I Told You Driving Was Bad For Your Health! *2/2* NEW TRIP REPORT LINK P102

[podsnel]

Geez! I remember when you texted me about this- but how horribly stressful for you while Denny was being checked out. I am so glad you extended your stay!

Your TR is making me miss HHI so much! We're going to go summer 2015 again, but WOW, does that seem too far away- just focusing on cruises before Tyler turns 18- after that, we are going back to HHI. A LOT. It still is one of my favorite places on earth, and I know what you mean about the trees- and the moss. I can't ever imagine growing tired of either.

Thanks again for inviting me over here!

 

[Leshaface]

Ugh, I hate reading knowing something bad is going to happen. I'm so happy that it wasn't extremely serious

I hope your interview went well!

 

[MEK]

I had already read most of this story before, but still it is very scary to read it all again, even knowing the outcome! I'm sure even now it has to be unnerving just to tell it all again, but so glad everything ended up working out with the best possible solution! Just glad they were able to do a good job for you locally. I can't imagine the stress you would have been under having to load up and drive back home under those conditions!

I do get a little unnerved when I think about it and how it could have ended differently on several counts. We were very fortunate it worked out the way it did. Packing up and driving home was the absolute last thing I wanted to do.

I was dreading this part of your trip report, since I knew what happened. It's hard to hear it a second time. I'm so, so glad that you had enough knowledge to insist on the medical care that you knew was appropriate to the situation, and glad that the end result wasn't a more invasive surgery.

You summed it up really well, but I have to admit there were a few minutes when I was really second guessing myself. I just knew I had to do the right thing.

I'm really hoping this was the lowest point in your trip and it gets better again from here!

It most definitely does.

Wow, the second time reading about this is worst than the first. I think you were an amazing wife and kept your head and your wits about you. I can't believe you had to go through that alone. So glad it had a happy ending.

Jill in CO

Thanks Jill. I just tried to separate myself from everything emotionally. I also had C&C who were very supportive. They were amazing and very flexible with everything. I'm glad it was a happy ending too.

You really handled that all so well, I'm so glad you stuck with your gut and insisted on more tests before he was discharged!

I just knew he needed a further workup and if he didn't get it we would be back there within the day.

It's not the first time I've heard this story but its so nerve wracking still.
So glad it turned out well! Scary scary stuff.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Doctors are human and she was following their protocol. It's just an example of how you really need to talk to the patient/family to get all the details and get the family history.

WOW! I knew it was coming and it punched me in the gut. I can not imagine how you felt. As a nurse practitioner, I can relate to being in that situation and away from all the people you know and trust-ugh!

It was just so ironic to be in that situation. What are the chances? At least if I had been home I would have known exactly what to do and who to call. He could have had a cath the same day.

So glad it ended with a stent. And hurray for extending the stay! Your pictures are great and making me more excited for our uypcoming trip!

I am too! That was the biggest relief.

And, extending our stay was a bonus. I'm going to write more about that in the next update.

Joining in! Wow - what an update! How scary. I'm so glad you stood up for DH's health and insisted on the stress test.

Darla! Thanks so much for joining in! Great to see you here.

Yes, it was scary and other than the ER decision, everything worked out as well as it could have.

MaryEllen, even though I know about this ahead of time, I can't imagine the fright you must have had going through this far from home and all by yourself (when Mark had his heart attack and had to go in for his stent, I had my brother with me at 2:00 in the morning). You wouldn't know it at all seeing Denny now. And I'm so glad it worked out.

Ugh - I think it stinks that so many heart attacks are in the wee hours of the morning. That had to be so frightening for you. At least Denny didn't have a heart attack (although he would have had we gone home).

Denny is doing great now and it really did all work out in the best possible way.

Love your pictures, as always.

Thank you!

Like others are saying, even though I knew what was going to happen my stomach just dropped. I'm so glad Denny said something instead of just ignoring the pain like I'm sure many people do.

Denny was good about admitting he had pain, but he was vague and nonchalant in the way he described it. That initially threw me off and I'm sure it threw of the ER doctor.

Gorgeous pictures of the water through the trees.

Thank you!

 

[annmarieda]

What a stressful event to have happen on a trip. I am so glad that it didn't end with surgery. I think it was good for you to break from it all during it though. As stressful as the situation was, I am sure a nice meal was able to give you a bit of a recharge.

 

[MEK]

Beautiful pictures! You sure had a couple of busy and I am sure anxious days.

Thanks!

Yup - it was a couple of anxious days. Can you believe that was just days after I met you at UD? Crazy. The first symptoms started the next day.

I knew the story and still kept thinking how scary. Way to be an advocate for Denny!

We are fortunate that it worked out as well as it did. I am glad I stood my ground and got him admitted. Ultimately that made things a lot less complicated.

Just reading through this story filled me with dread. What an agonizing wait this must have been for both of you. Aside from the one nurse, it sounds like you had really good care, which is such a blessing. And I'm so thankful you were there and knew what you were doing. Denny's lucky to have you.

So glad it had a happy ending.

It was agonizing because I kept feeling like I was in the twilight zone. I couldn't believe he wasn't admitted right away. It was actually an ED doctor that got a little snotty with me. Everyone else I encountered there was wonderful. I think she was just young and not super experienced.

Ugh, what a scary time. I have to say though, it's a lot better already knowing what the result was. I hope everything's been going well with Denny lately!

I'm glad you knew the outcome ahead of time, although not knowing would have made it a more interesting update.

Denny's been doing fine and he is over three months from his stent. The first three months are the time period where it is most likely to fail.

Don't worry about being a bad wife. Really what else could you do? Sitting there all day long is not going to help either of you and you were there when needed.

Thanks Jen. That's how I felt. It was actually pretty boring just sitting in the hospital. But, I will say - they had awesome recliners in the room. Great place for a nap.

Are things going better now since you have been home with his health then?

Denny has been doing great. He really doesn't have any other medical problems. He was just blessed with crappy genes. His BP is low and he is not having any problems with his medications. His cholesterol is now super low. I expect they will stop his BP med at his next visit with the cardiologist.

Well, you actually are a VERY good wife! Denny is very fortunate that you know as much as you do and were there to advocate for him.

Thanks Sheree. I'm pretty sure Denny would have just left knowing darn well that there was something wrong. Who needs that. His next trip to the hospital could have been in an ambulance.

I agree with all the others - maybe it was how you wrote the words, but I felt the tension and the anxiety you were feeling. I knew how it all resolved, but I was still so tense reading the update.

I guess I did a good job as a writer then. But honestly, I was just telling the story as I recall it. And there were some definitely stressful moments at the time.

You did deserve to take a little time away and go eat or relax. I'm glad you did so. AND, you got some lovely pictures!

Thanks! Yeah - I did need to get out of there at lunch. Plus we had bought a bunch of food so it seemed silly to buy food at the hospital. Leaving for lunch really did help keep me sane.

 

[debbieb04]

Your husband is a very lucky man to have you for a wife. All I keep thinking is if that had been me I would've gone along with the doctor not knowing any better. I can only imagine what the outcome would have been.

 

[MEK]

It sure was a tense time for you & Denny. It was good that you were able to get away from the hospital for awhile as you needed to have some chill time. Denny was in good hands.

It was a tense time and my short breaks away from the hospital were really nice. One thing for sure, those two days really flew by!

I agree! Yell whenever you're ready.

Ready! I'm so ready! Well, maybe after this heatwave passes!

Well there's yer problem right there!

Can't you believe that was an autocorrect. I went to change it to bloodwork and it converted right back to bloodworm. Go figure!

Seriously though, I'm glad that there was a happy ending to this story. Great job being an advocate for Denny so that he could get the testing/treatment that he needed.

Thanks. I am glad there was a happy ending as well. It was just so silly that they wanted to send him home and even sillier that Denny probably would have gone along with it.

How appropriate to have read this while my Dad was in for an angio. Sigh. I agree with everyone else that even knowing the outcome, doesn't make it easier to read. I think you are FINE wife. Not much you can do sitting there. If it makes you feel better my mom had dinner with a friend who was in town for just a few days last night after my dad's angio (and one new stent).!

OMG Cynthia! I know you dad has an extensive history of CAD. Sorry to hear he needed another stent, but glad that he is doing OK. I guess your mom is an "old hat" with this stuff by now.

You're right - a nice break is really necessary for sanity.

Dinner actually looked lovely and I am proud of you for taking a little time for yourself in the midst of all of that, it's how to keep sane.

Dinner was a lot of fun, actually. I am glad C picked a place with a lively atmosphere. I really needed it that night. The evening after the stent we just grabbed take out and went back to the villa.

Gorgeous pictures is right!

Thanks!

Add me to the list of those who, even knowing the outcome, was anxious as I read the last update. Thank goodness you insisted he go to the hospital.

All you hear all your life is if someone has chest pain you send them to the hospital. I knew it was the right thing to do, but I was still surprised when I found out he had a blockage. I kept thinking it was all a big mistake.

Yes I agree, Reading it for the second time did not make me feel any less stressed.

I guess it's good that I made so many people stressed in terms of it being a credit to my writing, but it certainly was intentional.

So glad you were able to give that nurse the "what for" and speak her language to bring the cardiologist down. You get wife of the year for that alone.

That nurse was actually the ED doctor. I think she was a little inexperienced and the combo of that and Denny downplaying his symptoms led her to want to discharge him (when his labs and EKG were fine). I'm glad the cardiologist actually agreed with me.

Knowing he was in good hands you opted to worry elsewhere. Don't try to say you weren't. Lovely pictures but it does show that you were busying yourself while waiting.

Glad you like the pics. I remember thinking "when this is all over I have to have some pics for the DIS boards".

So glad again all turned out well and I hope he is still doing well and feeling great.
Now everything else from here on out is hopefully looking better. Glad you extended the stay, he would need to take it easy and not have a long drive after that procedure right?

He is doing well. He's not having any aide effects from his meds and is feeling good. His is past the 3 month mark so at this point its a lot less likely that his stent with restenose. I am happy he's made it this far and I expect his will eventually be able to come off his meds except the statin to lower his cholesterol.

Extending the stay was pretty much a given.

Even though I had read about this before- I know this had to be scary. No matter how educated you are, how healthy you are, you never know when or if something like this will hit you. It's a scary situation to be in. Glad you both made it out the other side okay.

Well said. You just never know. Coronary artery disease is like that. You can be fine one minute and having chest pain the next. It was scary and I'm glad its behind us ( at least for now).

Good luck with your interview! I will keep my fingers crossed for you!

Thanks Karin! I think the interview went well and I will hear this weekend.

Looks like you held up well, MEK. It was good for you to get out of the hospital, enjoy some fresh air, and try to clear your mind a bit. He was in good hands, and he probably slept a lot of the time you were gone.

Thanks Carin! I did really need that fresh air. You're right - he probably DID sleep a lot while I was gone. In fact, I think he slept a lot while I was there.

Hope your dad is doing well, Cynthia!

I do too!

We passed the resort! Cypress Palms is on the other side of 192. So if you came out of Polynesian Isle and made a left, crossed 192, and turned right just past the stores (I think a CVS & a Krispy Kreme?), Cypress Palms is right there! So we would pass Polynesian Isle in the mornings to get to Osceola Pkwy when going to the parks.

I know exactly where that is. For the first few days we were there I didn't even know that was 192. I am so clueless. The only time we out via 192 was when we drove to the AK. Our gps took us in that direction and we just followed.

What a bummer of an update, but you still managed to get great scenery photos! I know I have said before, but good for you for standing your ground and not letting the ER doc discharge him right away before undergoing more testing. I can't even imagine how stressful those few days must have been for you and Denny! But thank goodness it all worked out and didn't require surgery.

I am so happy that he did not need heart surgery. When he said he completely flunked his stress test I was concerned his left main coronary artery may be involved. THAT was scary. I knew discharging him before the stress test was a complete mistake even though there was a part of me that stayed in denial through the whole episode.

Thanks for the heads up! Going back to catch up!

Ellen! I knew I couldn't continue to write about HHI without you being on board. I know its one of your favorite places!

Thanks, he is! Or at least I think he is. As far as I know he went home yesterday and since my mom has emailed me about CP stuff...pretty sure he's fine or she'd have said. It was his bi-annual visit, we wish it wasn't so often but his body definitely tells him to go get things checked out. This time they did put another stent in, the one that was in that spot lost a battle with the aorta and got crushed. We hope it will be longer, his comment was that this should get him through Disney and our comment was he needs to get checked BEFORE so we don't have to argue with him about getting a scooter and he can just walk to his hearts content. Short term he is all set for their summer and fall travels, Alaska Cruise, Baltic River Cruise and visiting my brother in Germany. After Mid August I don't think I see them until Oct!

Once again - I am glad he had a successful stent procedure. I am also thrilled that he is moving right ahead with his travel plans for this summer and for Disney. I am sure he wants to be pain free and fully ambulatory during your amazing winter trip.

 

[MEK]

Geez! I remember when you texted me about this- but how horribly stressful for you while Denny was being checked out. I am so glad you extended your stay!

I hated waiting in that ER and having to feel like I was being a pain in my attempts to keep him there.

Extending the stay was really necessary. Plus I have decided that 5 nights is just too short for a HHI stay. From now on I am staying at least 7 nights. I really need that to get settled in and take advantage of all the area has to offer.

Your TR is making me miss HHI so much! We're going to go summer 2015 again, but WOW, does that seem too far away- just focusing on cruises before Tyler turns 18- after that, we are going back to HHI. A LOT. It still is one of my favorite places on earth, and I know what you mean about the trees- and the moss. I can't ever imagine growing tired of either.

When you told me it was "a special place" you were so right on. I just don't think there is any other place like it. Everything about the area and the resort is so unique and amazing. I just love it there.

Thanks again for inviting me over here!

My pleasure. Once I started writing about Dottie (who looks exactly the same as she did the first time I met her) I thought immediately of you. Plus she did tell me at the time to tell you to get your "you know what" down there for a visit.

Ugh, I hate reading knowing something bad is going to happen. I'm so happy that it wasn't extremely serious

I am glad, too. It was serious enough, but its actually such a common procedure anymore. I am relieved that it wasn't anything worse.

I hope your interview went well!

Thanks. I think it went pretty well. I should hear something next week.

What a stressful event to have happen on a trip. I am so glad that it didn't end with surgery. I think it was good for you to break from it all during it though. As stressful as the situation was, I am sure a nice meal was able to give you a bit of a recharge.

I am SO glad there was no surgery involved. That really was my worst fear.
And my breaks away from the hospital were really rejuvenating. Although I have to say that even looking out the window in Denny's room was pretty rejuvenating.

Your husband is a very lucky man to have you for a wife. All I keep thinking is if that had been me I would've gone along with the doctor not knowing any better. I can only imagine what the outcome would have been.

debbie! Thanks so much for joining in. Great to have you reading along for this TR. And thank you. I don't know how much worse the outcome would have been and I'm so glad I never needed to find out.

 

[ddm118]

Found your trip report and joining in!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I'm here! Back after my silly computer decided to die, and now I'm all caught up! I've never been to HHI so I am loving all of your beautiful pictures and reading about all of the details. Great report I'm so sorry about Denny though, I cannot imagine how you must have been feeling through all of that.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Hope you're having a good weekend!

 

[englishrose47]

I am in !!Going back to read !!

 

[MEK]

Found your trip report and joining in!

ddm118! Thanks for joining in! And welcome to the DIS boards. Hope you enjoy the TR!

I'm here! Back after my silly computer decided to die, and now I'm all caught up! I've never been to HHI so I am loving all of your beautiful pictures and reading about all of the details. Great report I'm so sorry about Denny though, I cannot imagine how you must have been feeling through all of that.

Krysten! Thanks for joining in! Glad you got your computer fixed. Nothing worse than a broken computer.

HHI is really an amazing place. If you ever get a chance to visit, do it! It's just so beautiful and unique.

The whole Denny situation was scary, but in the big scheme of things turned out to be a blip. A big blip, but a blip.

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Thanks! Hope you are too. It's been a little busy, but its finally gotten a bit cooler here, so that's a good thing.

I am in !!Going back to read !!

Rosie! Thanks for joining in! So glad you're here!!!!!

 

[englishrose47]

Gorgeous pix of HHI!! Your meal at Vine looked wonderful!! The beach looks gorgeous . I have no clue if your resort has been named , but I have no idea anyway!! Maybe I should check Trip Advisor!!!

 

[MEK]

Cha Cha Cha Changes

Thanks to everyone for your concern about Denny's health. It has been 3 1/2 months since his stent and he is doing well. If he makes it to a year post stent he has very little chance of the stent occluding. Apparently after about a year the stent gets imbedded in the coronary artery and a normal layer of coronary artery lining is in place. That's not to say he can't have a blockage somewhere else, but hopefully that won't happen. He has no medical issues otherwise, just bad genes that predispose him to early coronary artery disease.

Before I start my update I actually want to share some changes we have made to our October trip. Please don't faint, but we did end up making a major change - we dropped the cruise.

I know. I know. You must be thinking WHAAAAAAAT?

We booked that cruise a year and a half ago. It was to be the highlight of our trip. It was to be the focus of our empty nest celebration and Denny's birthday celebration.

Let me explain - we didn't actually cancel. We rebooked it for October 2014.

Here's why.

First - our friends who were supposed to cruise with us dropped out. I had a feeling all along that they weren't going to book. They kept delaying it and they finally said they have unexpected expenses and couldn't afford it this year. Ugh!

Please don't think we aren't brave enough to cruise on our own. We are. But there were a few other things that factored into our decision.

I think I may have mentioned this already, but while we were at WDW in June we splurged on a small 50 point Grand Floridian add on. I seriously never expected that to happen. All I wanted to do was take a tour, strictly for research purposes. Well the tour led to a major impulse buy. But we decided it would be nice to stay there for 2 or 3 nights every year during our anniversary. For special occasions we could bank and borrow and have a 150 point stay. That might also prove to be a nice honeymoon gift for future weddings.

So, when I got to thinking about that expenditure and starting formalizing a plan for an October 2014 GF stay, I started thinking - hmmmmm - why not do the cruise and the GF stay for our 25th anniversary? We won't have a park ticket then, but could absolutely do a great non park stay at the grand combined with the cruise.

Speaking of park tickets - we absolutely loved using that PAP in June. We visited one water park and had a blast. We definitely want to hit both water parks in October, so turning our 11 nights into a longer park stay seems like a great way to do just that. We are going to use the heck out of the PAP.

Once we dropped the cruise, we considered shortening the trip by a few nights, but Denny's brother & family are there October 24th - October 29th and then our friends (who bagged the cruise) are still planning to stay with us at the AKL October 31st - November 4th.

Pretty impossible to shorten the trip given those factors.

So now we are arriving very late (11pm) on October 23rd and staying somewhere near the airport for the night.

October 24th - October 27th - Boardwalk villas pool/garden view (wait list just came through) Yay!!!!!!
October 27th - 29th SSR (wait listed Boardwalk again)
October 29th - 31st - heading to St Augustine. I have always wanted to go there. Looking at a couple B&B properties in town.
October 31st - November 4th - AKL 2BR standard view.

So there it is. I feel bad about canceling the cruise, but I think it was the logical thing to do. And quite honestly, I just never got into obsessive cruise planning. I started feeling far behind. I think I will do a better job preplanning for 2014, especially if these TA gig comes through.

And, I have learned that I am tired of trying to plan trips with other people. Something always doesn't work out the way I want it. So our rescheduled cruise will just be us!

So those are the changes. Moving on to the actual update.

Beach Walk & Bluffton

Thursday April 11th

So, when I left off last Denny had just had his stent. On Thursday morning I headed back to the hospital to pick him up. But first I stopped at guest registration to extend our stay. They confirmed that there was availability for the next two nights. Originally we were supposed to check out on Friday (the next day) and head to Charleston for the night. We decided to just stay put at the resort until Sunday morning. We made a reservation on the member cash rate. If you are interested - the member cash rate in April was $325 a night with taxes. I really don't think that's bad considering we would be paying that much for two rooms in Charleston. Probably more.

The only regret I had about canceling our Charleston visit was that I had plans to have lunch with my AAA TA on Friday. Her office is in Mount Pleasant. I learned about her here on the boards. A fellow DISers pm'd me her information and I have been working with for 10 years. Before DVC she booked packages for me and since then she has booked me single night stays and she booked my cruise. I really like her and I was looking forward to visiting. But don't worry secret AAA TA, I WILL be back.

With our HHI reservation extended, I headed to the hospital to pick up Denny. They were quite insistent that I make a follow-up cardiology appointment for him right then and there. So I called home and got that taken care of. Then I had to stop at medical records with his release to have his records sent home to his cardiologist and PCP. I was also given a copy of his cath CD to take to his cardiologist. Then we had to stop at Dr B's office where they actually did a swab DNA test to make sure he is a responder to the blood thinner and statin drug they were sending him home on. Very thorough. We did learned through this testing that he does have a gene expression that puts him at moderate risk for thrombosis - hence his tendency towards early heart disease.

All in all, I thought the care at the HHI medical center was very good, once I could convince them to admit him. I was talking to one of the cath lab nurses there who said, "people who visit tend to think we are a backwoods type hospital, but everyone who works here has come from big medical centers from all over the country". Plus there were a million volunteers there that were so friendly and helpful.

So, if you are vacationing on HHI do not hesitate to seek medical care there if you are in need.

After completing all our discharge tasks we still had to stop at the pharmacy and pick up Denny's meds. While he was waiting, I ducked into a Pier One and bought a really pretty candle holder that was deeply discounted. I figured I needed SOMETHING from HHI, even if it was from Pier One.

I got Denny home and settled. He felt fine and wanted to go on the Beach Walk with us, but I said no. The Beach Walk is an activity that is offered several days a week at HHI. It is free, but you need to sign upon advance because they transport you in a van.

C, C, and I hopped in the van with another family of 6 and one other couple. We were driven to a beach about 5 or 6 miles away. I wish I could recall the area's name, but I can't. It seemed more like a state park then a beach.

We hopped out of the van and ventured forth.

The path to the beach



Somewhat desolate



But in a cool sort of way





Our guide was TJ and he immediately stuck his hand in the sand to dig for horse shoe crabs





This looks like nothing, but is actually the tell tail print of a horse-shoe crab





Going in for the horse-shoe crab



There she be



Careful extraction from the sand



Apparently the tail can be dangerous



I have seen many horse-shoe crab shells along the Delaware beaches, but I don't think I have ever seen a live one before.

I left this shot in for the boys. I knew you would like it. he he



Not really sure what TJ is doing here



I am sure he was sharing some interesting factoids, which I have inconveniently forgotten.





I took far too many pictures of the horse-shoe crab that I won't share with you, but here was his resting place before TJ interrupted his snooze.



Temporarily distracted, I took some scenery shots.





If you do take the Beach Walk bring proper shoes. Supposedly flip flops are not good because you can sink and get stuck in different areas of the muck and sand.

Simply a clam



This little mound is actually worm poop. TJ told us about several types of worms that inhabit this area and these little mounds are evidence of their existence. That's a lot of waste from one little worm.



Baby horse-shoe crab



He taught us how to identify the tracts of baby horse-shoe crabs. Look closely and you can see those swirling lines which almost look like the shape of a snake.



Close up



Continued In Next Post....

 

[MEK]

Continued From Previous Post...

More aquatic life




No flip flops allowed here. You'll either get stuck or cut your feet







Hmmmm….what is this?



A dead baby shark



Now I have to tell you that those little boys that you saw in an earlier shot were hysterical. Every time they would find something they would yell, "TJ, TJ come see this. TJ what is this. TJ come here. TJ TJ TJ".

That's probably why I remembered TJ's name, long before I saw it on his name tag in that previous picture. I heard it at least 100 times that afternoon. oy!



The beach was not completely desolate. In fact, there were a couple sunbathing nearby. I did not take their picture.







Beach debris. I hope I picked up some of those shells



Is that a Q-tip in with those shells? Ewwww.





Walking back to the van we passed these.



TJ sent all the boys to wash their hands because you KNOW they had to touch that dead shark. Yuck!



The whole beach walk from door to door took about 90 minutes. I loved it. It was really interesting. HHI also offers a marsh walk, which I have yet to do.

The van drove us back and let us off at the end of the resort where the kayak tour starts. You can see that it's definitely low tide.



Still bummed I didn't get to kayak on this trip



The infamous direction sign



And just in case you haven't seen enough of the fishing pier



Really low tide in the Broad Creek



We went back to the villa to check in with Denny. I think he rested a bit, but he was feeling good and really wanted to get back to vacation mode.

We had decided to head across the intercoastal and over to Bluffton for dinner. In C's down time he had spent some time talking to the pool guy. I don't remember his name, but he took care of the pools at HHI and probably had other responsibilities as well. He suggested that we see Bluffton and since it was only about a 20 minute ride, we did.

C picked out a restaurant and we put the address in the GPS. However, when we pulled up it was a very non-descript building on the outskirts of town.

I said, "if we go in there now it will probably be dark when we come out. Let's go drive some more and find the town so we can see it in the daylight".

That was such a good idea because what we didn't know is that Bluffton has a town market every Thursday afternoon right in the historic section.

We parked and walked in past an antique shop







All that stuff was outside and basically unattended.



Continued In Next Post...

 

[MEK]

Any Clemson fans out there?



yeah….uhmmmm….no thanks









Filling Station or Art Gallery? You decide!



Bluffton has its own direction sign



Clearly there are more than one Clemson fans in the area



We passed this restaurant which was offering live music outside. The singer looked to be all of 16.



I was ready to stop right there and eat, but everyone really wanted to look around some more.

Popcorn anyone? I think they were giving out samples.



Palm artwork



Fresh veggies



It was just so refreshing to see pretty foliage after a cold, damp winter in the NE.



And I love hydrangeas



Remember this next time you head to HHI



More live music



Hungry?

Then you better…….



We did buy a couple things (of which I have no pictures because I was probably busy sampling)

I bought some pastries to take back for breakfast. It was getting close to closing time and they were deeply discounted. I think I bought some bread, too. Then we ended up sampling and buying some black -eyed pea dip. Think bean dip only made with black-eyed peas. It was sooooooo good, although a little sweet.

We ended up at this restaurant



and put our name in for a table



Too bad we were missing the live music



Inside where we were seated





Restaurant name - Old Town Dispensary



The kitchen



Continued In Next Post....

 

[MEK]

Continued From Previous Post

The ceiling fans



The moose head on the wall



People waiting outside



Fat Tire



I must not have taken any pictures during dinner, so I have no idea what I ate. I think it was some type of sandwich. I felt bad for Denny during dinner because he really wanted a beer and asked me if he could have one. I advised him against it because he had just had sedation the day before and I also wasn't sure about drinking while he got adjusted to his new meds. He looked so bummed.

Leaving the restaurant we passed another antique shop on the opposite side of the street.





Amazing that they leave all this stuff outside







We drove back to the villa and called it a night.

Up Next - Savannah revisited!

 

[MEK]

Gorgeous pix of HHI!! Your meal at Vine looked wonderful!! The beach looks gorgeous .

HHI is such a beautiful place. If you ever get a chance to visit HHI and the low country, do it! Just fabulous. So unique.

I have no clue if your resort has been named , but I have no idea anyway!! Maybe I should check Trip Advisor!!!

Glen got it. It was the Polynesia Isles Resort in Kissimmee.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I'm glad to hear that Denny is doing well!

Your changes all sound good and like they are the best for what you need - which is important! I love the GF and am so jealous that you bought points! A GF 25th anniversary stay sounds amazing, I look forward to reading that report!!

The Beach Walk looks so interesting, and really pretty. I love reading reports on the DIS and finding out about all of these little experiences and things that I haven't done before.