hurricane Isabel was going to come ashore and destroy everything in its path, I still had a better time than I could have ever imagined. My trip into the South was exactly what my spirit needed to replenish and refresh itself, enabling me to tackle another year as an average American worker droid.