I’m going to try my hand at writing reviews for places I go. Not sure how good I will be at it or how interested anyone will be in my reviews but we will just see where it goes!
Foodies I’m afraid you will be disappointed in my reviews because I don’t do expensive restaurants very often and I tend to hit chain restaurants frequently because I know what to expect price wise. However, I’ve been watching A LOT of Guy Fieri’s Diner’s, Drive In’s and Dives as well as Anthony Bordain’s No Reservations and that has made me really want to become a little more of a foodie so maybe I’ll start branching out a little!!
I did not do a whole lot on this trip except enjoy my wonderfully luxurious condo, laze around in my pj’s, spend time with my friends and work on homework. But I did get out a little……
Note: This is a long post….feel free to jump ahead to any review you have an interest in reading about!
Marriott’s Surf Watch in Hilton Head, South Carolina
I was able to stay at this wonderful, wonderful place through my time share so I’m not 100% sure that it is available for travelers that just happen upon it. I’ve stayed at quite a few places since I’ve owned my time share and I have to say that this has been one of the best ones yet! I love it!
The condo itself was luxurious to say the least! I never wanted to get out of my bed….it literally was a king size marshmallow! And the shower…..wow…..4 nozzles….need I say more? Every amenity was provided. They had wonderful activities every day and night including wine tastings, chili night, s’mores night etc. etc. A lot of these events were held around the 2 huge fire pits that were within walking distance of our building. Unfortunately I didn’t get around to participating in any of the activities which I would have normally done….I was just too busy relaxing in my marshmallow watching TV….I never get to do that at home! I picked this particular time share location because it had an indoor pool….but little did I know that it also had HEATED outdoor pools! The biggest pool and the only hot tub were right behind our building! The beach was also within walking distance of our building.
The complaints that I had were very, very small indeed. Apparently there was some construction going on. This was not disclosed BEFORE I booked but was disclosed in teensy, weensy lettering at the very bottom of the page of my confirmation page. So on SUNDAY we woke up to hammering which was a little annoying. However the rest of the week was relatively quiet.
I was overjoyed to hear that copies were complimentary as I am working on homework assignments while here and needed to print out some items. However once I hauled my butt down to the business center one of the 2 printers was not working and the other printer ran out of ink and they did not have any more till further notice. Crap……
And last but not least…..I cannot understand why they felt the need to use a leaf blower in the outdoor hallways to clear away debris????? While enjoying a lovely mid day nap I was awoken by a very, very loud prolonged leaf blowing incident. Sooooo annoying and it did not happen only the one time. What happened to using a broom?
All in all I loved this place and I have plans to come back when I have more time to enjoy everything that they offer.
Harbour Town, Hilton Head, South Carolina
I was so disappointed in this little excursion. I really love historic stuff, museums, tours etc. etc. I didn’t have a whole lot of time or money to do much of that on this trip so the fact that this was so disappointing…..was disappointing!
We had to pay $5 to get onto Sea Pines which is the very tip of Hilton Head. Once we did that we had to drive quite a ways until we reached Harbour Town which basically consisted of a handful of cute little boutiques (but nothing I haven’t seen already in every single shopping center we’ve entered), restaurants and the light house.
I was interested in doing the light house tour (it’s a pretty dinky light house so I’m not sure what you were really going to tour??) but they were going to charge another $3.50. Now, I don’t think that $3.50 is too much for a tour…..I don’t even think that $8.50 is too much……but it was just the whole point of charging us $5 to get onto the point to begin with…..for what? For a handful of stores that I could have gone anywhere else to shop in? And then they wanted to charge me another $3.50 to do the one thing that I came to do in the first place? No….I wasn’t having it! Maybe I was chopping off my nose to spite my face but that kind of T’d me off!
The Triangle, Hilton Head Night Life
My friend Lauren and I LOVE to dance so of course at least one night on this trip we had to check out the night life! We asked at the hotel info desk where a good place to go would be and were told by a young 20 something that we should check out “The Triangle”. I’m not so sure he thought we were really the right candidates for this particular local hang out as he quickly looked at his 20 something companion behind the desk in chagrin and then quickly suggested that maybe we would prefer a quieter evening? But little did he know that these 40 somethings are not too old to party!!
The Triangle is 5 bars that all back up to an outdoor courtyard with a fire pit. You can enjoy one of the bars or cruise around to all 5. Or you can just grab a drink and hang out in the court yard. The 5 bars are The Lodge, One Hot Mama’s, The Brew Pub, Reilley’s and Jump and Phil’s. We spent the first few hours at the lodge which was nice….kind of a college hang out it seemed like. There was a little one man band and some pool tables. The bartender was super cool (I wish I had asked her name) and offered to take a picture of my friend and me. The rest of the evening we spent at One Hot Mama’s…..now this one was my favorite! Dance music…..I love it! I’m gonna learn that Wobble Dance if it kills me!
The Vibe, Hilton Head Night Life
While trying to find The Triangle we ran into a bar called The Vibe. Nick, one of the friendly bartenders, was outside and gave us directions to the Triangle but insisted that we come back later in the evening and check out The Vibe because all the pretty boys would be there! My friend Lauren has never been to a gay bar but had heard from me many, many times how much fun it is! So before the night ended we were back at The Vibe and as I predicted it was mucho fun! Those pretty boys really know how to party. And I got one more chance to try and learn how to do that darn Wobble Dance! Nick we love you and we will be back!
Sounds like you are indeed having a fun, relaxing vacation Jena! Have you visited any of Ferd’s architecture? Remember he designed quite a bit of work at Hilton Head when he and Merrill Pasco were partners in Archipelagos. There’s a shopping center and a bank branch. The model home at Windmill Harbor, unfortunately was demolished to replace it with a larger home. Merrill still lives there on Hilton Head Island.
Beth I am embarrassed to say that we did not go see dad’s buildings. We had plans to but we went to Savannah and the lighthouse at Sea Pines on Monday and Tuesday….Wed it rained all day and Thursday and Friday I literally spent 8 to 10 hours doing home work (Lauren left Thursday). But I have plans to go back to Hilton Head – I loved the resort we stayed at and there was A LOT more that I wanted to do and see! I didn’t call Merrill because I thought he was ill and I didn’t want to bother him.
I feel the same way about those little boutiques. I have for most of my life. One or two shopping areas is all I really need in any new destination, because they all do have basically the same crap. I love to find little shops with items by local artists, to take back something unique from the area. After that, I’m usually done. I usually hang with they guys when there is a family trip and the girls go shopping. I mean, there is only so much space in my house and I can’t keep filling it with knick knacks.
In your travels, I think you will need to find new ways of filling your time (in addition to the sightseeing and museum touring that you will still do), like running, or hiking, or swimming, or writing, or crocheting, etc. 
Well I’m going to attempt to take my scrapbooking along but not sure that scrapbooking is really conducive to living in a van LOL! But I love to read and really want to learn more about photography….sooooo I’m sure I will find something to do!