Disney has a beach resort? Count me in! Update - Day 6

[scottb8888]

Day 4?

 

[scottb8888]

How about day 4?

 

[aaarcher86]

Hey all. I'll have Day 4 and subsequent days up over the weekend. Sorry for the delay! I ended up with a really gnarly kidney infection last weekend and naturally, the medication they gave me I'm allergic to. So fun!

Thanks for hanging in there!

 

[scottb8888]

Oh bummer!

 

[glennbo123]

Following along and wanted to say that your report is awesome! I am about to start a HHI trip report myself...it'll be a little bit different perspective than yours since it'll be parents-only!

I laughed out loud when I saw the pictures of your daughter with the goggles on in that ice-cream-dropping contest. That was adorable! And good for her, secretly making a hole in the bottom of the cone. It's only fair!

We looked in on the Pirate Party the week we were there, literally caught the last minute of it since a storm rolled through and put the kaibosh on the proceedings, but the joint was jumpin' and it looked like everyone was having an absolute blast.

I made the same note about the drink station not opening at the Beach House until 11am. We were like, "wha?". But a cast member came to our rescue. More to come on that one.

Keep up the good work!

 

[aaarcher86]

Hooray! FINALLY able to catch this up. So sorry about the extended wait. We've had a pretty miserable past 2.5 weeks or so with illness, emergency surgeries, and just pure chaos! If you've seen me posting on the forums elsewhere and wondered why I hadn't been updating - that was why! I can forum from my iPad anywhere (in bed, soccer camp sidelines, dance class), but the trip report with pictures needed my desktop and my full attention!

Anyway....

Thursday we decided to spend an entire day at the resort and swim/hang out at the pool. The kids honestly seemed to enjoy the pool more than the beach... which is a tad annoying to say the least! I was just excited to have a full day where I didn't need to tirelessly make sure they weren't pulled out to sea, stung by a jellyfish, or snatched up by some black market dealing stranger.

We had planned on grilling out the hotdogs we had purchased our first day for lunch and heading to Lawton Stables and eating dinner at the Salty Dog Cafe since we didn't want to pay the entrance fee twice by doing them on separate days.

After spending a full day at the pool, I really wish we had spent more time there overall. They have pool games, music, and the lifeguards are incredibly fun in general. I'm used to pools where you need to arrive early or you're SOL for a chair, and I really didn't feel that way here. We made our way over to the pool around 10:00a and there were plenty of empty chairs. We didn't have any problem finding 4 of them together. My personal preference is to grab chairs on the right hand side when you walk in. The sun shines here in the day and it's nice and shady by the early evening when I've had my fill of Vitamin D!

I ended up getting a good bit of reading in, and I loved that the refillable mug station was just a few steps away. Some of the games that my kids refused to participate in were guessing the name of different song artists and some kind of plastic ball throwing game. I *think* the goal of the game was to have the most balls on the opposite side of the pool by the end of the time limit. What ended up being the goal was 'see how many times we can hit the lifeguards with the balls.'

I have some videos I'll try and upload, but they take an excruciating amount of time

We used the grill near the canoe and paddle board tour area to grill the hotdogs for lunch. It was a nice little area and there were several people learning how to paddle board that I shamelessly enjoyed watching plummet into the water or tip trying to get back onto their boards.

At around 4:00p we started talking about times for dinner. I ended up looking up Lawton Stables on my phone and realized that they close at 5:00p. We ended up changing our plans since we obviously wouldn't have time to get there at this point. We decided to stay at the pool for the evening and grab dinner in the room since we still had a bunch of food that needed to be eaten. The kids were having a blast, and honestly, being on a vacation with that kind of flexibility is a rare treat, so we ran with it.

We ended up having to drag the kids out of the pool and back to the room around 8:00p. They would stay there all night if we let them! We heated up some leftover hotdogs and pizza, made salads, and just kind of made a mash up of things to eat with what we had.

Cecil and I ended up running over to Broad Creek Mercantile and grabbing some ice cream. I went with the cookie ice cream sandwich for a bit of nostalgia. I haven't had one since high school when I'd eat these for lunch!

We ended up in bed pretty early which was completely welcome after being in the sun all day. I had to take several 'shade breaks' underneath the walkway at the pool which is where I ended up getting the bulk of my reading done... 'hey, I'll be over here ignoring you all. PEACE.'

We decided before bed that the last two days we would make sure to go to the beach in the morning through the early afternoon and we would attempt Lawton Stables/Salty Dog 2.0 on Friday knowing the time line for the stables now.

With that, we attempted to get a good night sleep on our cloud pillows while being saddened that our week in paradise was almost over.

 

[aaarcher86]

Following along and wanted to say that your report is awesome! I am about to start a HHI trip report myself...it'll be a little bit different perspective than yours since it'll be parents-only!

I laughed out loud when I saw the pictures of your daughter with the goggles on in that ice-cream-dropping contest. That was adorable! And good for her, secretly making a hole in the bottom of the cone. It's only fair!

We looked in on the Pirate Party the week we were there, literally caught the last minute of it since a storm rolled through and put the kaibosh on the proceedings, but the joint was jumpin' and it looked like everyone was having an absolute blast.

I made the same note about the drink station not opening at the Beach House until 11am. We were like, "wha?". But a cast member came to our rescue. More to come on that one.

Keep up the good work!

Hey thanks! I'm sure an all adult trip is a completely different experience! I'm excited to watch for your report!

 

[aaarcher86]

As planned, we were able to get up and out of our room and onto the beach before 10:00a. We also made sure to fill our drink mugs before we left, because thirst happens before 11:00a.

It was a lot of fun seeing the same kids from the pool on the beach. Skyler and Danica had made a few friends at the pool, and one of them happened to be on the beach with us today. They all played in the tide pool together and Danica spent a good 1.5 hours attempting to 'make mud' with sand and water... just, whatever man.

Cecil had been playing with his GoPro for a few days now. Today, however, took the cake. After micromanaging the kids while building a semi-impressive sand castle, Cecil decided to make a mini GoPro movie of a... and I quote... 'pterodactyl attacking the castle.'

Yes, friends. This is my life.

We left the beach about 12:45p. Earlier that morning, we had signed the kids up to do the tie dye Mickey T-shirt at 1:30p. The Jood took the kids over to Community Hall to work on the shirts while Cecil and I went back to the room and started getting ready for the rest of the day.



Sorry for the blur...



The directions said the longer we leave the shirts in the bag the more vibrant the colors would be. We left them in the bag to soak until we got home on Sunday - so a bit over 48 hours. I was impressed with the color and that the Mickey head shape stayed put instead of expanding.

Once the kids were showered and ready to go we took off towards Sea Pines.

http://www.hiltonhead-sc.net/hiltonheadattractions/south-beach-marina.php

I was really excited to be back since Lawton Stables is one of my favorite memories from the few days I'd spent in Hilton Head with Cecil years ago. I LOVE animals, and I grew up riding horses and working in barns. If there is something horse related to be done, I'm there!

We ended up lost in this place for a good 20 minutes BOTH times we've been just driving around in circles. It's... infuriating. It's not difficult, I think it's just us...

http://www.lawtonstables.com/

 

[aaarcher86]

The first thing I saw when we pulled up was my much loved retired Budweiser horse, Harley!









Harley has become kind of a jerk over the last few years to the mini horses he's pastured with, but whatever. He's still muh boy!

Cecil's favorite dude was still here, too! Meet Elvis...





Callie had grown so much over the last couple of years!

In 2010...



And now...





Lots of other fun animals to pet and feed. Carrots are for non-saddled horses only. They do have grain you can purchase for the other animals since they don't want them eating carrots.







Getting personal...





This chicken REALLY wanted those carrots though. He was attacking me with a vengeance!



The kids wanted to ride the ponies. It was $10 for two laps around the farm. The limits are 7 years old and 55 lbs. Skyler is 8 years old and 35 lbs. They didn't have a problem with her being 8 years old. I think the weight/age limits typically go hand in hand with normal sized 7 year olds. Since she's special needs and we've been looking at doing equine therapy with her, I was really glad she would get a chance to ride the pony so I could gauge her reaction.

Skyler got to ride Popsicle...





And Danica was on Dusty...







We stayed for about an hour just petting and feeding every animal we could get our hands on. Our original plan had been to walk around Harbour Town for a bit and go up to the top of the lighthouse. Unfortunately, the weather turned rainy and gloomy just as we were leaving Lawton Stables, so we made our way straight over to Salty Dog.

The wait was about an hour, so we walked around the few shops that around the restaurant. There a little shop that has a few Macaws for viewing.





The desire to pet and hold the birds was great... but alas, no touching allowed.

Eating at Salty Dog was fine. We had determined last time we ate there that the food itself isn't worth the hassle, but it just feels like some place we have to eat while we're there. I don't think we'll be back. I'm sure there are MUCH better places to get food in Harbour Town. I think Salty Dog would be a ton more fun with just adults, going early, and sitting on the patio. They have a live musician singing covers. Grabbing some drinks and just relaxing listening to the music would be worth the effort, but it's just not some place I'd go strictly for the food.

Since the weather was crap we went directly back to the resort after we finished with dinner. We made it back in time for the kids to participate in the campfire again. The 'movie under the stars' that night was... drum roll please... FROZEN. So naturally, the kids just HAD to stay for that, too. It's not like they haven't watched it 210,000 times already...

The kids were really excited that the movie was shown in the outdoor theater area since the first time it was in Community Hall. Skyler, unfortunately, is super sweet just like her momma...

... and she was eaten alive by the mosquitoes. I'd highly recommend bug spray if you've got it. The resort might even have some handy to use, but since The Jood was in charge of this event I have no first hand knowledge.

We all hit the sack when the kids came back, sad that our last day was upon us...

 

[scottb8888]

Great report, A!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[glennbo123]

If you've seen me posting on the forums elsewhere and wondered why I hadn't been updating - that was why! I can forum from my iPad anywhere (in bed, soccer camp sidelines, dance class), but the trip report with pictures needed my desktop and my full attention!

I can relate! It's not the same at all. You have to have multiple browser windows open, iPhone with trip notes at your side, Word open, cameras, etc. etc. Whew!

I'd highly recommend bug spray if you've got it. The resort might even have some handy to use, but since The Jood was in charge of this event I have no first hand knowledge.

Yes, when we were there, before they started the movie, the cast members asked if anybody needed any bug spray. Sorry if I got the Jood in trouble.

 

[aaarcher86]

Our last full day... BOO HISS!!!!

Since it was our last day of beach time we made sure to get up and out the door early (Filling our drink mugs at the resort first)

I was really REALLY pleased with how the weather turned out for our trip. The entire week prior had shown nothing but storms the entire week. Thankfully, it really only rained a few times, and typically when we were doing something indoors anyway. Take that mother nature!

It was a pretty typical beach day. There was attempted mud making, sand dollars, sand castles, a tide pool face plant, and of course many heavy eye rolls directed at my man child.

There was a group of girls that kept heading out to sea with a boogie board, and coming back in with sand dollars piled on top of it. I did the old 'let me make a comment loud enough for them to hear' technique and they gave me some advice on how to find my own.

'Danica, hopefully since it's our last day we'll find some sand dollars *louder than necessary*'

*friendly sand dollar huntress approaches* 'if you head out there to about your waste you can feel a ton with your toes. Just dig a little bit into the sand with your foot and you'll flip them up. They're everywhere.'

'OMG, thanks! That was such unexpected advice!'

Since I don't go into the ocean because of my irrational fear that an undiscovered sea monster will grab me by the ankle and pull me out to a terrible sea death (Hey! We don't know what's out there! It's a mystery!), I sent Cecil with my newly acquired advice. And behold...



The tips were spot on! Once you know what to feel for you apparently can't stop finding those little guys. We showed the kids, let them touch the sand dollars a bit, and put them back. We aren't murderers.

Skyler really didn't take to the sea. She really didn't even enjoy the tide pool as much as I'd hoped, so it was nice to see her getting into it a bit more our last day.



Unsuccessful mud making... (and her bottoms have a skirt on them. It's not a diaper )







There were a few small dogs on the beach every now and again. I saw several people walking them in the resort complex that houses the beach house, but I wasn't really sure what the rule was on dogs. I thought I had read that during the summer they were only allowed at certain 'off peak' times, but who knows. But it did make me miss my dogs even more



The Blue Heeler and Shepherd on the left are mine We just took them to my friend's lake house and they LOVED the water. I can't wait to get them on a real beach when we finally make our big move South.

I said my farewell to the beach with a tuna fish sandwich. They ended up having the recipe in a binder at Tide Me Over, so I went ahead and took a peek. There's really not a lot to it. I'm not sure why it tastes so amazing, but considering it didn't have all of the ingredients listed I'm just going to assume they're leaving the super special awesome secret ingredient out.

The kids played at the pool for the entire afternoon and evening. It was genuinely one of the most relaxing days we had at the Resort. We didn't have crafts, movies, campfires, or anything that we had a set time for which was nice.

I ended up getting a ton of reading in at the pool. The chairs were being utilized a ton more today than they had been previously in the week. I just assumed it was a combination of people overlapping last days and first days. We pulled a few loungers into the shady area by the kid pool and enjoyed the peace.

One of the pool games that day was a slide race. Whoever had the fastest time won. There are different age groups, including an adult group. Since there weren't many ladies participating, Lifeguard Tim would ask me to sign up every time I walked by. No, sir. This swimsuit was not meant for sliding. It was meant for lounging, tanning, and reading It DID look like fun though. If my suit was slide compatible I would have given it a whirl.

When we were refilling our mugs and using the restroom before heading back to the room an incredibly large family showed up at the pool - probably 15 or so people of varying ages. While Cecil and I were people watching on the balcony and waiting for the kids to finish up a 4ish year old girl with a life jacket on managed to fall (or jump.. it all happened so fast!) into the pool. One of the adults screamed and jumped into the pool to rescue her fully clothed. It was... I'll be honest... hysterical. The little girl had been in the life jacket and was smiling and kicking for the few seconds she'd been in the pool. The hysterics of it all were completely over the top. There was just genuinely no need for it. Even the woman was laughing at herself when it was all said and done. But it was a fantastically entertaining people watching moment, which I live for!

We ended up grabbing Giuseppi's to go again and eating in the room once we were done with the pool. The Cobb Salad was so good last time I went with that again. Unfortunately, the first time I had asked for Italian dressing, and they must have given me balsamic vinaigrette by mistake. This time they correctly gave me the Italian, and I much preferred the balsamic, but it was still delicious.

Nobody else really wanted pizza again so Cecil ended up getting the chicken penne alfredo. We ordered the kids the cheese lasagna and The Jood got a salad again as well. Mozzarella sticks were ordered, but not shared. And I'm not even sorry.

The kids didn't really care for the lasagna. Skyler is hit or miss with most things in general, but Danica not enjoying it kind of threw me. She said 'the cheese is different.' So she either wasn't feeling the ricotta or the provolone - I'm guessing the provolone since she's had ricotta before (and who doesn't like ricotta cheese?!). Cecil wasn't overly excited about his alfredo, so Danica finished that up for him and he and Skyler reheated some of the leftover pizza we still had.

I had gone to the front desk earlier to grab an activity schedule for Sunday. There was a shell making craft at 10:00a that we decided to sign them up for. We figured we'd get up early, grab breakfast at Tide Me Over, and The Jood could take the kids to the craft while Cecil and I loaded up the car. Cecil had been jonesing for Tide Me Over's hash browns and their breakfast sandwich for a few days, so he was pretty stoked about the plan.

We all took the time after dinner to pack up as much as we could. Typically we leave to head home early in the morning so we're back by the evening. Since we were getting home Sunday and no one had any plans we decided to take our time, but still head out by 12:00p.

While we were packing up, Cecil was over the moon at how many little sea salt Mickey soaps we had left to take home. I don't know why he loves that stuff so much, but if anyone knows where to purchase it let me know! The resort has a huge stock of shampoos and soaps and things in the gift shop area, but no sea salt soap bars.

At this point in the vacation we all kind of wanted to be home. It was a weird feeling. Cecil and I wanted to be home, but we wanted our home to be at the beach Soon. SOON. It will happen. Over the week Cecil decided that the he'd rather relocate to the Bluffton/HHI area over Myrtle Beach. And I can't blame him. Myrtle has tons of fun stuff to do, but that'd get old after awhile. HHI felt like home, just at the beach. They had the same stores, it wasn't loaded with tourist attractions... it just was calm. Exactly what we're looking for.

 

[KristiMc]

Great report. Thanks for sharing your week with us. I agree that the weather was nice that week. I too was weary of the forecast and for us it only rained on Sunday when we checked-in. We left Thursday morning and drove down to Port Canaveral for a 3-night cruise on the Dream. The forecast was not great for that part of our trip but it only rained for the sailaway and then our days on Nassau and Castaway Cay were beautiful.

 

[ken2]

1Rule #1about sand dollars at hilton head and tybee,they are protected at the moment due to all the tourists taking them.You will be fined if caught with them out of the water.Rule #2 be carefull of the sharks.We are seeing sightings daily!My daughter and her bff were 2ft apart in the water when a 5ft bullshark swam up between them pushing them down.Rule #3,slow down and enjoy youreself.You're on island time! #ISLANDLIFE

 

[ols386]

I've really enjoyed your trip report.

Looks like you had a grand time. Your kids are just so adorable.

 

[buzzrelly]

Awesome trip report! Thanks for sharing! We are going to HHI for the first time this August and I am even more excited now

 

[kniquy]

Wonderful trip report! I almost felt like I was with you and your family. We want to do an add on of points, but I have been torn with adding on at our home AKV or HHI. I kind of figured that on off years from WDW we could do hilton head. Your report makes the resort sound amazing and just what we would want for a beach/resort trip. Do they always have that many activities going on there?

 

[AliceNDinah]

I know this is EXTREMELY old, but I just love this TR. Aaarcher86 has a real talent for writing!!!

 

[SL6827]

Where is aaarcher86 now?

 

[AliceNDinah]

I wish I knew. She is very entertaining and fun to read!