Hilton Head (eat at Dye's), last stop, then home

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November 17, 2009 Tuesday

Tried to sleep in at BCV, but bed not very comfortable, altho I liked the room overall. Housekeeping knocked on the door at about 8:30, altho checkout isn’t until 11. I was just barely up -- had been trying to doze. Fixed coffee and microwave burrito, chili, cheese, gooey thing that is actually better than it sounds for breakfast. Bought a Disney Vacation Club Member t-shirt for $19.95 in the shop -- may have been the cheapest shirt I saw on property -- they didn’t check if I was actually a member.

Didn’t get on the road until about 10:30. Following the signs to I-4 is not the shortest way to get there -- should have gone via Downtown Disney. Had forgotten that I meant to go to the Morse Museum on my way out of town; should have left earlier. Went to the Disney Outlet store at the Prime Outlets a little north of St. Augustine exits, got gas and an egg sandwich and a V-8 (I’m running way behind on veggies on this trip). It was getting kind of dark by the time I got to Hilton Head, but I made it to the Disney resort at dusk, a little before 6 p.m. HH has a very strict sign code -- it can be hard to find your way around, especially after dark.

I’m staying here on a combo of “points” and a cash reservation, but they already had my “rezzies” linked up, so I don’t have to change rooms. It’s pretty unbusy of course right now. I found my room, in the main lodge, and got unloaded. They do have luggage carts here (the DVC resorts at WDW do not), but there’s a ledge at the door, so you can’t really bring it inside. But it worked fine, since I would have needed two trips with my Wonder-Wheeler beach cart -- I took the cart back down with a load of laundry to get started (and an ice bucket to fill up).

I’m in a studio, with kitchenette -- there’s not an ice machine on each floor. This studio seems larger, and has a little more “equipment” -- there’s a foot stool and a vacuum cleaner. And the larger balcony has two rocking chairs -- but no view -- just a couple of trees. Since I’m here three nights, hopefully the bed is good. They had a story-time for kids, with chocolate chip cookies tonight -- yummy (everyone gets cookies). I tried out the pool table, and managed to lose just playing against myself -- scratched when the cue ball followed the 8 ball into the pocket!

November 18 -- Wednesday, continuing at DVC Hilton Head

Well, the bed here is just okay; slept rather fitfully. Ate breakfast in my pj’s out on the balcony -- weather still nice. Eventually set out to explore the rest of this resort and some of the island. The resort (Disney Vacation Club on the signs) is somewhat inland, with a part of a sound called Broad Creek on one side; it’s at Shelter Cove, which had a marina, some other large timeshares and condo developments; shops and restaurants, etc. There is a shuttle bus to a beach area, through a guarded gate. The Disney beach house requires a room key for access; it has a nice pool in addition to the beach. It’s kind of deserted right now, but is open, with limited service. When I got to the beach it was high tide, there were less than half a dozen people in sight. It is a nice facility -- should be fun in the summer. There is parking for people who drive to it, and a bike path from the resort as well. (Biking is a very popular way to get around here -- it’s nice and flat, with good bike paths).

The resort has activities and recreation stuff available. The usual pool and spa area, with a lunch counter, foosball, pingpong, shuffleboard, etc. There are several hammocks, but it’s not very scenic along the marshy creek. They started decorating the resort today.

After checking out the resort and the beach house area, I drove on out to a part of the island called Sea Pines -- it’s $5.00 to go through the gate to get out there, so you can spend money shopping and eating. It’s very pretty. There are 2-3 main areas. I wandered through Harbor Town and did not pay $3.00 to climb to the top of the fake lighthouse gift shop. I had intended to go to the Salty Dog Café for lunch and have a Salty Dog cocktail; however, I succumbed to the temptation of The Crazy Crab -- had a wonderful shrimp salad ($10.95) and a draft beer ($2.99 -- half of what Disney charges). I poked around thru various shops, considered dolphin cruises that cost less than the Disney one, but decided I’d already way overspent on this trip, and decided to save that for a time when it might be more likely to actually see some dolphins.

I stopped back by the Disney beach area again; it was low tide, and a few more people about, but no shells or anything to beachcomb through (there were lots at Harbour Town, but I think they were mostly barnacles). So, I just went back and re-explored the resort and relaxed for the evening. There was some neighbor noise from my adjoining unit -- doesn’t sound like they have kids tho. But I think that could be a problem during the summer, since the sound-proofing doesn’t seem adequate (it wasn’t just general noise, I could understand what they were talking about).

I think the main bed is a queen-sized, and the sofa is a double, and there’s enough floor space for an airbed. The kitchenette is around the corner by the front door (it’s not all in a straight-line like most hotel rooms and studios), so it seems roomier in here. There’s a little table with two chairs, and the TV is a small flat-screen in a small cabinet with drawers -- so it’s not a big armoire taking up lots of space. The closet has a vacuum cleaner, iron and board, broom and mop, and a pack and play. The bathroom has a little better shelf than the Beach Club had, but it’s not fully accessible. This room is partially accessible tho -- wide doors -- except there is a ledge barrier to get in the front door (the one that kept out the luggage cart). There’s a bar in the low bath-tub, but no bar by the toilet. The sink is on a pedestal, and there is probably room in there for a wheelchair, but not an ECV. I expect they have some fully accessible units. The balcony is nice, except that it has very little view -- what it has is blocked by the railing.

If I were going to be here longer, I’d want to be closer to the pool -- it doesn’t seem walkable to me, altho it actually is. But struggling back in a wet suit doesn’t look fun. Building 29 looks like a good location (I wouldn’t want to “front” on the pool during busy season). Not sure if the other buildings have elevators, tho -- need to check on that (they don't; I asked later).

Even tho it’s an extra 40 minutes east of the freeway, it’s about halfway between Orlando and home for me, and rather more pleasant than just a freeway motel to break up the trip (which is a 2-day drive for me, altho the kids can make it in one day or night). At this time of year, there is no food or drink service in the evening -- but there are walking distance restaurants at Shelter Cove. It’s not a far drive to local and chain restaurants and fast food places either -- altho they can be hard to spot with the very restrictive sign code here. There are several grocery stores and a Wal-mart -- even tho it feels kind of isolated and remote, it’s really not; gas prices are similar to those along the freeway.

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009

Another leisurely day exploring more of Hilton Head. Got some directions from a resort "CM" (Disney Cast Member) and went to Mitchellville Beach, and Honey Horn Plantation. I asked him about Dye's buffet also, and he told me how to find that, so I was able to have lunch there (read a recommendation for it online) -- it's actually Dye's Gullah Fixin's and she's there 7 days a week. I had a late lunch, so chatted with her a bit after the few other folks there left (it's off-season for HH). Had a crab-burger -- which is a really good large low-country crab cake, with sweet potato fries -- yummy), and cole slaw. It came with tomato, lettuce and tartar sauce. Also had lemonade and it was all good -- would definitely go there again. Her menu for Thanksgiving buffet sounded wonderful -- expect it requires reservations way in advance. There are a lot of good places to eat on Hilton Head. M'ville beach is a good place to go at low tide -- for shelling, maybe shark's teeth, and birds (and I saw a few hermit crabs).

Spent some time in the pool in the afternoon (after mid-November -- had really good weather); went down the slide twice -- it was open from 10-4; it's a circular one, closed tube that is dark inside, 2 turns. Spent a little time in the hot tub until the conversation turned to sports. Spent some time in a hammock in the early evening, then relaxed in the room for my last night (Thursday is my TV night, so that kind of got me into reentry into regular life mode -- I watched almost no TV during the trip). The room's TV is a small flat-screen widescreen one -- not my favorite (or maybe there's a way to set it so everything doesn't look wider than usual -- stretched out).

Friday I woke up pretty early for the trip home -- made it back in about 6 hours; only stopped twice. An easy way to end a long trip -- spent way too much time in the car; not sure I'll want to make another long road trip (altho I have been kind of planning one or two more in the next couple of years). Put 3,261 miles on the car (and my tushy), with all the side trips, etc.

And then there's 2-3 days of recovery work -- unpacking, stuff sorting, laundry, photo developing, etc. I took close to 1500 photos -- so it will take me awhile to sort thru and get some posted here.

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Photos

DVC Hilton Head entry
Bambi and Thumper welcome me to Disney Vacation Club at Hilton Head