DAY 10 - SUNDAY 12TH AUGUST
Tam and I are awake
at 7.00am despite our hectic day yesterday as we have a long
drive ahead of us to Hilton Head and still have to pack.
The girls wake a little later and we all have cereal for
breakfast. There is some complaining as little legs and arms are
aching, but the women tell me to stop moaning.
The next hour is spent packing and cramming stuff into the car.
At 9.30am we say a fond farewell to Majestic Manor and the
wonderful view of Lake Watauga. Just a couple of miles along the
road a wild turkey flies in front of the car, there’s
certainly no lack of wildlife here.
3 hours into the journey we stop at Bojangles just outside
Columbia for lunch. This is a chain that specializes in chicken
and biscuits. I knew I’d get my chicken eventually. We have
the 12 piece family meal with 6 biscuits and a large tub of
gravy. Me and Tam look at the huge amount of chicken and agree
that there’s no way we’ll eat all of it. Wrong.
Everything goes except one sad looking lonely chicken leg sitting
unhappily in the bottom of the box.
The chicken is covered in a similar coating to KFC, but not so
spicy. The biscuits are soft and fresh, warm and lovely,
especially when dipped in the gravy. Including 4 sodas the cost
is $22 and we all come out stuffed.
Back on the road we amuse ourselves by listening to the radio or
playing CD’s. Georgia has her holiday compilation on and Tam
says she doesn’t like one of the tracks, so me and the girls
sing along loudly to a delightful little number by Lordi called
‘The Devil is a Loser and He’s My *****’. It fair
brings to mind the wit and sophistication of Noel Coward.
We finally reach Hilton Head Island around 5.00pm after 7 ½
hours on the road and just over 400 miles.
We find Disney’s Hilton Head Resort after just one wrong
turn. First impressions are that it’s in a much more built
up area than I thought it would be. A small bridge connects it to
Shelter Cove and the marina.
We check-in and are given a room just above the registration area
in Live Oak Lodge. Our room is 1124. We have a studio and it is
certainly bigger than the studios we have stayed in at the
Boardwalk and Beach Club. The kitchen is by the door and around
the corner from the bedroom. The bathroom is bigger, but the
thing that stands out the most is the balcony. This is at least
twice as big as other studio balconies and has a couple of
rocking chairs.
The view is over an inlet and to the left is the wide marshland
area. It’s certainly a very pleasing vista.
We unpack and I discover that I am lacking 2 pairs of chinos,
which have been specially brought along for some fine dining when
we reach WDW. They have been left in a hotel somewhere along the
way. Tam hides her annoyance pretty well.
Next we take a stroll around the resort. There is no sit down
restaurant here and no lounge. It seems as if the facilities have
been scaled back as there are so many dining options on Hilton
Head Island.
The pool also looks very small considering the number of people
staying here, although there is another pool at the beach house,
which we haven’t visited yet. The views over the marshland
are very pretty though.
Back in the room we have showers. While waiting our turns Georgia
and I are flicking through the television channels and we find a
station showing drag racing. They have fairly normal looking
cars, motorbikes and long thin cars with big engines and two
bicycle wheels at the front. These things move faster than I do
when it’s my round (opposite direction, obviously).
They even have snowmobiles! Drag racing snowmobiles! These things
do the quarter mile in just over 8 seconds reaching 150mph. What
next? Drag racing Stannah stair lifts?
We go out to eat at around 8.30pm and walk across the bridge to
Shelter Cove. It is immediately apparent that this part of town
doesn’t party hard. A couple of the restaurants are closed
because it is Sunday, so we decide to eat at the San Miguel
restaurant. I’ll bet you thought this was a Chinese place,
didn’t you? Well, you’re wrong it’s Mexican.
More indications that this is not party town are when the chap
singing and playing the guitar packs up a few songs after we
arrive. The crowded bar empties and diners leave one by one. We
are the last to finish at 10.00pm. That being said, the food is
very good and the margaritas even better. $80 with tip is pretty
good too.
We walk back around the marina and admire the beautiful yachts.
It’s another lovely, balmy evening, I suppose that is one
advantage of going in the summer months, the nights are hot and I
like that baby!
Back at the resort we take a look in Big Murgie’s Den, which
is a nice room with a TV and pool table. There is not much else
though except lots of old black and white photos of fishing
related things, as this is the theme of the room. One shows a car
with a row of fish attached to it. Personally I think a go-faster
stripe and some fluffy dice would be more appealing as
decoration, but what do I know?
In another photo there is someone holding a large fish in front
of a sign saying Glenn’s Camp. If your name was Glenn, why
you want to advertise the fact that you were camp?
I’ve never understood why the President spends so much time
with camp David either, shouldn’t he be running the country
or something?
Tomorrow we have to decide between going to Savannah or going to
the beach all day and drinking beer at the beach house. Oh dear,
who would have thought the car could suddenly get 4 flat tyres
all at once.