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

[Poolrat]

Hmmmmm More research for me.

I think I might have it but.....


Is the super secret location between Irlo Bronson and W Osceola Pkwy?

 

[tinacaplan]

Isn't that the truth? It's always something.



Nope, not Disney crystal, although I certainly would love some of my own.

I have a feeing its something prettier!

Exactly. There isn't much here in Delaware either.

Darn....and here I thought I had missed it on my last trip through!

Yeah - I could live at OKW too. Both are great resorts. Which DVC resort isn't great?

They're all pretty fantastic...someday maybe I"ll get to join the club, too!

Thanks. So far, so good, but there isn't going to be any time for DISing, even on the best days.

As a teacher, I shouldn't admit this in a public forum...but the Dis can be a major time waster when I'm at school and should be planning lessons, not trips!

Is the job really different from your previous one?

 

[HockeyMomR]

Mary Ellen - enjoyed catching up! Hope first week at your new job is going well!

Rebecca

 

[annmarieda]

Well, I am out of your game! I got an email from tripadvisor.

I will say this... even though I am out of the game, it was nice to read about the location. The girls only fall trip that I am going on seems to be never ending in changes...so it is nice to see another option.

 

[dizneeat]

Finally all caught up! Took me quite some time as the last few weeks of school were CRAZYYYYYYYY!!!

 

[glennbo123]

Your meticulous, yet apparently incorrect, research made me laugh, Glenn!

Hey, I figured that triangulating in on it was the way to go.

 

[jash08]

Too funny! But they don't really sell it, do they? Or maybe they do? I have no idea. I know you can't take it directly out of the trees because it has bugs or something in it, doesn't it? Yikes!

Nope, they sell fake stuff that looks like it. God only knows what it really is!

 

[MEK]

I love seeing Spanish Moss.
The resort is so pretty.

It's a lovely little resort and the Spanish Moss really adds to the appeal!

I don’t think I would like paying for a chair to sit on. Beach towel will do. LOL

My thoughts exactly, except that sand is HARD! Not very comfortable at all!

The NO SHARK FISHING on the sign would make go to the pool.

Yes - the pool where there are comfy loungers! All you have to do is walk a couple hundred feet and go into the ocean. It's perfect!

I hope it went well for you today.

Thanks! First week under my belt. One down, many more to go!

OOOOH A clue to the souvenir perhaps?????

Yup!

Mary Ellen: I was thinking of you today! I hope you had a great start to a long and mutually satisfying working relationship with your new job!

Thanks Brenda. I really appreciate that! I think my first week went fairly well. It's just exhausting meeting new people and being "on" all day, but I am adjusting!

How did I miss that you started this? I am so out of it when it comes to disboards lately! I am hoping to get caught up this weekend....

Ann Marie! Thanks so much for joining in! So happy to have you here.

Luckily... it would seem I didn't miss tooo much. I am loving your HHI pictures. Way back in April, we started the process of purchasing a resale contract (I think I mentioned to you. ) Anyway... still no account set up... so still in the state of just dreaming of how to use my points. HHI is definitely in my dreams!!!

OMG - I forgot about your DVC purchase. The wait is totally the worst part. HHI is a wonderful place to use points and I also snagged a great member rate the year I went in late October (and the weather was fantastic), so don't forget about that option. It's a great little resort and a wonderful vacation spot.

As for the game... I am in. I love to guess things...even though 99% of the time I am WAY off base in my guesses. At least you have narrowed it down some.

My question of the day (we get one, right?) It isn't Wyndham Bonnet Creek, but is it Wyndham Cypress Palms?

Great guess, but No.

Hmmmmm More research for me.

I think I might have it but.....


Is the super secret location between Irlo Bronson and W Osceola Pkwy?

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding! YES! It is.

 

[MEK]

Will be back with more replies and an update, but I need to get out for my run now before it gets any hotter.

Happy Saturday!

 

[glennbo123]

Is it the Gaylord Palms?

 

[HockeyMomR]

Just catching up on your other trip report....you know I am so far behind. So, given that...does part of the name of the secret location share part of the name of a Disney Resort?

 

[MEK]

I have a feeing its something prettier!

IMHO, it is! And much larger too!

Darn....and here I thought I had missed it on my last trip through!

Well, that would be easy since its possible to miss the entire state were it not for all the traffic!

They're all pretty fantastic...someday maybe I"ll get to join the club, too!

I hope so, if that's your goal. I know that some people are not interested in the club at all, but I love it. Great choice for me!

As a teacher, I shouldn't admit this in a public forum...but the Dis can be a major time waster when I'm at school and should be planning lessons, not trips!

Is the job really different from your previous one?

Yes - totally a time waster. In my previous job as we were closing up, I wasted some time here myself. My new job is with the same patient population and same type of functions, but a much much busier service.

Mary Ellen - enjoyed catching up! Hope first week at your new job is going well!

Rebecca

Rebecca! Thanks so much for joining in! My first week went pretty well. Thanks for asking!

Well, I am out of your game! I got an email from tripadvisor.

I will say this... even though I am out of the game, it was nice to read about the location. The girls only fall trip that I am going on seems to be never ending in changes...so it is nice to see another option.

I totally forgot about TR and how its linked to everything. I think I unlinked it, but its too late. Anyway - it really was a great option for us because we know the Disney property so well. It really didn't slow us down. I did miss Disney's amazing pools and resorts, but it was so nice to spread out.

Finally all caught up! Took me quite some time as the last few weeks of school were CRAZYYYYYYYY!!!

Karin - if you had any idea how far behind I am....... I will probably never catch up now that I have a new job. Glad that school's out for summer and you are finally able to rest!

Hey, I figured that triangulating in on it was the way to go.

Totally the way to go. I guess there are a lot of resorts that are 4 miles from Epcot and 7 from MK. I got that information from our GPS, so I suspect map quest or an equivalent might be slightly different.

Nope, they sell fake stuff that looks like it. God only knows what it really is!

Good to know! And you're right - what the HECK is in there?

Is it the Gaylord Palms?

Nope. Although I would have loved to stay there, but that's definitely got to be too pricey for our budget friendly trip. Think really inexpensive!

Just catching up on your other trip report....you know I am so far behind. So, given that...does part of the name of the secret location share part of the name of a Disney Resort?

Yes it does. It appears that someone has been doing their research!

 

[MEK]

An Early Warning & An Amazing Dinner

First, I would like to say that I am sorry to be such a slacker with this TR. As most of you know, I started my new job last week. So far it is going well, but new jobs take a lot of energy. Even though I am very comfortable with the type of patients I am caring for, the service is MUCH larger and more fragmented. Certain procedures are different and most documentation and order entry is computer based. In my former position I worked for a financially strapped health care institution that did not have computer order entry and documentation, so there is a learning curve for me and it took me until Friday to get all of my computer access.

Thank you all for the well wishes. I really appreciate it. My last few months at my former job were really depressing in ways I couldn't even articulate. I wasn't working with patients anymore. Basically I was assigned some administrative type stuff and I had to clean out and close down the program. Going to work was really a drag. So, its nice to work with patients again because that's really what I like to do.

I also want to mention (I hope I can mention this, but if I can't I apologize in advance to the mods and will delete post if necessary ). This spring I saw an add in my AAA magazine for a newly created position through midatlantic AAA. It's called a Disney Magic Creator. I attended an information session here in Delaware last month. It is basically a commission only casual position booking Disney trips. They are going to select 20 - 25 people in the midatlantic region to kick it off.

There were about 80 people at the information session. They broke us into groups and asked us some screening type conversational questions basically to decide who they want to interview formally. Well, I did get contacted for an interview which I have set up for Tuesday evening. I know this is probably not the ideal time for me to take on another venture, but I really see this as a cool opportunity. I just can't pass it up even if it means less DIS time and more work at home.

This program is pretty innovative, IMHO, and is only available for midatlantic AAA zip codes. If selected I will need to book a certain dollar value of Disney trips in a calendar year, limited to my AAA area, and create my own client base. Most of the training is on line. I will also be assigned an AAA agent as my mentor.

I'm pretty excited about this and hope I get selected and hope I can pull it off. I am constantly approached by friends and coworkers with requests for Disney trip help. this just seems like a logical extension and a way to make a little spending money. We shall see.

Real Update in the Next Post.......

 

[MEK]

welcome to another update!

For those of you participating in the "Guess Mary Ellen's Top Secret off site Location" I appreciate those with insider information took themselves out of the contest.

I think you are making progress. Here's what we have so far:

Not Bonnet Creek
Not a Green Sign on the property
Not on Apolka Vineland Rd
Not a golf course on property.
Not Westgate Resort
Not Orbit One
Not Wyndham Cypress Palms
Not on Apopka Vineland Rd


The property IS located between Irlo Bronson and W Osceola Pkwy
The property DOES have the name of a Disney resort in it.
The property was found on trip advisor, booked on Priceline at $72/night, is a national resort chain, has 2 pools and 4 hot tubs, and has a guard gate.
The property is near a Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme.

Another clue: Property surrounded by residential communities. There are no hotels, motels, or resorts within at least 3/4 miles of the resort. It is within 3 miles of Old Town

Now on to the update:

C and I were lounging at the resort pool, while Denny and C were out doing the shopping.

When the boys got back we had lunch in the villa. And, no, I don't have pictures. I think sandwiches and pasta salad were involved. I was still in "camera" mode so I took a few pictures in the villa.

This picture is in the villa. I love it. It really captures the essence of the resort.



Cool light over the table




Tiles in the kitchen









Back at the pool, we selected a shady spot.



Perfect day



Our pool time was cut a little short because of an early dinner reservation. HHI has a ton of great of restaurants. I reviewed trip advisor and selected a restaurant called Vine. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...-Reviews-Vine-Hilton_Head_South_Carolina.html

It got wonderful reviews and I thought it would be a fun night of fine dining. When I called a couple weeks in advance to get a reservation, I could only get 5pm or 9pm all week long. Bummer. So I took 5pm because I know me and if I have a 9pm reservation I'll be snacking all evening. So- if you visit HHI and want to eat at Vine, call well in advance. There is no online method for making reservations.

Here I am - ready to go at 4pm





My excitement over dinner was hampered by one thing. When we got back from the pool Denny mentioned to me AGAIN that he had some "heartburn" while bringing the groceries up the steps. I said, "you know that COULD be cardiac". He was totally fine by then (of course) and did not want to go to the hospital. I really tried not to let this bother me (again) because I tend to be a worrier. I figured I would watch him closely throughout the evening and make a judgement on what to do. I knew if he complained one more time of these symptoms we were heading to the nearest hospital.

Vine is located in a small strip of stores called Coligny Plaza near Coligny Beach. This picture is representative of the area.



Vine turned out to be an amazing dining experience. They serve bread with this aged vinegar which is so think its almost like a syrup. Just delicious. Here's our plate after sopping up all that goodness.



A horrible picture of the bread



The restaurant is REALLY small. I think it was literally a small counter service restaurant that they converted. It was really hard to take pictures of the restaurant because of its intimate nature. But here's our candle on the corner of our table. My pictures are really terrible because it was dark and I took them with my phone. Please forgive me!



Ceiling



Wine was definitely the beverage of choice here. They had a very extensive wine list and I was sorry that my personal sommelier, Cynthia, was not with me.





Along our booth



My appetizer was an amazing beet salad. So good!



We shared some delicious bruschetta



Denny had a butternut squash soup



This was our palate cleanser before our next course (some sorbet)



My entree. An amazing dish of scallops and lobster ravioli



So good!

This was Denny's entree which looks like chicken, but I am not sure



Continued in the Next Post.......

 

[MEK]

Continued From Previous Post....


And C's



I believe this was some type of pork dish. Let's just say that C, with his very good appetite, was not able to finish this.

A horrible picture of the edible flower (which I did not eat) on my plate.



The whole dining experience at Vine was a lot of fun. It was a well paced meal. Our waitress was fantastic and she really knew her stuff. The food was amazing. Local produce was used, but the chef also obtained fish and beef from all over the country and truffles directly from France. The waitress was well versed in the origin of all our food.

An added bonus was that the chef's wife was a baker. Hence, home made desserts daily. We were stuff, but how can you say no to that. So we picked this and the four of us shared.



So, so good!

Yup - here's a shock!



Having such an early meal gave us the opportunity to walk around Coligny Beach in the day light. This shop is pretty representative of the area.









Really cool crooked old tree





Fountain on the path to the beach



You know we don't have this at the Delaware beaches.





Apparently turtles nest on HHI as well as Vero Beach



Showers near the beach. You know we DEFINITELY don't have anything like this at the Delaware beaches. I shudder to think what our shower facilities are like.



Apparently tree photography was big on my list this evening!



Nope, don't have swings like this either.



And if the Delaware beaches looked like this I would move there - tomorrow!













Back past the crazy, crooked tree



Continued In Next Post........

 

[MEK]

Continued From Previous Post......

Our night would not have been complete without a trip to the local merchants





How cute are these? Too bad I can't wear these anymore because of my need for extreme arch support.





Because one picture of imitation crocs with the South Carolina logo is NEVER enough.



Clearly I like this picture as well.



While we were nosing around in the shops C struck up a conversation with a woman selling her time shares, but her pitch was no need to buy anything. She just wanted timeshare owners to come talk about how they could get "more" out of their timeshare.

Before I knew it all four of us where signed up for a time share improvement talk which offered free tickets to a dinner cruise. Ok, a dinner cruise with crapola food was not on my agenda, but I didn't want to be Debby Downer so I stood back and watched the whole thing go down. I knew it was a major scam when we filled out the paperwork and each of use has to hand over $10 to "reserve" our spot. Please.

After that encounter we headed back to the villa.

Note: Denny & C locking up the rental bikes. Take note of that because that bike plays a very important roll in my next update. (missing picture- sorry)

While the rest of the gang sacked out on the couch to watch TV, I fixed myself an adult beverage and headed out to watch the movie under the live oaks. Tonight's presentation was Monsters Inc and I enjoyed every moment of it (even though I was alone).

Movie Schedule for the week



Bad cell phone picture, but photographic proof of Monday night's movie.



Next Up - the place that no one wants to visit while on vacation

 

[teekathepony]

I'm glad to know the new job is going well. It definitely takes a long time to really ease into a new job, hope that happens soon for you. But I'm glad you're back with the patients!
I remember you mentioning the Magic Creator thing, that sounds so amazing! I wish it were available around here. Best of luck Tuesday at your interview!
Your meal at Vine looks really awesome, sounds like the waitress was great too. Gotta love when it all comes together like that!
The beach area is absolutely gorgeous, I feel like I would wear out my camera there. I especially love the bits of old fencing in the sand and the beach grass. Reminds me a lot of a beach about two hours from me, Inverness (though we have no palm trees!! )
Oh dear. I know what's coming and although I know the outcome, I still feel nervous just about reading it!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

The new job sounds terrific. So happy for you and glad that you are enjoying it. And Magic Creator... wow! Totally right up your alley. That sounds like a really neat opportunity. What could be more magical than earning some spending money doing something you love!

Dinner looks delish!!!

Love that they do movies on the beach just like in WDW.

Sounds like some folks are hot on the trail of your super secret location. I don't have a clue!

Denny's heartburn is definitely sounding ominous and you do NOT look happy in that last picture!

 

[jedijill]

Glad the new job is more up your alley!

HHI going on my bucket list. It looks so nice and peaceful. I'm putting that restaurant on my list too. Looks fab!

Cue the ominous music!

Jill in CO

 

[glennbo123]

Is it the Best Western Premier Saratoga Resort Villas???

No! Changing my guess to Polynesian Isles Resort!