Trip Reports

DVC HILTON HEAD TRIP REPORT - 8-17-97

Sharick DVCers: Joe (Disney Convert) - 43, Donna (original Disney nut) - 38, Justin - 12, Jacob-2, Also along for the trip - Donna's little sister, Laurie, 26, Donna's Dad, John - a last minute add-on (he couldn't make up his mind about going)

Background: My love for Disney started back in 1987 when I won a free trip to DisneyWorld in a Radio Contest. You had to be the 10th caller when you heard the song of the day. If you didn't hear the announcement of the Song of the Day early in the morning, you were out of luck. I was determined to win this contest and listened every day for two weeks. On the last day of the contest, I heard the song of the day, All She Wants To Do Is Dance (Don Henley), when I left my house in the morning. Finally, later in the day, I thought I heard it on the radio and started dialing. Everyone was making fun of me because I had been doing this for two weeks with no luck. Finally, after hitting redial for the umpteenth time, I got a ring. It rang and it rang; I was convinced I must've somehow dialed the wrong number and I was just about to hang up when someone answered the phone, Hello B94. I said, "What number am I". Next thing I hear is "You're going to Disney World!" Everyone in the office thought I was bluffing; I couldn't even believe it myself. I was so excited, I could hardly talk to the guy. I had just won an all-expenses paid trip for 4 nights to Disney World, which included food and airfare. Was it my lucky day or what! Little did I know then just how much that "free" trip would cost me in the years to come.....

Well, 10 yrs. and 4 trips later, we decided to join The Disney Vacation Club. Say what you want about the pros and cons of joining the DVC, but if you plan on going every year, as we do, you can't help but come out ahead. In our last three trips alone, we could've paid for the vacation club. My only regret is that we didn't join sooner. We toured DVC during our 10/96 trip and finally made the big move about a month later. Our use year is August, which is good for us because we like to go in October which means that we'll pick up our new alotment of points every August and probably use them all up in October. We purchased 250 points which is enough for our family of 4 to stay for about 10 days in a 1 BR during that time of year. We received 250 points immediately upon purchase since there were some left for 1996 so we banked them into 1997 thinking ahead that we might like to try Disney's Hilton Head Resort since we had just been to Disney World. Actually, this was one of the things that helped sell Joe since Hilton Head = golfing and it didn't hurt that Old Key West is built around a golf course. I knew I was home free when I saw that. Next year, we will use our points from 1997 which are banked into 1998 and also use 1998 points for a longer trip of about 13 nights; 6 at OKW, 2 at Vero, and 5 at Boardwalk. Can't wait for that one, but for now, on to Hilton Head!

In preparation for this trip, there really wasn't much to do compared to preparing for the "World". I checked with some fellow DVCers that had been to Hilton Head (thanks Harriet) about room location, activities available, etc. I called Hilton Head a couple weeks ahead of time and had them fax me a layout of the resort and also an activity list. I was quite impressed with the vast selection of activities available. Prior to getting hooked on Disney, we liked to go on cruises and looking over this list reminded me of a cruise activity list; something going on all day for people of all ages. I also had them fax me a grocery shopping list. I planned on packing some groceries from home, but thought it would be nice to have the perishable items all stocked in our refrigerator when we got there. There is an $8 charge for this service; I think it is $4 at OKW. I know we could do this ourselves, but who wants to go grocery shopping as soon as you arrive at your destination. I knew we wouldn't want to go searching for the local Piggily Wiggily, which is where they buy the food. The only thing I didn't like was the prices weren't on the list. Oh well, how high can they be? <g> Sometimes you just have to pay for convenience!

Day One - Sunday-August 17th, 1997 - A driving day.

We met my sister over at my Dad's house and somehow packed everyone's junk into our Caravan. I had no room for my feet but who cares; it was a tight squeeze for everyone. We used up every available inch; thank goodness Joe is a good packer. The trip down was pretty uneventful. Joe said I was in charge of spotting the "road rubber" (tire tread) for him. I had my sunglasses on so he really didn't know that a lot of the time I was sleeping! Luckily, one time, my Dad spotted a huge piece of rubber on the road from way back in the last seat of the van. We hit a little traffic on the other side of Pittsburgh that maybe put us back a half/hr. The only mistake I made was giving Jake marshmallows as a snack. I thought it would be a great idea, never thinking that the sugar would eventually kick in. Well, about 25 mins. later, the only thing keeping him in his seat was the car seat restraint itself. We were laughing, we all thought it was kind of funny. He was being so good other than that so I just limited the marshmallows from now on. Besides, they were the miniatures; it didn't seem like I was giving him that many.

We decided to take a side trip to the New River Gorge in West Virginia. We had heard they bungee jump off this bridge (crazy people) so we decided to take a look to see just how high it was. There was a sign there that says this is the world's largest arch bridge. . It was about 95 degrees when we got out of the car and this was our first stop since leaving. Joe, Justin and my Dad wanted to walk down to the bottom; my sister and I were happy to just look over the railing. It was so high (can't remember how many feet) that when you look down, the white-water rafters looked like ants. We noticed a sign that said the walk down was easy but the walk back up was grueling. That was enough to convince us; we headed for the air-conditioned information center with Jake. A little while later, the guys came back and told us what we missed. They found me sitting on a bench with an A/C vent underneath it. I didn't even want to walk back to the car cause it was so hot; I could only imagine what South Carolina would be like if this was only West Virginia.

Joe was getting tired around Charlotte and it was getting dark so we decided to look around for a good deal on a hotel. I checked about 4 different ones and we finally settled on a Days Inn for $51 a night. I wanted a nice clean place for a decent price. This one seemed fine except I started to wonder when I saw a sign that said, "After 8 o'clock, please speak through the window opening, do not come into lobby". Well, it was 10 o'clock, we were all tired so we decided to just take our chances and hope this area was ok to stay in. We got 2 rooms with an adjoining door and we all fell fast asleep. We knew we couldn't check in at Hilton Head too early, so when we woke up we just took our time getting ready; although I was really anxious to get there.

Monday - August 18th - Day Two

We hit the road again about 8 o'clock after having the continental donut breakfast in lobby. Really fresh and yummy donuts and we were allowed in the lobby - can't beat it! We hit a lot of rush hour traffic in Charlotte and this put us back at least an extra hour. I figured we'd get to Hilton Head around 2 or so and I was pretty close with that estimate. I forgot when you get off I-95 and hit 278, actually getting to the island takes awhile. Before you get to the island, we went through some poverty stricken areas but as soon as you go over that bridge, it's a whole new world.

We arrived at Shelter Cove Harbour, where the Disney Resort is located, about 2:30 in the afternoon. The signs are a little confusing but we finally saw the Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort sign. I knew we had to check in at Live Oak Lodge so we just kept driving and found it at the end of the driveway. Finally, we arrived. Everyone wanted to go in and check it out. I looked for some topiaries that I had heard they had when you pull in but didn't see any. Check-in is actually on the second floor (I soon found out that all first floors are actually second floors at Hilton Head). I walked in and immediately knew I was in a Disney Resort. This place was perfectly detailed down to the pole lamps that are actually fishing oars. I went to check-in which is what you come to anyways when you open the door. Everyone else went into Big Murggie's Den, which is just that, a big den with a beautiful pool table, a checkers table, big fireplace, big leather chairs everywhere, rocking chairs everywhere, a huge TV in the corner. Too many details to even remember. The theme of this resort is a 1940s fishing and hunting lodge and they have truly captured this theme here.

I soon found out that our room was ready. I was so glad. I got the exact room I requested. I wanted the top floor room near the pool. Our room no. was 2521 and it was the perfect location for us. We drove down to park closer to the room and for some reason all they have around the homes are spaces for compact cars which we definitely aren't. All of the larger spaces are a little further down in a little cul de sac and they have these cute little wooden luggage buggies that you can use but you have to push them (they're on wheels). We parked in a compact space anyways since we found one close to the room and we had a ton of stuff to unload. I was the first to check out the room; unbelievable is all I could say. Joe was right behind me and all he could say was "Wow, do you believe this place? Wait till your Dad sees this". He put up the high-five hand to me---I slapped his hand.....let the fun begin! We spent the next ½ hr. or so just exploring the rooms, walking out on the porch, checking out the jacuzzi. Jake spent that time turning all the lights off and on, fans off and on and doors open and shut. Then he discovered the 3 TVs; he had to check to see if Barney was on all of them. Same with the phones; hopefully, this would wear off. My Dad volunteered to take Jake down to the pool. It seems his suit was too small for him (hmmm, that's funny, it fit back home...). I walked over to Broad Creek Mercantile, which was directly opposite us on the other side of pool and bought him a new suit. It looked so cute on him, a little big, but it'll do. I went back to the room and waited for our grocery delivery. By 4 o'clock, it still wasn't there so I called Guest Services and was told it was on its way. I already had everyones clothes put away and also put away the groceries we had brought with us such as cereal, waffle mix, syrup, cookies...anything that didn't require refrigeration. I knew I would be needing a high chair so I called for that too...it arrived within 10 minutes. Still no food, so I took a walk down to pool to video Jake in the Little Dipper Pool. (The baby pool was just circular in shape and had two large frogs on each side that spit water into the pool periodically. Kind of reminded me of the water spouts outside of Journey Into Imagination.) Oh no - he was already eyeing up the big water slide. This pool was a nice size, not real big but it never did seem too crowded. The slide starts out at the top of a big water tank and winds once around and comes out in about 4 ft. of rushing water. The deepest the pool got was only about 5 ft--no diving allowed. It was too hot to just stand around so I went back up to change into my suit and whaddaya know, the food was there and all put away in the refrigerator for me. They didn't leave me a slip to show the cost which I thought was kind of strange so I got out my list and took inventory to make sure I got what I paid for. My sister and I decided to start supper and swim later.. We couldn't believe how well equipped the kitchen was. Not only did it have the dishwasher and full refrigerator and stove, which I expected, but it had every pot and pan and baking dish you could imagine. There was even a supply of paper towels and dishwashing liquid and d/w machine powder. As we all sat around the table eating our first meal in our "home away from home" for the first time, I truly realized one of the best benefits of owning in the DVC; it was so great for us to be able to have our family down there with us. Hopefully, next time, my mother would be able to make it too. We finished up dinner, threw everything into the dishwasher, flipped it on and decided to check out the Member Social scheduled for that night. My Dad and Joe took Jake and Justin to pool so Laurie and I walked on over to Community Hall where this was being held. Here we are, the first ones to show up (this proved to be the case at all the activities the rest of the week). We were greeted by a CM who asked if we were members. YES - I said! (boy, saying that felt good) so we got cute member pins with a red ribbon hanging down that said I'm Part of The Magic - DVC Member. They wanted us to wear them in case any non-member attending had any questions, they could ask a member wearing a button. We walked in and they were still setting up (I guess we were kinda early.... I'm a stickler for being on time). What a layout - free beer, wine, lemonade, iced tea, crackers and cheese, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew melons, grapes, fresh pineapple. Laurie and I forgot to pick up fruit, so we were really glad this is what they had. We fixed ourselves a plate and started chatting with the CM - great guy. He proved to be a lot of fun at the campfire later in the week. They held a raffle. I usually have great luck, but too bad this time :-( didn't win. They gave away 2 DVC tote bags; really nice. The whole thing lasted about an hour. I was glad I didn't have to drag Jake to this. After it was a over, a nice CM took us on a tour of the grand villa which was in the building next to ours. WOW - even nicer than the one at OKW.

Later in the night around 8, they were having karaoke. Joe wanted to check this out so after Jake went to bed, we walked over. Not too many people there, mostly kids trying to sing Disney movie songs. We decided it wasn't for us and walked out onto the porch of Community Hall. They have a lot of rocking chairs and I immediately noticed they were playing the music from the CD that I have and play all the time, Classic Disney,Vol.II. Other songs were mixed in, but they were mostly playing songs from this CD. I plopped myself down into one of those rocking chairs and just relaxed. Ahhhhh, the good life. A song came on that I never heard before called Friends Around the World. It was so pretty. It reminded me so much of all my friends in the chat room and I knew I was really going to miss them this week and I couldn't wait to tell them about Hilton Head. Joe came onto the porch just as it was about over and here I was all choked up listening to this song thinking about my buddies.(sniffle, sniffle) I felt rain drops hit my face and I wasn't sure if it was tears dropping down or rain. Joe wanted to take a walk along the Shelter Cove Pier so we did that; it was just beautiful with all the yachts lit up and reflecting off the water. Music and songs were coming from Shelter Cover. It was directly across from our resort and although too far to walk tonight since we were both tired; we agreed we'd definitely have to make time to do that another night.

Quote of the Day: my Dad: "That Walt guy sure knew what he was doing when he made THIS place". Did I tell him? Naaaahhhh.

August 19th - Day Three - Tuesday

We woke up and made (I made) bacon and eggs for the gang, cleaned up and walked down to the rental window to sign up for the dolphin cruise. They run 6 times a day (2 different boats) and they fill up really fast. We wanted something for earlier in the morning to beat the heat but the closest we could get to morning was Friday at 11 o'clock. Laurie and I were really looking forward to this. Joe decided he would golf on Wednesday so he called Guest Services and arranged for his tee time. The weather was beautiful so we decided to check out the beach. They do have a shuttle that runs from Live Oak Lodge every 30 mins. but we figured how hard could it be to find since it was only across the street. My Dad thought we could walk but it's 1.5 miles away and we would've passed out from the heat. We packed up the beach bags and headed over to Palmetto Dunes, where the beach house is located. It was really easy to find. It was only about 10:30 and I swear, at least 95 degrees. We needed our hotel card to open the beach house door. This was really a pretty beach house compared to some I've seen. Tons of lounge chairs, decent size pool in the shape of an "H" with a volleyball net stretched over the cross bar of the "H". This is where they have their restaurant, Signals, which served a limited menu, mostly hamburgers, hotdogs, nachos. It was nice and cool in there. They also had a bar that served really cool smoothies and also mixed drinks. When exploring the beach house, I found a really nice, large room where you could go to just stay cool and relax. It had a about 4 tables with game tops, a big fireplace, a lot of chairs that looked like leather but were actually vinyl (for wet suits), a huge TV with VCR, book shelves lined with books, I mean, they thought of everything here. I loved the floor in here, bleached hardwood; it was beautiful.We walked down to the beach and just had to get an umbrella and two chairs. I didn't want Jake playing in the sun if I could help it. The rental people here have nothing to do with Disney so there were no discounts available. In fact, the prices were ridiculously high. It was $20 a day for the umbrella and chairs but the second day was only $13. Figuring we'd probably be back tomorrow, I figured I better go for that "deal". The boogie board was $10. It turns out we never did make it back the next day for reasons you'll see later so that second day was a waste of money.

The tide was on its way out but the waves were pretty good. As soon as Justin got in, a wave knocked him to the bottom and he got a pretty good brush burn on the head. We stayed on the beach for awhile and then went up to the pool and did this back and forth most of the day. We played a game of volleyball in the water (Joe watched Jake). It was me and Laurie against Justin and my Dad. It was a lot of fun. Good way to keep cool. By 1:30, Jake was ready for a nap (so was mom) so we all went back. When we got back to our vacation home, my Dad realized he left his shoes back at the beach. Oh well - he brought another pair. He thinks someone picked them up by accident. Jake and I took a nap after having some lunch. Justin was upset cause he had his name in for a crab net (they're few and far between) and they had called while we were gone so he wasn't able to get it. Tonight was the 4th of July at Disney and everything was decorated in red, white and blue. They were planning on having fireworks (they do every Tuesday) however some lightning in the distance prevented them from having them. I guess they don't want to take chances. Joe and I had to laugh, Jake saw the lightning and he said, "Look mom, fireworks!". He didn't know the difference; it was cute. For dinner, tonight was the All American Cookout. I thought the price was kind of steep, $9.95 for adults and $5.95 for kids. There was a lot of food, hamburgers, huge hotdogs, chicken, baked beans, cold salads, watermelon, some type of pecan pie (looked really sweet) and lemonade and iced tea. The skies looked threatening so we loaded up our plate and decided to go eat indoors upstairs at Community Hall. Sure enough, they let loose with a downpour; luckily we were inside. When we got back to the room after the rain stopped, there was a voicemail saying that the picnic was canceled. That's strange cause we were full of food but I later learned they would've had ice cream but we never got to have it cause it was cancelled. :-( Justin and my Dad had been out crabbing (he finally was able to get a net) and they just made it back to the room in time before the heaviest rains hit. I had heard at this picnic that they were sprucing up for Michael Eisner coming but I never heard anything after that and didn't run into him! Wonder if he gets to stay in that beautiful grand villa? <G>

Later on that evening, we put Jake in the stroller and took that walk on over to Shelter Cove. I just assumed we would be making a big circle starting at our place, over the bridge, through Shelter Cove and back over on the other side. Well, it doesn't work like that. We walked all the way over there, walked through the busy nightlife areas and the sidewalk just ended, just like that. We had to turn around and walk all the way back. Oh well - good exercise for me and Joe. Everyone else stayed back at the room. The rain had stopped and everyone was out it seemed. We bought Jake one of those necklaces that glow in the dark ($2) and he was a happy camper. This is where President Clinton stays when he goes down every January. A friend of mine from high school is a marine and his assignment is to guard the President and he gets to go everywhere with him; he told me this is where they stay. It's beautiful there. A lot of condos overlook this lively area; kind of like Boardwalk but a lot larger. My Dad told me later that the beach shuttle driver said that President Clinton always comes over to the Disney side to play football with the kids staying there. The sidewalk at Shelter Cove was really pretty; it was made with sea shells mixed into the cement; so you were actually walking on millions of sea shells. It seemed like we were back at our room in no time and we all turned in after a great day.

Quote of the Day: My Dad saying "When I get home, I'm thinking of selling the car so I can buy this DVC thing, it's great". Gotta love him. It was growing on him.

Day 4, Wednesday, August 20th

This is a day I would rather just forget and not recall again. Everything started out O.K., we got up and had a good breakfast. Justin and my Dad got up around 7 and went fishing and crabbing; I got up around 8 and started breakfast and Justin and my Dad were already coming back. Something had to be wrong cause normally, you can't drag that kid off the pier. He said he didn't feel good so I told him to lay down. He was sick to his stomach so off I went looking for a bucket of some type. He layed there for awhile so I told everyone to go do whatever they had planned and that I would keep an eye on him. Joe went golfing, Laurie and my Dad went down to the pool. Justin said he was ok and he would just like to sleep. I took Jake down to the pool and told Justin to call me (our porch overlooked the pool) if he needed me. We stayed awhile down there but I kept wanting to check on Justin and it was getting close to Jake's naptime, so I figured I would make him lunch and put him down for naptime. Justin was much worse when I got back upstairs. He was literally curled up in a fetal position rolling in pain. He definitely had to get to a dr. right away. Just as all this was happening, Jake decided he'd lock the master BR suite doors, including the bathroom. I went to open them and sure enough, locked. No way in either door. Looking back, this actually seems funny, but it wasn't at the time. I had a grilled cheese on the stove, I was yelling at Jake for what he did, and Justin was crying on the couch. Are we having fun yet? I called the front desk to send someone up for the locks, I put Jake in the highchair and practically tossed him the grilled cheese and ran back to be at Justin's side. At this point, I went onto the deck and called my Dad up. We decided we better call Joe off the course; as much as I hated to do it, I called Palmetto Dunes (somehow I remembered the name of the course) and they went out to get Joe. I felt bad cause he was only on the 7th hole and had to leave but he said he was glad I called him. We rushed Justin to the urgent care facility about ½ mi. down the road. They took him in immediately. Too make a long story short, Justin was severely dehydrated to the point that they couldn't get a good vein for blood. After trying both arms, they finally got some from his hand. Then they tried the other hand to start an IV. Poor kid; he didn't know what was happening. He was clutching my hand with his free hand trying to be brave. It sure was scary watching two drs. and two nurses work on your kid and all we could see was his feet. They weren't sure if this maybe could've been appendicitis and wanted to keep him for observation. It took about 5 hrs. for the IV to drip and his color started to come back. The blood work came back with a high white cell count so we had to wait till that looked more normal and then they'd give him something for the pain. Finally at about 5 o'clock, he got a painkiller and they said if it helped him, he could go home, otherwise, we'd have to take him to the hospital for surgery. Yikes. We didn't like the sound of this at all. This medication made him sleep till about 7. He woke up feeling a little better. Good sign. They wanted a urine sample which came back normal so they said he could go home. They pretty much ruled out appendicitis but if anything developed, I was to beep the Dr. anytime of night. The actual diagnosis turned out to be gastroenteritis. The people at this place were great. So attentive to him being a child, ok...an adolescent. Joe took him out to the car and I went and took care of the bill. It was now 7:30 and I really didn't care how much this was; I just wanted to get him back to our place and make him comfortable. The total was $258; but I found out I will get reimbursed all but $10 since I called his Dr. up here right after it happened. I don't even know how I remembered to do that. Wheeww, what a day. I told myself tomorrow would be better.

Quote of the Day: Justin saying to me "Mom, why does this have to happen to me NOW, on vacation?"

Day 5, Thursday, August 21st

Justin woke up hungry; great sign he was feeling better. I thought he better just have some toast to start out with even though he wanted bacon. At least he had his appetite back. I told him if he keeps the toast down, he could slowly add more foods. He said his stomach muscles were a little sore but I was just glad he was walking on his own. This morning was Cel Painting at 10 a.m. and I had told Justin he would probably like this activity but after yesterday, I didn't want to ask him to do it. He came out of his bedroom about 9:30 all dressed. I said, "Where are you going?" He told me, "I know how bad you wanted me to do that cel painting for your wall at work so I'm going to go do it." I said, "Do you feel up to it?" He said "Not really, but I want to do it for you mom." Everybody say, "Ahhhhhhhhhh". Touching moment for mom. Cel Painting was $8 for members and $10 for non-members. He painted Goofy fishing off a pier. He ended up liking it so much that he wanted me to buy a kit in the store. It was $18 and you get two cels to paint. He did them on the kitchen table that day; it was a good way to keep him quiet while he was getting his strength back and I had 3 cel paintings to show off at work!

I knew things were going too well. Laurie gets up and hardly has a voice. She had a sore throat on the way down and assumed it would just go away. Well, it didn't. About 10:30, she says to me, "Don, do you think you could take me to that medical center so I can get something for this?" Oh sure, Laur, I'd just love too! NOT!!! What could I say, she's my baby sister. So off we went. We waited 2 hrs. before her name was called. Just a badly infected throat, no strep. They gave her a prescription, which they didn't carry so we had to go search for a pharmacy. We found one in a plaza a few miles down the road; I dropped her off and picked up a few burgers at McDonalds for us, figuring by the time I got back, she'd be almost ready to come out. Well, an hour had passed and she still wasn't out. I went in and she was sitting there waiting. I walked up to the clerk and told her she was waiting an hour and what is going on. We gave her the name and the stupid bag was sitting there in the bin! Needless to say, I wasn't too happy. We walked out and noticed one of the prescriptions was missing; they didn't fill it cause insurance didn't cover it. They never even asked her do you want it anyways. We brought it to their attention and she said we'd have to get back in line! I said, No Way - fill it cause we've already waited too long. They did, we paid and we left. We got back to the condo and Joe looked frazzled from being alone with Jake!. (Now he knows what I go through every day!) I said to him "Call for a Saturday tee time since your game was messed up the other day". He smiled and immediately looked unfrazzled! The afternoon wasn't a total loss; it was only about 1:30, Jake was napping so Laurie & I decided that the pool looked pretty good to us. We went down there to get some chairs, she ordered us drinks (strawberry daiquiris) and all was well again.

We wanted to go into Harbourtown this evening so we all got showered. My Dad and Justin wanted to fish so they stayed back. If anyone knows anything about Harbourtown, it is extremely popular in the evenings and it costs $5 a car just to go into Sea Pines Plantation, where Harbourtown is located. Last time we were in Hilton Head, 1988, we stayed in my boss' condo in Sea Pines and we just walked into Harbourtown each evening. We didn't have that luxury this time; finding a parking place is a real challenge here. We pulled into the lot, which is way too small; bypassing the shuttle option. Driving through, there were no spaces to be had. We were just about to leave when a couple was coming towards the lot. I rolled down the window and asked if they were leaving and if so, would they mind us taking their space. They said no problem. I got out of the car and walked to their space with them and we talked about good places to eat and what place had the best seafood. They got in their car, I thanked them for the space and their advice and they backed out of the space. Enter JERK OF THE TRIP. Out of nowhere comes this guy in a Blazer around the bend practically hitting me standing there in the space. The dialogue between us was:

Me: Excuse me, this space is taken.

JERK: Yeah, by me.

Me: No, my husband is about to back in to it.

JERK: oh no he isn't; I've been waiting in this lot for 10 mins. for someone to leave.

Me: Well, you should've asked someone like I did; besides we just came through here and didn't see you waiting anywhere.

JERK: Well, I was, so move.

Me: No

Then Joe gets out of the car and says,

Joe: Sir, she did ask the people where they were parked, we didn't see you waiting so we're going to park here. You should've asked someone too, it's a lot easier. (he gets back in car)

Then the guy turns off his car and says:

JERK: I can wait all night here.

Me: Me too.

He gets out of car and goes over to Joe in the car and says:

JERK: Please get your wife out of the way so I can pull in

Joe gets out and says: C'mon Donna, this is wasting our time and isn't worth it. We'll find another place to park.

I was so fuming mad but I knew Joe was right, this wasn't worth it. So I walked towards the car but had to get the last words in. I said: Ok, you can have this space, but if I were you, I'd keep an eye on your car tonight cause I know where you're parked. I saw him jotting down our license number as we drove away. I really did have no intention of doing anything to his car. The best payback for me was him worrying all night if I was going to do anything. He probably didn't enjoy his evening too much. We went to the shuttle lot, which was practically empty, the shuttle was waiting and it dropped us off right at the entrance to Harbourtown. I never did see that man again. I have never met a more rude, inconsiderate and ungentlemanly man in my life. I can be stubborn and I don't like to lose, but it was the principle of the incident that had me so mad.

Once we got into Harbourtown, we put our name in at the Crazy Crab (1/2 hr. wait) and just forgot about the whole thing. I had roasted chicken, Joe had the seafood platter, Laurie had She Crab soup and mushrooms stuffed with crab-meat. Jake had (what else) chicken strips. The bill was $52 before tip. We finished up right at 8 o'clock when Greg Russell was starting to sing under the huge oak tree right in the middle of Harbourtown. When Justin was 3, he sat up there with Greg when he was singing. I have it on video. He was so little and cute. Now we had Jake here, but this guy is so popular, you couldn't get near the place. He does this every single night and it's filled to capacity. We just stood back at a distance and listened. Luckily you can hear him from just about anywhere in Harbourtown. He is so funny and the kids love him. He sings songs like She'll be Comin Around the Mountain, Rocky Top etc. He has a great voice and an even better personality. I couldn't believe he didn't look any older after 9 years. The skies started to look threatening so we thought we better head back to the shuttle or we'd get soaked. We were a little disappointed we didn't get to go up into the lighthouse but except for the jerk, it was a really fun night. I hope he had a good time too <g>.

Day 6, Friday, August 22nd

Since the last two days kind of dragged us down, I wanted to get up bright and early and rent bikes before the hottest part of the day. The temperature was only supposed to be 85 today and the humidity finally went down so it shouldn't be that bad. Riding bikes was the first activity that just our immediate family finally did together. We went to the bike rental window at 9 cause I wanted to be back between 10 and 10:30 'cause our dolphin cruise was at 11:00. We got Jake a carrier for Joe's bike and a little bike helmet. It's not a law in SC for kids under 12 to wear them but it is up here and he may as well get used to it. Justin wouldn't think of riding a bike without a helmet. For two adult bikes, one child carrier, one child bike and 2 helmets, it was $18. They even gave us a bike combination lock and our combination was on my receipt for all 3 bikes. These aren't the most attractive looking bikes. They were new but they're those big bulky bikes. Not real comfortable, if you know what I mean. We started off riding around the resort finding places I didn't even know existed. We headed over to Shelter Cove and found a tunnel along a waterway that went under highway 278. This brought us up over at Palmetto Dunes. Joe showed us where he would be golfing on Saturday (he hoped). Some of these paths were narrow and people were riding on the wrong side of the road, which proved to be a little tricky. We stayed out a little over an hour and it was getting hot so we decided to head back and have some lunch before our dolphin cruise. I sure was glad to get off that bike; but I felt like I was still on it for the next few days. Can't they make those seats a little more comfortable for us?

Jake was tuckered out after his big ride so after lunch he took a nap with my Dad. Laurie, Joe, Justin and myself headed over to check in for our dolphin cruise. I thought we'd be going with other people but it turns out we had the whole boat to ourselves with Mike, our driver and tourguide. He walked us over to the Shelter Cove Harbour dock which happened to be right across from our place. We all took our places in the boat, Laurie and I sat up in the front and Joe and Justin sat on the seats on the side. As he pulled out of the harbour he explained that we would more than likely see a lot of dolphins but sometimes they come up to the boat and sometimes they don't. We had to go pretty slow till we cleared the marina area, but once that was passed, he warned us he was picking up some speed and I'll say, we sure did. This was worth the money even if we didn't see any dolphins. We were hitting some pretty good wakes. Mike told us to bring all the drink and snacks we wanted. Of course, I had to have my Vanilla Wafers and bottle of water, the rest of the guys brought coke. Anyways, we were going so fast that a can of coke flew up in the air out of the drink holders and spilled all over the boat, just missing my legs. Mike said don't worry about it so we all just laughed. He pointed out all the celebrity homes including Dave Thomas' (Wendy's) and Michael Jordan's area; we couldn't see his house. Of course, their million dollar boats were parked outside of their multi-million dollar homes. I was wondering, just how do you get to live like this. I felt lucky just owning DVC (and I am) but this was really something. Mike showed us the open ocean but said not too many dolphins are out there cause they know the shrimp and crab boats aren't out there. We saw a lot of schools of dolphin, some swimming right along side us. At one point, there were about 5 or 6 dolphins all coming out of the water at the same time and going back in. One boat coming opposite us was feeding one and he put the food up really high and Mike said to get your cameras ready and sure enough, he came all the way up to get the food just like at Sea World. This dolphins name was Nick. We saw a lot of dolphins but none ever came close enough to actually touch, which is just as well; they should be left alone. I think they are so peaceful looking; always having a smile on their face. The "Jerk of the Trip" could take a lesson from a dolphin, in my opinion.

Mike had to have us back by 12:30 and he pulled into the marina right on time. This trip was well worth the $21 (member) a person in all of our opinions. Today was a really clear day with no clouds and low humidity; a perfect pool layout day. Turned out I was in luck, Jake was still sleeping when I got back so Laurie and I headed for the pool. Justin wanted to go fishing and crabbing. My Dad just hung around our "home" enjoying every minute of this place; part of the time he spent on the back porch in one of our rockers. He could see us down in the pool and even see Justin way out on the pier. He said he had taken some time to just look at the fishing pictures on the walls and looking at all the details in the place. Laurie and I stayed down here till about 3:30 or so. We came upstairs to get ready for Disney's Southern Style Picnic Under the Oaks at 5:00. We started walking up towards Live Oak Lodge. We took the long scenic way which shows the beautiful landscaping of this place. They use natural pine needles for their mulch and flowers are planted everywhere and it seems like everywhere you look you see monarch butterflies, my favorite. We looked for hidden mickeys along the way but all we saw were a few marsh bunnies. They're cute little bunnies, dark brown with no white tail. By the time we got over to where the picnic was being held, it was about 4:55. How did I end up being first in line again? They were giving out those member buttons again (yeah, I now I have 2). This is the evening I was wearing my DVC t-shirt from Mary (Sleevesend). You could tell people noticed it but didn't want to stare trying to read it. It seems they were still setting up for the picnic so we scouted out a place to sit. When Disney says picnic under the oaks, that's exactly what they mean. We were under these huge 250 yr. old oak trees, there were only a few picnic tables but what I thought was neat was they had red/white checkered tableclothes, about 8 of them spread all over the ground for us to sit on. It truly looked like a good old-fashioned picnic. Since there was no line for food <g> they told us to help ourselves. No problem there; we were hungry. They brought out picnic baskets of food containing the best Southern Fried Chicken I've ever tasted; although it was the small pieces. They also had boiled peanuts and watermelon. They had mentioned this wasn't to be a full meal so I guess this was our appetizer for our real meal later (the one I had to make). We each took a few pieces of chicken, a lot of watermelon and a drink. Joe and Justin were missing out on this cause they went up to Big Murggie's Den to play some pool and a line was starting to form. They finally came out and were able to get some chicken and we all sat down on our tablecloth. I saw these little ants crawling on the tablecloth and said, oh look, we have visitors - ants. A CM heard me and said, yes - but they're Disney ants, they're audioanimatronic! I thought this was pretty funny. Other people heard too and laughed. Right next to us was a painted box that said "soap box". Next thing I know, a CM gets on it and says it's the first night they've used it and if someone wants to talk they have to get up on the "soap box". She got up there and pretty much talked about the same stuff we heard at the member social. I guess they repeat it for those visitors who may have arrived after the Monday evening social was held. They gave away a DVC backpack as a raffle prize (:-( no luck for me again. All of a sudden, this man dressed up as a policeman started walking around the area, dressed really funny with white socks up to his knees and an old fashioned officer uniform, kind of reminded me of what Barney Fife would look like if he were on In Living Color. This guy was making conversation with people eating and he started asking if anyone had any extra chicken. He asked a couple other CMs if they've seen any chicken anywhere cause they needed more to serve. We honestly thought this was part of the act and other people did too cause they were laughing but, apparently, he wasn't kidding; they ran out of chicken and over half the people were still in line! Very un-Disney! I did hear the one CM say, we didn't expect this good of a turnout. Joe and I thought they probably had it on Friday nights thinking most people (except us) would go out to eat on the island. Well, guess what? They didn't go out...they were standing in line. This whole thing was a little unorganized because at the end of the line, the people couldn't see that they were standing in the drink line which took forever; meanwhile, people were already going up for seconds on the chicken and melon. They thought they were in the food line and when they went to get their food, it was gone. Surely they'll bring more out....nope...didn't happen; they were out of luck. Had it been me, I would've complained about this. Glad it wasn't me, I'd had enough encounters for one trip <g>. Another strange thing that happened was that policeman guy kept saying they were expecting a special guest but he couldn't tell us who, only that his initials were MM. Everyone got excited and he said it wouldn't be much longer. I told Jake, you're going to see Mickey, Jake! He was so happy. Next thing you know, they said thanks for coming. No Mickey. I said, was I hearing things or what? What's the deal? Everyone just got up and left. Oh well. We'll see Mickey next year, I'm sure.

One of the CMs said he'd show us the grand villa and since Joe didn't see it the first time, he came along. This is when I started getting compliments on the shirt. First a stranger and then the CM taking us over to GV. He was holding the door open and said, hey, like that shirt. I explained how it came about and invited him into our chat sometime giving him directions how to get there. I'm sure we'll NEVER see him!

After we got back to our place, we all decided we were hungry for some ice cream and Joe remembered they had a place that sells it over in Shelter Cove. We all walked over there to check it out and maybe shop a little for some souvenirs. Laurie decided she wanted to shop A LOT so she and my Dad lingered awhile over there while we walked back. Shopping and Jake just do not mix, didn't even attempt it. He was being pretty fussy tonight, I thought.

Around 8 o'clock we headed over to the campfire. Somehow, we were the first to get there, AGAIN. Kept running into the same CM and he remembered me being first at the other things and he just kind of pointed at me and laughed. The campfire area is somewhat small. It had about 5 or 6 benches in a circle in the sand with the firewood in the middle and tiki lights all around us. This evening was especially pretty, it was just getting dark, sun had just set and the sky was the bluest blue. They started the fire and let it die down a little; smoke was going straight up. I made the comment that maybe we'd see a hidden mickey in the smoke. The CM laughed and asked if we'd found any in our room. I hadn't so he gave us some tips on where to look; mostly in the pictures. I found them as soon as I got back. He started us out singing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Joe was in an especially wild mood tonight, really getting into this sing-a-long thing. Only the three of us fit on this bench (hey,they're small benches!) so Jake sat in his stroller. I videotaped most of this (this got me out of acting like a fool!) No, actually, I put the camera down and did it too sometimes. It was really a lot of fun. Luckily, the fire died down cause we really didn't need a fire when the temperature is 85 at 8 o'clock at night. The most fun song that we did was one where each bench had to take a "part". We were the bow and arrows, group next to me were the cowboys. There also were groups of "stagecoach", "hysterical women", "horses", "guns". You get the picture. The CM started to tell a story and when he pointed to your group, you had to make the sound of what you were assigned. This was really a lot of fun. Joe was really into this one. He makes a great bow and arrow sound. We had a really good group at this campfire, no deadbeats; all fun loving people which are my favorite kind. After singing, we roasted marshmallows on the fire. We were each given 3 marshmallows on a skewer and when they were done, you take them over to the CM and he gives you the graham cracker and chocolate. Mmmmmmmm. Yummy. Just give me the graham crackers and Hershey Bar. I thought they were a little chincy on the chocolate. Only two sections of Hershey Bar a person. Not nearly enough. I gave Jake his own, and the poor thing dropped his marshmallow in the sand. Oh well, I shared mine with him. Brought a smile back to his face. After looking back at the video of this campfire, it turned out pretty neat. I had the camera on "dusk" setting and you can see the CMs silouhetted on the screen against the dusk sky. Makes it look real campfirey!

Back at our room, around 9 o'clock, for some reason we were all starved. Pizza was sounding like a good idea. We had a frozen one in our freezer for moments such as this! We all voted it the best frozen pizza we ever had. Tasted really homemade. I thought this was the best day of the vacation; started out early, it never got too hot and it seems like we packed a lot of activities into the day.

Saturday, August 23 - Last Full Day

My Dad, Laurie and Justin got an early start at 7 o'clock and took a nature walk. They had guided nature walks, but my Dad knows a lot about this kind of stuff so they just went on their own. We were getting low on food and didn't want to buy too much more since we were winding down :-( so we used up the bread and cereal and bacon for breakfast. Joe left for his golf game, Justin went out crabbing after the walk and Laurie and my Dad left for the beach on the shuttle. Wait a minute, is someone missing here? Oh yeah, me and Jake. I didn't want to take him to the beach so we just stayed back at the resort. We had all day to spend together. We took a walk, looked at flowers, found some swings hanging by long ropes from the oaks, found a mesh hammock between two trees (Jake loved this) and then found a playground and we had it all to ourselves. They even had a bench for mom to sit on. Turning around, I could see Justin on the pier fishing. I called over and he couldn't tell where it was coming from. Finally asked me later if it was me. Jake and I made our way back to where all the action is, near the pool. He said he didn't want to swim so we went upstairs into the gift shop. Ooops, they sell candy. I bought some to keep him in one place while we sat out and rocked on the rocking chairs. They had little miniature rockers for kids; just Jake's size. Had no problem keeping him next to me as long as I had that candy. I just wanted to relax a little and listen to that music. I thought Jake could use a nap (I thought wrong) so I took him back up to our "home" and layed him down on the bed. I thought this would be a good time to catch up on washing dirty clothes, running the sweeper and doing/putting dishes away. Wait a minute....I thought I was on vacation. This is no different than any other Saturday at home (after chatting). I kept checking on Jake; still awake. An hour later, same thing. I said, c'mon buddy, we're going down to the pool. I put his suit on and off we went. Justin joined us soon after we got down there. We decided Jake needed a life jacket. You can rent them for free and they come in all sizes. He looked so cute wearing his. He was begging me to let him go down the water slide. I felt safer now that he was wearing the life jacket. Justin saw to it that he made it up the steps while I waited at the bottom. Seems like it took forever, but soon he came around that bend, sideways and eyes as big as saucers, and came flying into my arms. The rush of the water really pushed him into me but I caught him. He kept saying, Dark mom, Dark. I guess he meant in the tunnel part of the slide, it was dark. He cried at first but said he wanted to go do it again. We were about to, but my Dad and Laurie just got back from beach so they played awhile in water. I took Jake back to the baby pool. Joe came from golfing shortly thereafter and we got some smoothies (pina colada). Oh yeah, my Dad found his shoes at the beach. They were sitting there in the sand since Tuesday. Someone must have realized they were the wrong ones and put them back.

Joe was very impressed with the way he was treated at the course. He said they help you to and from the car with your clubs; he liked being called Mr. Sharick. Your cart comes equipped with an ice chest filled with ice, cups and water. Better be for $62. He also found out that Justin could've golfed with him for free; any child with a paying adult can golf for free at Palmetto Dunes. If only we had known we would've brought Justin's clubs somehow. Maybe not a good idea since he was just getting over being sick.

That evening, Laurie and my Dad went back over to Shelter Cove for dinner and shopping. I made our dinner and we had ours at our kitchen table - our last night - too sad :-( Since Jake never did get a nap, he turned in early. I wanted to spend my last evening on the back porch in the rocker listening to the music. The pool was practically empty so the music even seemed louder. They were playing all my favorites in a row. Also threw in some Michael Crawford singing one from Phantom and someone singing Memories from Cats. Joe came out and joined me and talked about how nice this place was and we'd definitely be back sometime. We couldn't believe how fast the week went. Didn't want to think about that big drive tomorrow facing us.

Sunday - August 24 - Driving Home Day

We got up at 5:30, showered, dressed, packed up, checked under beds and in drawers. Brought all the luggage out into the foyer. Finished up the last 6 eggs and bread; loaded up the dishwasher with all of our dishes but we didn't have time to wait till they finished; hope no one gets mad. We left the place clean since I ran the sweeper just the day before.

We pulled out of Disney's Hilton Head Resort at exactly 8 o'clock. The ride home was pretty uneventful. We stopped at 11:30 and had brunch at Shoney's (great food bar for $5). Stopped again at 4:30 at a Western Steer (what a filthy dive). After that, we just wanted to get home. Kept on driving (poor Joe) and only stopped for gas. The one thing we all noticed on the way home was how many deer were out. A lot of mothers with their babies. Some were so close to the road and I worried about them the rest of the way home. Jake was really good in the car again. We pulled into my Dad's house about 9:30. Laurie's fiancee was waiting for her cause we had called him from the car along the way. We said our goodbyes and left for our house.

Summary

I never dreamed I'd have this much to say at a non-park Disney Resort. Imagine my trip report for my 2 week trip next year to WDW! Thanks for reading this far; hope I haven't bored you to tears. Now I know what people mean when they do these trip reports, you get to relive the trip. I will always have this to look back on and I'm glad I took the time to do it.

Although Old Key West is my home resort, Hilton Head will always be special to me since it was our first DVC trip. It doesn't have the excitement and fast pace that you get at Disney World but it is a nice change of pace. It felt good to just sleep in a little and not have to wake up and be somewhere everyday. They had enough activities there to choose from that you didn't feel overwhelmed and hardly any overlapped so you could do a few in one day and they covered most age groups. They had teen pizza parties and adult parties over at the beach house at night that we never even made it over to. When I bought into DVC and knew I had these points to use (or lose), I figured that we'll just "use" them at Hilton Head never realizing that we would fall in love with the place and want to go back. I promised Justin that we would and, just tonight, a week after our trip, my Dad told me to save up those points so HE can go back. He's the one that had to be talked into this trip in the first place. I told him, whatever happened to you selling your car and buying into it yourself! Who knows...maybe he will.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at iluvwdw@aol.com

Donna Sharick

iluvwdw@aol.com

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