2013 Hilton Head lovers thread

[kristenrice]

We just booked a 2 bedroom for the end of April. This will be our first time to the resort and also the area. We'll be driving from the Detroit area and splitting the drive over two days. Any recommendations on good stopping points? A friend suggested Knoxville.

We drive down from the west side of the mitten and stop in Gatlinburg, TN. In 2011, we left early Friday morning and arrived in Gatlinburg around 10pm. Then, we slept in on Saturday and spent the day in the GSM national park. We got a good night of sleep and then headed on to HHI on Sunday morning.

This year, we were planning on doing the same thing, but we are bringing my parents with us. My parents aren't too interested in spending a day in Gatlinburg so they offered to pay cash to stay Saturday night at HHI. So now, the plan is to leave early Friday morning, drive to Gatlinburg and then get back on the road early Saturday morning so we can be at HHI early Saturday afternoon.

We leave in 35 days!

 

[LPnerd]

http://http://www.thepig.net/ I am a member and a full time resident here on hilton head . wanted to share that the famous PIG grocery store now has a click and shop option. here is the link to the store website, and you will see the click and shop option icon on top right of webpage. you can have your entire order ready to go, instead of standing cart to cart in the ilse of the best grocery store on the cove. The produce section has a bunch of grab and go stuff , easy for vacations...
when you have millions of vacationers together with all the folks that live and work here, during season avoid the grocery store as much as possible.

 

[okw2012]

We just booked a 2 bedroom for the end of April.

Great! If you give me your exact date I will add you to the list on post #2.

Restaurant and island activity recommendations are always appreciated!!

There is a separate thread on HHI restaurants which you might want to check out. Also I have compiled an alphabetical list of things to do while at HHI earlier in this thread. You might want to check that too!

 

[okw2012]

http://www.thepig.net/ I am a member and a full time resident here on hilton head . wanted to share that the famous PIG grocery store now has a click and shop option. here is the link to the store website, and you will see the click and shop option icon on top right of webpage. you can have your entire order ready to go, instead of standing cart to cart in the ilse of the best grocery store on the cove. The produce section has a bunch of grab and go stuff , easy for vacations...
when you have millions of vacationers together with all the folks that live and work here, during season avoid the grocery store as much as possible.

Can they deliver to the resort?

 

[mickeyplanner]

http://http://www.thepig.net/ I am a member and a full time resident here on hilton head . wanted to share that the famous PIG grocery store now has a click and shop option. here is the link to the store website, and you will see the click and shop option icon on top right of webpage. you can have your entire order ready to go, instead of standing cart to cart in the ilse of the best grocery store on the cove. The produce section has a bunch of grab and go stuff , easy for vacations...
when you have millions of vacationers together with all the folks that live and work here, during season avoid the grocery store as much as possible.

When you talk about the busy season and things being cart to cart, what months are your referring to? Also is there truly traffic problems on the island? We will be there June 2013.

 

[foticam]

Thank you so much for this information! Love it!!!!

 

[LJC1861]

Just booked a one bedroom unit for September 22-27 for our annual "get away and just relax" vacation at our favorite DVC location. One of these days we are just going to have to get around to adding on points with an HHI contract so we have the 11 month advantage.

Love HHI!!!!!!

Linda

 

[VMS]

We will hopefully be checking in on April 14th and checking out on the 20th. Will be our 12th year, but right now the school district has already taken away the Monday and Tuesday from our vacation due to Hurricane Sandy and snow days. If any more days get taken away we will definitely be reconsidering, and even as it is we are not definite. Fingers crossed. Has been a tough year already here and we really could use a vacation!

 

[RobDoc]

We just booked a 2 bedroom for the end of April. This will be our first time to the resort and also the area. We'll be driving from the Detroit area and splitting the drive over two days. Any recommendations on good stopping points? A friend suggested Knoxville.

We're traveling with my parents and our soon to be 2 year old daughter. Very much looking forward to a relaxing week and warm weather (or at least no snow!)

We're planning a day trip to Savannah and my mom would like to get to Biltmore but I haven't even looked to see if that's possible.

We're also planning a trip to VWL in September, also in a 2 bedroom.

Very excited for our upcoming trip!!

Restaurant and island activity recommendations are always appreciated!!

Knoxville should be around 1/2 way for your trip. Depending on when you leave, you might enjoy getting a little farther. Asheville, where the Biltmore is located is about 90 minutes beyond Knoxville and on your way to HH. You'll be taking I-40 to Asheville and then I-26 to I-95 (near Charleston) and about 2 hours more to HH.

Have a great trip!

 

[RobDoc]

When you talk about the busy season and things being cart to cart, what months are your referring to? Also is there truly traffic problems on the island? We will be there June 2013.

Traffic is at is busiest during the summer months (mid June - August) - espcially Saturday afternoons trying to drive onto the island from the interstate (Sat is a very high check-n day for non-DVC summer guests). Rt 278, the main road thru the island, is a very busy highway especially in the summer months. Another busy time is during the Heritage Golf Classic in Aprirl - but mainly for that week. Restaurants will be really busy during that time (and all thru the summer).

That said, the traffic is still manageable if you try to avoid the busiest times of the day. Beach parking lots fill up quickly during the summer months so walking, biking or taking the Dunes Buggy (a free van service for those in the Palmetto Dunes area to all venues there) is a great way to avoid the heavy traffic and parking issues. The DVC Resort offers a free shuttle service from about 10am - 4pm between the Beach House and Resort.

 

[Chelley00]

We just booked for June 22-28. So excited. It's our first trip to HHI.

 

[watkinsme]

We had a great time on our trip in Jan. I have tons of photos to post. It was cold, but we still had lots of fun!

 

[jmpellet]

We will hopefully be checking in on April 14th and checking out on the 20th. Will be our 12th year, but right now the school district has already taken away the Monday and Tuesday from our vacation due to Hurricane Sandy and snow days. If any more days get taken away we will definitely be reconsidering, and even as it is we are not definite. Fingers crossed. Has been a tough year already here and we really could use a vacation!

We will be there the same time! No loss of vacation days for us as of yet -- fingers crossed!!

 

[acourtwdw]

We've been here since Friday Feb. 22. Leaving tomorrow. We had a great weekend and thanks to the friendly staff here at the resort. Here are a couple of things we found out:

The Piggly Wiggly is way overpriced. Hit the WalMart superstore at Indigo Run instead.

Everything closes early here at the resort this time of year. The quick serve and the store both closed by 6pm.

Savannah is fun even if it is raining. Wet Willies is an adult Slurpee bar on the river.

This place is great and you may never want to leave.

 

[wheniwasyoung]

The Piggly Wiggly is way overpriced. Hit the WalMart superstore at Indigo Run instead.

Everything closes early here at the resort this time of year. The quick serve and the store both closed by 6pm.

Savannah is fun even if it is raining. Wet Willies is an adult Slurpee bar on the river.

Thanks, very helpful!
The previous post about the Piggly was probably from the store manager.

I do need to find a good liquor store that sells more than Grey Goose and Canadian Mist.

Looks like a cool week for us next week but still looking forward to our first visit.

 

[acourtwdw]

Also there are pool/beach towels in the room. They are regular beach towel size not little ones like at WDW. We brought some from home but didn't need them. You can get fresh ones at the pool.

 

[wheniwasyoung]

Also there are pool/beach towels in the room. They are regular beach towel size not little ones like at WDW. We brought some from home but didn't need them. You can get fresh ones at the pool.

You actually got to use the pool? It's not to cold? Must be heated.

 

[acourtwdw]

You actually got to use the pool? It's not to cold? Must be heated.

We are from MI and it was 65 degrees yesterday. So we went to the beach house. Dipped our toes in the ocean then to the pool there. The pools are heated to 82.. It was cold getting out. I have a sunburn from just those few hours.

 

[VMS]

We will be there the same time! No loss of vacation days for us as of yet -- fingers crossed!!

You are lucky . . . we lost a ton and the April break is the last to go . . . used up the allotment of extra days built in, added on to the end of the year in June, made a Friday of President's weekend a half day rather than off. Looks like we are good this week with the weather, but still have a few more weeks to worry about. Fingers crossed for both of us!

I see you are from the Northeast too! Do you drive down?

 

[disnewbie108]

We are going to HHI Labor Day weekend. 8/30-9/2. Our second trip there. We fell in love our first trip.