Live from HHI - March 1-4

[WolfpackFan]

We've arrived at HHI and had our first walk on the beach. The drive down from Raleigh took 5 1/2 hours door to door with only 2 stops for restrooms. I had put in a room request for a studio in the lodge with a water view. Well I got half of that - we got a lodge room but with a tree view. In fact we've been in this very same studio before. I thought about asking if we could get a water view, but thought what does it matter - it's too cold to sit out on the balcony plus it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. We're coming back in April so I can watch the Verizon Heritage Golf Tournament though and really hope to get a water view then. I had also in the back of my mind hoped they might upgrade us to a 1BR since this is our anniversary and the resort is no where near full, but no go. Oh well, we got what we paid for (in points).

After checking in and moving stuff in, we rode down to Arby's for a quick lunch. Then we road over to the Beach House and took a nice walk on the beach. DW picked up about 5-6 sand dollars. We couldn't believe how many we saw on the beach. They were everywhere. After walking on the beach, we drove down to the Piggly Wiggly for a beer run and some batteries for my camera. Now we're back in room. DW is reading and I'm just messing on computer. WiFi is working great. Since I don't have a laptop (yet), I bought my Mac mini and monitor and it is working great.

Plan for rest of day is to walk around resort and Shelter Cove and then dinner at the Sea Shack. I am looking forward to some fried oysters. I'm not sure what we will do tomorrow. It is supposed to rain all day. We've actually even thought about going to a movie tomorrow afternoon (I can hear DD's eyes rolling right now). Wednesday we plan to go over to Savannah and have lunch at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House.

I'll try to post my pictures out on my Picasa website at the end of each day.

Later.

PS - Three random observations - the "slick" sofa is still not very comfortable for sitting. We have a flat screen TV, but it sure is small. And finally, they sure have "cheapened" the coasters. No longer made of cardboard, now just plain old paper cut in a circle. Not sure why I mention these three things as I'm probably the only person in the world they bother.

 

[disney1474]

Have a great time! Can't wait for pictures

 

[WolfpackFan]

Monday, 5:30 Update -

We just got back from a stroll around the resort and Shelter Cove. It looks like DVC is doing a lot of refurbishment around the resort. One thing we noticed specifically is it looked to us that the playground had been completely redone. Now we could be wrong as we have no children or grandchildren that would use the area, but it sure looked new to us. We saw a lot of replaced woodwork all over the resort.

We couldn't believe how nice the plants looked around the resort and around Shelter Cove. A lot of ornamental cabbage. It really looked nice. I couldn't believe how much trouble they have gone through because the resort is very quiet right now with not many people around.

Unfortunately I won't be able to post any pictures until Friday, because I left my camera cable at home .

 

[chum]

Thanks for the report!
Yes, it is supposed to rain on Tue or just overnight but looks like sun and temps in the 50's to 60 after that.
Mrs Wilkes is tasty and if the line is too long you can always go down the alley and to the backdoor for take-out and then picnic in the park.
If you make it to Sav then don't forget about Ft Pulaski.
Have fun!

 

[WolfpackFan]

Yeah, we've done Mrs. Wilkes before. Our plan is to skip breakfast and get there real early.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thanks for the report!
Yes, it is supposed to rain on Tue or just overnight but looks like sun and temps in the 50's to 60 after that.
Mrs Wilkes is tasty and if the line is too long you can always go down the alley and to the backdoor for take-out and then picnic in the park.
If you make it to Sav then don't forget about Ft Pulaski.
Have fun!

Thanks for the link to Ft. Pulaski! We passed signs for it when we travelled from HHI to Savannah over Halloween weekend...it will be a stop on our next trip!

WolfpackFan, enjoy your stay, I enjoy reading your report. We ate 2 delicious meals at the Sea Shack, and I hope yours was tasty too. I'm looking to getting to Cape May in April for some fried oysters, yummy!

When we stayed in HHI we had a room in the lodge, nice studio, tree view,well, lots of Spanish moss hanging on the trees, and it was HHA. It worked out fine for us, but I wondered if all of the studios in the main building were HHA. I did like it that the kitchenette was sort of around the corner from the sitting/sleeping area. It's a larger studio than most, I think.

Bobbi

 

[WolfpackFan]

Okay, we're back in our Studio after our jaunt out for dinner. Now this is a funny story. As I mentioned we were going to eat at the Sea Shack. Now to start off - the food was delicious. I love fried seafood and I had some of the best fried oysters I ever had. DW had fried scallops that were great also. With my oysters I had collard greens and mac and cheese. It was a great meal, don't get me wrong but eating at the Sea Shack is quite an experience. I liken it to the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld. It is a very small place. You have to stand at the door until the girl comes and gets you and says you can go to the cash register to order your food. You then order your food and pay for it and she takes your name, etc. You then go BACK outside to stand and wait for her to call you to your table. After that you then wait for them to call your name to bring you your food. And they are very businesslike with the entire process. I felt like the entire time, that if we did anything wrong it would be NO SEAFOOD FOR YOU .

But like I said it was worth it completely, delicious seafood and we will definitely go back. I had to end up eating half DW's scallops because they were a little greasy and she had her gall bladder removed two years ago. Every since then she has had a real problem eating fried foods but she said what she did have was very good. Next time she will just get the seafood broiled.

Okay, now we've been to HHI many times. But I can't over emphasize the importance of finding where you're going before it gets dark. HHI after dark is very, very dark and there are no signs to speak of (at least that normal folks can find ). I thought I knew where everywhere was but messed up tonight. Here is the story. After leaving Sea Shack, I decided I wanted some dessert to take back to the resort. Well I said why don't we go to Fresh Market and get a piece of cheese cake. Well for the life of me, I couldn't find Fresh Market. I even gps'd it and couldn't find it. We ended up going to the Publix and getting Tiramisu instead. And then wouldn't you know it - we headed back down 278 and low and behold we saw the Fresh Market.

Well guess that's it for now. They are still saying the weather tomorrow is going to be lousy.

 

[Judique]

.
PS - Three random observations - the "slick" sofa is still not very comfortable for sitting. We have a flat screen TV, but it sure is small. And finally, they sure have "cheapened" the coasters. No longer made of cardboard, now just plain old paper cut in a circle. Not sure why I mention these three things as I'm probably the only person in the world they bother.

I've also noted the paper coasters. In January at BWV, they sort of stood out to me. Not sure why either as it doesn't much matter as I usually grab a napkin to put under a glass.

The slick sofa issue - one time I was at HH and went to Belk's and I picked up a throw on sale for under $10. I bring that throw on every HH trip and it is used to cosy up that sofa.

As for the tv's I agree also that they are too small.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

 

[chum]

if we did anything wrong it would be NO SEAFOOD FOR YOU .

Ha!
That is true.
There is a long wait and then WHAM you're up!
Better have that order ready as there can be 20 people breathing down your neck.
Sometimes by the time my plate is ready I forgot what I ordered.

Funny.

 

[kda]

Gotta agree with you about the uncomfortable sofa. We spend a lot of time relaxing at the resorts and in the room / balcony, and the sofa was disappointing. Not that the chair was much more comfortable. But, that's about the only thing we wished were better ........ can't wait to go back!

 

[WolfpackFan]

Tuesday, 9:00 AM -

Man is it raining and is supposed to rain all day long. At least it's not snow, like they are supposed to get back home (NC) today. We have all about had it with this winter. This morning I got up early as I usually do and went down to Big Murgies Den for coffee and got caught up on the news on my iPhone. I always wake up earlier than DW and enjoy doing this at whatever DVC resort we're staying at.

I had a real nice conversation with the CM at the front desk. I wish I could remember her name (I'm terrible on names), but I've seen her here every since we started coming. Last night around 11:30 or so, the folks staying above us were making all kinds of noise. It sounded like they were coming through the ceiling. They had several children and it sounded like they were jumping off the bed onto the floor. Anyway I was telling the CM about this and she said if it happens tonight to call the front desk and they would send someone up there to speak to them.

I also had a nice conversation with this lady from Wisconsin. We were talking about the weather and she said they were just happy to see the green grass since their's has been covered with so much snow this year. She was a really nice lady.

Anyway our plan for today is to just take it easy and relax. I am working on some genealogy research for DW's family and plan to work on it this morning (thanks to Ancestry.com). Plus I need to get caught up on my Bible Study for my Disciple class Thursday night.

This afternoon we're going to see Avatar (I haven't seen it but DW has). For dinner tonight I'm thinking Longhorn Steakhouse. I know, it's a chain, not a local restaurant but I'm in the mood for a steak.

Well that's it for now.

 

[tammymacb]

We'll be there next month and can't wait!

I LOVE HHI! This winter I sold all my BWV points and replaced them with more HHI points. It's really my favorite DVC at this point. So relaxing.

So, we'll be there in April and June and my new resale has a bunch of banked points I need to burn, so maybe even more than that.

Have a great time!

 

[WolfpackFan]

I LOVE HHI! This winter I sold all my BWV points and replaced them with more HHI points. It's really my favorite DVC at this point. So relaxing.

You know, I have really thought about doing this. I've thought about selling our AKV contract and replacing it with a HHI contract. Right now we only have enough HHI points to do a Studio every year. I usually then use some of our other points to change to a 1BR at 7 months, but it seems to be getting harder and harder getting a 1BR except at 11 months. I tried for our trip last October and called and called with no luck.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks for the link to Ft. Pulaski! We passed signs for it when we travelled from HHI to Savannah over Halloween weekend...it will be a stop on our next trip!

WolfpackFan, enjoy your stay, I enjoy reading your report. We ate 2 delicious meals at the Sea Shack, and I hope yours was tasty too. I'm looking to getting to Cape May in April for some fried oysters, yummy!

When we stayed in HHI we had a room in the lodge, nice studio, tree view,well, lots of Spanish moss hanging on the trees, and it was HHA. It worked out fine for us, but I wondered if all of the studios in the main building were HHA. I did like it that the kitchenette was sort of around the corner from the sitting/sleeping area. It's a larger studio than most, I think.

Bobbi

In case anyone's still wondering about that, no not all the studios in the lodge are HA. Our favorite is #1132, on the third floor, with this view-

Also, last time we had a studio in building 12, right next to the lodge, and it was HA. I agree-all the studios seem pretty large, with the kitchenette around the corner, which I like.

 

[WolfpackFan]

1123 is not HA either.

 

[tammymacb]

You know, I have really thought about doing this. I've thought about selling our AKV contract and replacing it with a HHI contract. Right now we only have enough HHI points to do a Studio every year. I usually then use some of our other points to change to a 1BR at 7 months, but it seems to be getting harder and harder getting a 1BR except at 11 months. I tried for our trip last October and called and called with no luck.

I agree with the difficulty booking if you aren't an owner. Though BWV is my second favorite resort, it's much easier to snag than HHI. As my DD gets older and feels like "been there done that" with WDW and DH has NEVER been a big fan of WDW, HHI is what works for us. Old time Disney service, laid back atmosphere and it's only 2.5 hours from our home. I feel like I have the best of all worlds and I also feel like I'll aways be able to use points at WDW if I want. I plan far out and should never get shut out of OKW or SSR at 7 months. ( I go to HHI for Spring Break and you couldn't pay me to do Christmas/NY at WDW )

 

[WolfpackFan]

Tuesday, 7:45 Update -

Well it's been a nice, relaxing rainy day here on HHI. We started the day by just relaxing around the Studio most of the morning. DW watched TV and read and I messed around on the computer most of the morning. We then road out for lunch. We actually went back to the Sea Shack again. I had an Oyster Po'Boy and DW had the clam chowder. They were both excellent. The Sea Shack has officially become our favorite seafood restaurant on the island.

After lunch, we rode down to Barnes and Noble and messed around there some before going to the movies to see Avatar. We saw the 3D version and it was a terrific movie.

After the movie, we came back to the resort and relaxed some more and then it was time for dinner. We walked across the bridge and went to San Miguels and shared some nachos for dinner.

Over all it was a nice relaxing day. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow. We had planned on going into Savannah tomorrow but we may drive over to Beaufort instead. We'll see how we feel in the morning.

 

[lsutigger2]

thanks for the report. DH and I have been to HH three times and just love it. We are planning a trip for after Christmas this year. Maybe we'll be nice and bring a few family members with us

I love relaxing and Dh loves golfing so it works for us !

Can you tell me where Sea Shack is? sounds like a great place to eat.

Enjoy the rest of your trip

 

[WolfpackFan]

The Sea Shack is off Pope Avenue (the road that connects Sea Pines Circle with Coligny Circle). It is to the left as you go towards Coligny. Take a left onto Executive Rd. and circle around. Sea Shack is on the right. Just look for all the cars.

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

Tuesday, 9:00 AM -

I had a real nice conversation with the CM at the front desk. I wish I could remember her name (I'm terrible on names), but I've seen her here every since we started coming. Last night around 11:30 or so, the folks staying above us were making all kinds of noise. It sounded like they were coming through the ceiling. They had several children and it sounded like they were jumping off the bed onto the floor. Anyway I was telling the CM about this and she said if it happens tonight to call the front desk and they would send someone up there to speak to them.

.

There is something not right with how they built the HHI villas. We had a Grand Villa in 2002 and had two kids with us. One was 18 months, and one was 15 months. They were doing what little kids do - running around. Nothing out of the normal, but the people below complained like there was no tomorrow. I always found it strange until I found this forum and saw others complaining.