A practically perfect DVC HHI beach trip with a side order of ghosts & drag queens

[Disneygrl36]

I'm sorry you didn't get the view you wanted but it does look like a lovely place.

I love your appropriate beach t-shirt

Shadow is adorable!

ETA: I missed the MP update! I was thinking after I read this "I thought she said next was MP?" I can't wait to see it as they are finally coming to Boston next year!

Glad you went back & found the MP update. I am glad you will get to see it since you are such a MP fan. You will love it.

Wow, that villa looks very nice and spacious! Sorry you weren't happy with your view though

It is very spacious. We got over not really having a view because we were really not in the room except at night anyway.

I so want to go to HH now, too bad we are not DVC members. Sorry to hear about your room. They should have upgraded you! We have a Harris Teeter across the street from our condo! It is a very nice store, definitely not a Wal-Mart. I can't wait to hear more about your vacation!

We love Hilton Head. We really want to move there. What I love about grocery stores in SC is they have wine right in the grocery store.

Thank you so much for your report and pictures. We will be checking in for the first time July 9th, and are getting very excited. Can't wait for more.

Glad you are enjoying it. More to come.

 

[Disneygrl36]

We woke up around 8 & ate breakfast in our room. It was a bit overcast, but we decided to drive on over to the Beach House so we could take a walk on the beach.

I took the good camera so I could get some good pictures of the Beach House which is Disney's property on the beach at Palmetto Dunes so that DVC guests can have beach access since the resort is on the marsh.

I am really glad I did because there was nobody there yet so I got some great pictures & we also got to have a nice chat with the lifeguard Mike who was very friendly.
You have to use your room key to get access to the Beach House.

Once inside you see a big pool with lots of chairs & a little squirty water play area for little kids. There is also a ping pong table & foos ball table.

They also have this great indoor room where people can go to get out of the sun & relax in the a/c.

They have a nice bathroom with lockers & showers.

Signals is the CS restaurant. We didn't utilize this during our trip at all so I never went inside.

There is also a small arcade that I can see kids really enjoying when they are getting bored with the pool or the beach.

This is the bar area which wasn't open yet. We did utilize this later in the day.

There is a pretty nice view of the beach from the pool deck.

We headed on down to the beach after watching some pelicans in flight.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip.

So now we headed down the beach.

Looking back at the Beach House from the beach...it's really hidden except for the boardwalk.

We ended up taking about an hour long brisk walk loving every minute of feeling the ocean breezes & the sand beneath our feet. A nice lady stopped & asked if she could take our picture.

More pelicans flying in formation.

Eric enjoying his morning walk.

Continued in next post.....

 

[Disneygrl36]

After really enjoying our time at the beach, we went back to the room & put on our swimsuits for our first trip to the pool. I did not take the camera this day so you'll have to wait for pool pictures for another day. (Gotta keep you interested somehow). We enjoyed the slide, swimming in the pool & sitting in the hot tub. With all our morning activity, Eric decided he was hungrier than for just a sandwich in the room for lunch, so we headed over to Shelter Cove for lunch. It was looking overcast & like rain was likely & I said maybe we should drive. Eric said nah it'll be ok. As we got half way over the bridge it started to rain & I gave him our much used quote from Sense & Sensibility that Margaret says to Marianne's answer to her that it won't rain on their walk "You always say that & it always does." Oh well, we wouldn't melt.
So here is our soggy view of Shelter Cove harbor from our table at San Miguels.

We ordered frozen margaritas-mine was mango & Eric's was Caribbean & they brought us some yummy chips & salsa.

I ordered steak fajitas & Eric had a combo. It was REALLY good Mexican food. We walked back across to the resort in the rain & decided we'd go to the movie. We went to see Letters to Juliet & it was really good. We have never been to a movie on vacation & a rainy day seemed like the perfect time to go see a movie we had wanted to see anyway. When we came out of the movie, the sun had come out a little bit, so we decided to drive on over to the Beach House again & sit out on the beach. It was overcast & a bit windy, but it was very peaceful & there was hardly anyone else out at the beach. After we had been out sitting for an hour, it started to rain a bit so we went back up to the Beach House & we literally had the whole place to ourselves. The snack place closes at 4pm & the bar closes at 6pm so literally there was no one there....no employees, no guests. We had fun imagining that it was our own private beach house. We played ping pong & foos ball & just generally enjoyed the peace & quiet.
Then we headed back to our room & got cleaned up & relaxed awhile before getting ready for dinner. We went to another one of our favorites on the island Marley's Island Grill.

Not my photo as I always forget to take one of the outside.
It is a really cool Jamaican/island themed restaurant.

They have fabulous sangria so we ordered a pitcher of red sangria which we throughly enjoyed.

We both had a nice salad which we later regretted.
I had the fish special which was locally caught cobia that was caught & fileted that day. It was the most delicious fish!!!!!!!!!! It had a crab meat topping & was served with island rice & veggies. It got

Eric had a seafood combo which had fish, stuffed shrimp & scallops. Neither one of us remembered the big veggie serving or we wouldn't have ordered a salad. We were way too stuffed for dessert.
After dinner, we headed back to the room & just relaxed for the evening. It was a great, relaxing day at the beach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Up next.....Marsh walking & beach chilling

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

We check in on Monday & I can't wait! We (DH, 2 kids, & I) went in 2008 and loved the resort. This time we're taking DH's parents and his sister and her 3 kids. It'll be a different experience, but hopefully a good one this time as well. I may have to sneak over to San Miguel's for a margarita or two - those look yummy!

 

[Disneygrl36]

We check in on Monday & I can't wait! We (DH, 2 kids, & I) went in 2008 and loved the resort. This time we're taking DH's parents and his sister and her 3 kids. It'll be a different experience, but hopefully a good one this time as well. I may have to sneak over to San Miguel's for a margarita or two - those look yummy!

Hope you have a wonderful trip. The margaritas were really good & refreshing.

I notice you are from east tn....we are too!

 

[Aburns8]

Don't you just love the beach. I am reading this after spending a couple hours on the beach myself. I love the pelicans, I am always pointing them out to Brian. Another great update! You will have this one done in no time!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Great, now I'm in need of a beach trip!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Don't you just love the beach. I am reading this after spending a couple hours on the beach myself. I love the pelicans, I am always pointing them out to Brian. Another great update! You will have this one done in no time!

I am jealous that you live so close to the beach now. No updates until at least Monday as I am working 2 12hr shifts this weekend.

Great, now I'm in need of a beach trip!

Well maybe you can talk the Grump into that.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

Hope you have a wonderful trip. The margaritas were really good & refreshing.

I notice you are from east tn....we are too!

We're in Maryville. Where are you located?

Glad you had a great trip! I ready to go!

 

[BigEeyore]

Enjoying your report! Thanks for sharing it with us.
I am from the Atlanta area so I like seeing a visitor's view of the city. The Fox is really something special. I have eaten at Woodfire before, but it was prior to Kevin taking it over. We need to go back!
Ah, wonderful HHI...we are making our second visit over labor day. Something about that place just makes you relax! Even though I love WDW, it isn't exactly relaxing. Looking forward to more!

 

[Disneygrl36]

We're in Maryville. Where are you located?

Glad you had a great trip! I ready to go!

I am from South Knoxville originally! We live in Jefferson City now!

Enjoying your report! Thanks for sharing it with us.
I am from the Atlanta area so I like seeing a visitor's view of the city. The Fox is really something special. I have eaten at Woodfire before, but it was prior to Kevin taking it over. We need to go back!
Ah, wonderful HHI...we are making our second visit over labor day. Something about that place just makes you relax! Even though I love WDW, it isn't exactly relaxing. Looking forward to more!

I really like Atlanta-there's so much to do. My friend lives in Newnan. You should go back to Woodfire. It was great. I agree there is nothing relaxing about a WDW vacay, but the beach restores my soul.

Hope to have an update tomorrow-recuperating today from 2 very busy days working in the ICU.

 

[5forDiz]

......I just mapquested directions from the DVC address to our hotel in Savannah....I think it took us US-16 or 17, but it is a very quick trip over to Savannah & definetly do-able as a day trip.

Thanks ! I'll check it out, I think I recall these routes when I last took a quick look on google maps; we'd much prefer a leisurely scenic route to I95 anyway Enjoying your continuing TR & you've mentioned Marley's Island Grill as one of your favorites, we've haven't tried it as of yet but it is on our to do list so I'm wondering what you would suggest as not to be missed on menu and also is making a reservation a good idea ? ( we'll be there in August)

Thanks again for all your insights !
~laura

 

[Disneygrl36]

Thanks ! I'll check it out, I think I recall these routes when I last took a quick look on google maps; we'd much prefer a leisurely scenic route to I95 anyway Enjoying your continuing TR & you've mentioned Marley's Island Grill as one of your favorites, we've haven't tried it as of yet but it is on our to do list so I'm wondering what you would suggest as not to be missed on menu and also is making a reservation a good idea ? ( we'll be there in August)

Thanks again for all your insights !
~laura

Hi Laura! Glad you are enjoying the report.
I had the fish special this time & I recommend if they have a local caught fish special try it! I had the cobia & it was delicious. I also like the skull creek casserole-it has a variety of things like shrimp, scallops etc. The supa dupa grouper is also supposed to be very good-it was what I was going to have until he told me about the special. The sangria is also if you enjoy adult beverages. They have an ice cream shop that I think is homemade ice cream but we are always too stuffed to try it. I don't think they take ressies unless it's a big party but you could try it. It was so early in the season that we didn't worry about it.

 

[Disneygrl36]

We woke up around 8:30 & ate breakfast in the room. Eric went to work out in the fitness center & I took a photo taking tour of the resort.
Cute Disney details.....

This is the area where you can wait for the shuttle over to the beach.

My attempt at artistic boardwalk shots.
One looking towards the main building.

One looking towards the path to the pool & the other cottages.

A couple of many of the great hammock areas scattered throughout the resort.

Great theming abounds with cool signs on the buildings.

Rooms on the way to the pool area.

More cute signs....

And a cute lizard friend.

The pool & slide.

Hidden Mickey near the slide.

Hot tub

Shuffle board court.

Love this signpost!!!!!!

Then I walked out the pier & talked to a guy that was fishing out there. He had caught a spotted bass & some blue crabs that day.

Kayak tour going out---we really wanted to do this but just didn't have enough time.

Looking back toward the resort from the fishing pier.

The store & quick service restaurant area.

Where Eric was while I was being a photojournalist.

What he was doing......

cont in next post.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Continuing my tour around the resort, I saw some more wildlife.

And more cute Disney theming.

This guy was adorable.

A view of the pier from another vantage point.

More signage.

The main buildings across the marsh.

Pretty bird.........this place is a bird watchers paradise.

Funny one.

So after we both got back to the room we relaxed for a little while. Then we ate some sandwiches for lunch. We slathered ourselves with sunscreen & headed for the beach.

We took our chairs & umbrella & got set up.

Then we enjoyed a nice afternoon just relaxing on the beach enjoying the sights & the birds & relaxing.

Lvoe the pelicans in this shot.

Looking down the beach.

Pelican after diving for his lunch.

I took some video of the peaceful ocean.

Also some of the pelicans & birds fishing out in the ocean. I just love watching them dive bomb into the water, but wonder how they don't have a headache.

I took a pottie break up at the beach house & came back to the beach with frozen bahama mama's for us to enjoy. That was refreshing & relaxing. We took another long walk up the beach too. So after spending about 4 hours at the beach, we decided to head back to the pool at the resort.
We had fun on the slide.

Kiddie pool area for those who have little tots.

Then, we went back to the room & enjoyed the big jetted tub with a Basin bath bomb. Ahhhhhhhhhhh now that is bliss!
We went to Kurama Japanese restaurant for dinner.
Inside

We both had filet & shrimp & it was extra special delicious. Not sure if it was because we had been outside most all day, but we were both starving. I could still only eat 1/2 of mine but Eric inhaled his. He had my leftovers later for a snack.
When we got back from dinner, we walked over to the store at the resort & got a Mickey Premium bar for dessert & watched the sunset from the pier.

The sunset was gorgeous......

After sunset, we went back to the room & watched Glee. I know I am a Gleek if I am watching it even on vacation. We had drinks & popcorn & just enjoyed chilling in the room.

What a wonderful day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Up next---walking in the marsh & hearing about pirates.

 

[BigEeyore]

Nice photo tour of the resort! I absolutely fell in love with HHI when we were there in 2008 - I have been in search of the perfect HHI contract to add-on ever since! We'll be there over labor day and I cannot wait!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Nice photo tour of the resort! I absolutely fell in love with HHI when we were there in 2008 - I have been in search of the perfect HHI contract to add-on ever since! We'll be there over labor day and I cannot wait!

Thanks! It is just such a beautiful place. Our first DVC contract was a HHI resale. I don't just want to vacation there........I love it so much I want to move there.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Love the photo tour!

Ahhhhhh, your day the beach sounds heavenly When I finished reading your update I looked over at Don and told him I needed a beach vacation. He said there wasn't one close and he'd take me to the lake instead - yeah, soooooo not the same

 

[UGAFan0829]

Awesome updates! I've been looking for myself or one of us in your pics...LOL! Y'all ate at some really cool places that we didn't even hear of! Glad you enjoyed your day at the beach. And I enjoyed seeing pics of the inside of the beach house...we never took the time to walk in there the day that we were over, so I wandered what it looked like! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Aburns8]

Loved the update Melanie! You took some great pics. I love all of the signs. You really documented all of the special touches that Disney puts out there. I hope you didn't work too hard this past weekend