"Live" from HH

[RobDoc]

We arrived at Hilton Head on Friday. We are not staying at the DVC resort this trip since we just purchased a quartershare at Harbourside - right across the harbour from the DVC resort. We have a 2BR villa with a great view of the marina and Broad Creek. It is certainly a little different seeing the DVC resort from this vantage point. Our villa is right above San Miguels restaurant.

We walked over to DHHIR this afternoon and found Gordon manning the store. It is always great seeing and visiting with him. As usual he had a couple of dining suggestions which we plan to try this week while we are here. One is Shrimp Michaels and the other Mangiamo's.

Gordon reported that the resort is at 97% occupancy this week - a big departure from the usual rate for this time of the year in the low 70's. There were sure a lot of cars in the lots the last couple of nights and again this afternoon. He said they are mostly couples and families with young children.

Weather has been great. Temperatures have been in the low 70's although the first couple of days were pretty windy due to Noel passing nearby. Predictions are for mid 70's th enext few days before a cool off mid-week.

The staff at the Mercantile has a trivia question posted near the cashier station. Today's question is:

"There have been 3 Disney resorts that had openings in November." What are they?

 

[Sammie]

Yacht Club: Nov. 5, 1990
Beach Club: Nov. 19, 1990
Fort Wilderness: Nov. 19, 1971
All Star Music Resort: Nov. 22, 1994
Villas of Wilderness Lodge: Nov. 15, 2000

So I would consider that 5 since the Yacht and Beach club did not open at the same time.

 

[KirstenB]

Doc, congratulations!! We love San Miguel's, how cool is that you can walk right down to it? Is a quarter share the 13 wk timeframe? Are you there 13 continuous weeks, or can you mix it up with a few weeks here and there?

My parents are retired, and I keep telling dad the 13 wks at a time would be a great way to skip winter here in Virginia. Anyway, we love HH and are very happy for you, enjoy!

 

[JimC]

Congratulations on your purchase Doc! Enjoy your trip.

 

[RobDoc]

Doc, congratulations!! We love San Miguel's, how cool is that you can walk right down to it? Is a quarter share the 13 wk timeframe? Are you there 13 continuous weeks, or can you mix it up with a few weeks here and there?

My parents are retired, and I keep telling dad the 13 wks at a time would be a great way to skip winter here in Virginia. Anyway, we love HH and are very happy for you, enjoy!

Our 13 weeks rotate each year. We have a week in January and then 2 weeks out of every 8 for the remainder of the year. We can rent any weeks we are unable to use (the condo has it's own rental company) or we can also exchange our time thru RCI. We can also trade with other owners to extend our time when possible. It's a very flexible program.

 

[Disneyaholic]

Doc:

Congratulations on your purchase at Harbourside! We looked at a few of those units on our most recent trip to Hilton Head and were also very impressed. We might have made an offer on one till we found out that they don't allow pets. One of the reasons we would like to have our "own" place would be so that we can bring one of our dogs along!

I fully understand WHY they don't allow them, but it was the deal-breaker for us.

Please let us all know how you like owning someplace other than the Disney resort. We're still considering getting someplace else, but we're afraid we'll miss the folks at DHHIR too much!

 

[KirstenB]

Doc, thanks for the info. I didn't know how the quarter shares worked, very cool. I hope you have many terrific new vacations throughout the year. We've only been to HH in the spring, so I look forward to hearing your experiences. seasons.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks for the report from one of our favorite places. Enjoy your stay!

 

[RobDoc]

We've had a great week. We got suckered into a Coral Resorts timeshare sales talk on Monday. They gave us $90 and some golf discounts, but it cost us 2 hours and some high pressure sales tactics - but we left with just their $90 and the golf discounts. We don;t know how they got our name/phone number.

We had lunch today with some friends at Hinoki Japanese Restuarant. Very nice menu and reasonable pricing. It is about a 5 minute drive from Shelter Cove.

Dinner toniite was at Mangiamo's - one of Gordon's suggestions. Wednesday night is 1/2 off on Spagetti - cost is $4.38 per person and includes a salad and bread. Lots of locals show up on Wednesdays. It was interesting to see all of the Mercedes, Porsches and Lexus in the parking lot for the "special". It was a fun evening.

Tomorrow we have dinner planned with friends at Red Fish - which is also nearby and has an "early-bird" special from 5:00pm - 5:45pm. We have dined there before. It has a great menu and wonderful wine selection.

Gordon also suggested "Shrimp Michaels", but that may need to wait for our next visit.

Weather turned cooler today. High was 75 yesterday and 60 today. Tomorrow's prediction is for a high of 62. We have to head home on Saturday.

The Mercantile is supposed to get a shipment of Disney Christmas ornaments tomorrow, so we'll head over to the store then to see the selection.

 

[3DisneyKids]

Thanks for your reports, Doc. Is mid-70s the norm for this time of year? Or is it pretty much hit or miss? We would love to do an off-season trip to HH, but I would want at least SOME warmer days (being from Maine, mid-70s is perfect pool weather!)

 

[dianeschlicht]

Our 13 weeks rotate each year. We have a week in January and then 2 weeks out of every 8 for the remainder of the year. We can rent any weeks we are unable to use (the condo has it's own rental company) or we can also exchange our time thru RCI. We can also trade with other owners to extend our time when possible. It's a very flexible program.

Sounds like a great plan!

 

[RobDoc]

Thanks for your reports, Doc. Is mid-70s the norm for this time of year? Or is it pretty much hit or miss? We would love to do an off-season trip to HH, but I would want at least SOME warmer days (being from Maine, mid-70s is perfect pool weather!)

I think the average temps are in the low 70's for early November. We've had some lows in the upper 30's (like today) but it will still climb into the low 60's later today and will be back in the low 70's over the weekend into next week.

We've been walking around the Disney resort each day and there have been kids in swimming - with a lifeguard bundled up in the chair and parents bundled up in the poolside lounges. We have been impressed with the occupancy at the DVC resort - many more cars around then I expected for this time of the year.

 

[alldiz]

Sounds like a great trip....
I can't wait to try HHI

13 weeks
Kerri

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks Doc-you're making me even more anxious for our trip! What and where is "Shrimp Michaels"? Ansd, if you have the info, what do you know about Old Fort Pub offerings on Thanksgiving day (time and is there a special meal?)?

 

[RobDoc]

Thanks Doc-you're making me even more anxious for our trip! What and where is "Shrimp Michaels"? Ansd, if you have the info, what do you know about Old Fort Pub offerings on Thanksgiving day (time and is there a special meal?)?

Gordon described Shrimp Michaels as a "Mom & Pop - Hole-in-the-wall" place. It is located in the center where Sam's Club is located - just beyond Sam's entrance a few store-fronts. We drove past it to check out the location and it is easy to get to from the resort. It's just a compact restaurant, mostly known about by locals - and known for it's menu items and reasonable price.

There are quite a few nearby restaurants with an early-bird discount - The Kingfisher has an $14.95 special including wine, Little Venice has a discount for early diners, Alexanders (on the way to the Beach House) has an early dining discount, Red Fish has a discount (we're going there tonite) and a number of others.

I'm sure The Old Fort Pub will have something available for Thanksgiving Day, but have no information with any details. It is located in the Hilton Head Plantation.

 

[SusieBea]

http://www.oldfortpub.com/

Old Fort serves a Thanksgiving Day menu as does CQs in Sea Pines. They are a part of the same restaurant group. We've eat Thanksgiving at CQs and it was very good. Old Fort is my favorite, but we've not done Thanksgiving there.

 

[LindaBabe]

Thanks Doc! I'm taking notes - we'll be there for a week in March.

 

[RobDoc]

Just back from our early dinner at Red Fish. There is a nice menu selection for the discounted meal - $13.95 for Mahi-Mahi, Tilapia, Shrimp Creole, Shrimp Asiago, Quesedilla (Shrimp or Tenderloin), Salmon Caesar, Strip Steak or Chicken. All entrees come with soup or salad and complimentary tea or lemonade is included. House wines (White blend, Red Blend or White Zin) are available for $2.95 each. These options are available for orders taken from 5:00pm thru 5:45pm. Reservations are suggested but not required (we did not have a reservation tonite). Red Fish is about a 2 mile drive from the resort on Palmetto Bay Drive - about 4 blocks off of 287.

The weather was beautiful today. No wind or clouds and temp was 64. Similar prediction for tomorrow with a high of 67 and 71 on Saturday.

Unfortunately, we have to leave on Saturday.