Mndisneygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2008
- Messages
- 7,388
Okay, its time to head to South Carolina and Disneys Hilton Head Island resort! But naturally, I cant just jump right in to it, theres a backstory that must be told!!
My DD10, Paige, is in competitive dance. Last fall, they put out the competition schedule and to my dismay, displeasure and great inconvenience, there was a competition scheduled for the weekend of March 9-10. First of all, March 9 is my other daughter, Sarahs birthday! She did not compete in dance last year, so she would be forced to spend her birthday watching her sister dance. Which, while its fun, is not so great if you would rather be the one dancing, or be on vacation.
Second, that is the first weekend of our 2013 spring break! Crazy that they didnt check or didnt care that a lot of families were on break that week, but they did not get a lot of people telling them they were already booked, so they left it. I do know of one family that had plane and cruise reservations and they skipped the competition and the group had to do a work around without her.
Now we had made reservations to stay at HHI from March 10 14 originally. Of course, we were driving, so no plane reservation issues for us. But, our plan was to leave on Friday the 8th, since the kids had no school that day. We even thought of leaving after work on Thursday and spending the night driving, then having a couple days to explore Charleston first.
So armed with this new dance competition schedule, we were able to shift our stay at HHI to arrive on Monday and leave Friday. Not a huge deal, but left us with less time in Charleston on the front end. I had gained some great info on Charleston from MEK and Charleston Princess (of course!) and was really looking forward to exploring the city.
We rented a minivan to leave on Sunday March 10. (got a GREAT deal by the way!)
As the time got closer, we learned the competition schedule. They usually only release it a week before competition. As luck would have it, Paiges group only competed on Saturday! So we would be able to leave earlier than we thought!
We decided wed leave Saturday night as soon as she was done, so we called the rental agency and changed the pick up date. As it turned out, her competition was only a few miles from the airport where wed pick up the van!
So Saturday morning, we got up early and headed to the competition, where Paiges group scored very well on both their dances. Sarah was a great sister and supported the dance studio.
Once the awards were done, we high-tailed it out of there and headed to the airport. Dave got the van and we were home in no time, washed off Paiges stage makeup and got our belongings loaded in the van.
Ready to go!
We were able to leave our house by 5:30 p.m. and of course it had to be raining!! We just kept going and going and going! Normally we stop about half way through Wisconsin, but no one needed to stop, and we still had gas, so we made it all the way into Illinois before we stopped at the Belvidere Oasis! Thats like 6 hours! It was raining and raining&I thought wed stop for the night somewhere around Rockford, but Dave decided to keep going.
And going some more.
And more.
We ended up driving all night! Now we do this fairly often, but I wasnt expecting to do it this time. But hey, if hes willing to drive and get us there sooner, who am I to complain??
We stopped in Kentucky, or was it Tennessee? Maybe both! And got some breakfast at about 9 a.m. at a Cracker Barrel (which is the place Dave and I both worked when we first met. Awww&)
I guess it was Kentucky - saw this in the shop!
Tennessee would be a bit later...
Then it was North Carolina
We try to stop at the welcome centers for these photo ops at as many states as we drive through. Someday it will make a cool scrapbook!
Passed through Asheville NC (wed stop there later) and headed into South Carolina.
Look! The daffodils are already blooming here!
Got to Charleston about 5:30 p.m. A lovely little 24 hour road trip! We checked into our hotel a Comfort Inn/Suites and decided to wander around the city a bit. Now, I dont think wed made a reservation ahead of time at this hotel, wed just looked around and stopped there if I recall.
Our hotel - I didn't remember to take a pic until we were leaving town and driving past!
Found the inside the room pics on my phone!
Within about 10 minutes of driving in this city, I was in love! It is quite possibly one of the most beautiful cities Ive ever seen! Im already thinking that one of my kids could go to college there, or we could retire there part of the winter.... We wandered and found a BBQ place to have a late dinner Sticky Fingers BBQ. Super good!
But we were getting tired, and after dinner headed back to the hotel to get some rest. But of course, the girls werent too tired to swim in the hotel pool! I think Dave took them down for a swim and we all got to bed about 10:30. Wed spend the next day exploring Charleston before heading to HHI.
Kids are never to tired to swim!
We were supposed to go to Charleston while we were in Charlotte over the 4th, but we didn't make it. Maybe another time. Everyone always says how wonderful it is. 
I wear it a lot. I thought about the mug but the HANDWASH scared me. 
Now I HAVE to go back. Well, I planned on it anyway since we haven't had a proper visit yet.
