starbox
01-03-2008, 09:12 PM
Due to freakishly warm weather in GA in early December, I decided to do a spur-of-the-moment and totally impulsive quick trip to HHI for January 1-3.
Well - it was COLD!! There's a reason points are so darn cheap (our studio was a whopping SIX points per night). It's COLD!!!!! Let me tell you, the wind blowing off that marsh is COLD. So, we had these ideas that we would fish and play mini-golf - but it was really not enjoyable to be out in the wind. Even though there was not a cloud in the sky- there is really no way you could swim. We did not see a single brave soul in the water - although my crazy children would have gone in if I'd have let them.
A report with pictures:
We left Atlanta at about 9am New Years Day and even with a stop for lunch, made it to HHI by 2:00 - there was NO traffic. Our room was ready when we arrived and we enjoyed about 30 minutes of sort-of-mild temperatures (my son insisted on wearing a short-sleeve shirt and you can tell by the look on his face that it was not going to last!)
http://nor.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324863.92ed3c.jpg
The resort was still all decorated for Christmas (decorations came down January 2nd) and it was understated but very pretty - mostly greenery garlands and some white lights - plus a small tree in Big Murghies Den.
We went to a Meet the Naturalist presentation n sea turtles and did Geocaching and that was great fun (and no charge - I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of no-cost recreation activities). We went to dinner at Hudsons - and it was just as good as I remember it being. Some of the best seafood I've ever eaten anywhere - and I grew up in Florida. I can't recommend it highly enough. :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 I had the supremely wonderful crab cakes and dh had blackened stuffed shrimp - and we shared the oysters Rockefeller appetizer. Mmmmmmmmmmm.
We got back to the resort in time for the campfire - by now he temperature was dropping fast. For some reason, they could not get the campfire to actually light :confused3 - so it was not a very warm campfire - but I like the silly songs anyway.
We got up early on 1/2 because we were planning to go on a DVC excursion to a wildlife reserve - but it was FREEZING and there was horrible wind. We opted out, as did the other families. Instead, we did the Behind the Ears DVC tour of the resort - which was COLD but interesting. We went over to the beach house and ate lunch at Signals. The beach and day were pretty - but sooooooo cold that we did not last long.
http://nor.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324859.1e0b40.jpg
http://nor.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324856.054582.jpg
Back at the resort, we went to B'lou's magic show (the kids later rated this as a highlight of the trip). We planned to eat at Scott's Fish Market or somewhere else in Shelter Cove but it was totally shut down for the season (as was Kingfisher!) So there is NOTHING walking distance to the resort - which is a bummer. We had dinner at Nick's - which was good, but not as good as Hudson's.
This morning, we did a couple of activities before heading out. The kids made Disney pillows (a GREAT craft that I highly recommend) http://nor.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324850.b8e672.jpgand ............
(drumroll)............ we saw SHADOW!!!!!!!!
http://lrg.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324848.f185a9.jpg
We spent a shadow-less spring break at HHI last year, and I have to admit that I doubted her existence. But there she was.
All in all it was a sweet, albeit cold, trip. HHI does considerably shut down in the winter. I can't say that I would have been happy using a bunch of points or traveling for the trip - but for a whopping total of 12 points and about four hours in the car - it was totally worth it.
A few special kudos and suggestions:
Kudos -
1. We really appreciated B'lou Crabbe. We saw him last year, but with the spring break crowds, did not really have a chance to appreciate just how special and cool he is. He's a great CM and really makes HHI magical.
2. Mostly great CMs - especially the naturalist and recreation CM Betsy.
3. We got a call about 15 minutes after we checked in to make sure our room was good and we had no concerns. :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Suggestions -
1. Tide Me Over did not open until 11am -making it impossible to get breakfast :sad2: I really love breakfast that I don't have to cook on vacation. With so much in the surrounding area shut down - it would have been great to be able to get hot breakfast at the resort.
2. The craft activities at HHI seem really expensive. The pillows were cool (and worth the $$) - but DD also made a simple frame that was not really worth 10$ (a better frame activity at Marriott HHI last summer was 4$). Over Spring Break I noticed the same thing - really expensive crafts. :confused3 We love the community hall activities, and the 3-10$ range seems fairly typical of most DVCs. HHI has been consistently 10$ and over for crafts. I've only got one kid that generally does crafts - so it's not a huge issue - but I can imagine that families with three kids would quickly feel the pinch at 10-15$ per kid per little craft.
One last picture:
Hooray for virtual scrabble buddies, my groovy vintage clamshell Mac laptop that DH Frankestined with a new hard drive to run current Mac OS, and the fireplace in Big Murghies Den.
Boo for having to go back to work in the morning! :surfweb:
http://nor.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324854.8fbe3f.jpg
Well - it was COLD!! There's a reason points are so darn cheap (our studio was a whopping SIX points per night). It's COLD!!!!! Let me tell you, the wind blowing off that marsh is COLD. So, we had these ideas that we would fish and play mini-golf - but it was really not enjoyable to be out in the wind. Even though there was not a cloud in the sky- there is really no way you could swim. We did not see a single brave soul in the water - although my crazy children would have gone in if I'd have let them.
A report with pictures:
We left Atlanta at about 9am New Years Day and even with a stop for lunch, made it to HHI by 2:00 - there was NO traffic. Our room was ready when we arrived and we enjoyed about 30 minutes of sort-of-mild temperatures (my son insisted on wearing a short-sleeve shirt and you can tell by the look on his face that it was not going to last!)
http://nor.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324863.92ed3c.jpg
The resort was still all decorated for Christmas (decorations came down January 2nd) and it was understated but very pretty - mostly greenery garlands and some white lights - plus a small tree in Big Murghies Den.
We went to a Meet the Naturalist presentation n sea turtles and did Geocaching and that was great fun (and no charge - I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of no-cost recreation activities). We went to dinner at Hudsons - and it was just as good as I remember it being. Some of the best seafood I've ever eaten anywhere - and I grew up in Florida. I can't recommend it highly enough. :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 I had the supremely wonderful crab cakes and dh had blackened stuffed shrimp - and we shared the oysters Rockefeller appetizer. Mmmmmmmmmmm.
We got back to the resort in time for the campfire - by now he temperature was dropping fast. For some reason, they could not get the campfire to actually light :confused3 - so it was not a very warm campfire - but I like the silly songs anyway.
We got up early on 1/2 because we were planning to go on a DVC excursion to a wildlife reserve - but it was FREEZING and there was horrible wind. We opted out, as did the other families. Instead, we did the Behind the Ears DVC tour of the resort - which was COLD but interesting. We went over to the beach house and ate lunch at Signals. The beach and day were pretty - but sooooooo cold that we did not last long.
http://nor.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324859.1e0b40.jpg
http://nor.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324856.054582.jpg
Back at the resort, we went to B'lou's magic show (the kids later rated this as a highlight of the trip). We planned to eat at Scott's Fish Market or somewhere else in Shelter Cove but it was totally shut down for the season (as was Kingfisher!) So there is NOTHING walking distance to the resort - which is a bummer. We had dinner at Nick's - which was good, but not as good as Hudson's.
This morning, we did a couple of activities before heading out. The kids made Disney pillows (a GREAT craft that I highly recommend) http://nor.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324850.b8e672.jpgand ............
(drumroll)............ we saw SHADOW!!!!!!!!
http://lrg.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324848.f185a9.jpg
We spent a shadow-less spring break at HHI last year, and I have to admit that I doubted her existence. But there she was.
All in all it was a sweet, albeit cold, trip. HHI does considerably shut down in the winter. I can't say that I would have been happy using a bunch of points or traveling for the trip - but for a whopping total of 12 points and about four hours in the car - it was totally worth it.
A few special kudos and suggestions:
Kudos -
1. We really appreciated B'lou Crabbe. We saw him last year, but with the spring break crowds, did not really have a chance to appreciate just how special and cool he is. He's a great CM and really makes HHI magical.
2. Mostly great CMs - especially the naturalist and recreation CM Betsy.
3. We got a call about 15 minutes after we checked in to make sure our room was good and we had no concerns. :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Suggestions -
1. Tide Me Over did not open until 11am -making it impossible to get breakfast :sad2: I really love breakfast that I don't have to cook on vacation. With so much in the surrounding area shut down - it would have been great to be able to get hot breakfast at the resort.
2. The craft activities at HHI seem really expensive. The pillows were cool (and worth the $$) - but DD also made a simple frame that was not really worth 10$ (a better frame activity at Marriott HHI last summer was 4$). Over Spring Break I noticed the same thing - really expensive crafts. :confused3 We love the community hall activities, and the 3-10$ range seems fairly typical of most DVCs. HHI has been consistently 10$ and over for crafts. I've only got one kid that generally does crafts - so it's not a huge issue - but I can imagine that families with three kids would quickly feel the pinch at 10-15$ per kid per little craft.
One last picture:
Hooray for virtual scrabble buddies, my groovy vintage clamshell Mac laptop that DH Frankestined with a new hard drive to run current Mac OS, and the fireplace in Big Murghies Den.
Boo for having to go back to work in the morning! :surfweb:
http://nor.zorpia.com/0/3957/25324854.8fbe3f.jpg