Sunday September 30, 2001

We only had a short 3-4 hour drive to HHI so we woke up later. After a continental breakfast in the lobby we hit the road again. After about 3 ½ hours, we turned off I-95 at the HHI exit. The drive off the highway was very reminiscent of the drive from 95 to Vero Beach. It is a very beautiful area with neat architecture. It’s quite interesting how the landscaping hides the buildings. A lot of businesses at the side of the road but they are but hardly noticeable

We arrived at the resort and immediately are impressed with the architecture and landscaping. The sign welcoming you to “Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort” is all decked out in gorgeous blooming Mums. The Front Desk staff was very friendly and helpful in telling us about the resort and the Island. Our room was ready so we went right over. We were in Live Oak Lodge on the first floor (1214) right on the same floor as the check-in desk. When we booked, we requested a non-smoking vacation home but forgot to request a non-handicapped. We can not even imagine how a handicapped person can function in a non-handicapped room but, as non-handicapped people, a handicapped room is extremely difficult. We went directly back to the front desk but, unfortunately, there were no other rooms available. Oh well, guess we will have to live with it and remember for next time.

            The rooms are beautifully and tastefully decorated with burgundy, green and tan. A bit darker than OKW or BW but the richer colors give a nice warm, homey feel.

Directly inside the door is the laundry room with a bench and coat hooks. The bench has a heart carved into it with Mickey and Minnie written in it. The resort has a 'fishing lodge' theme and the front area has a wicker fishing tackle box and fishing rod. Imprinted into the tiles in the front foyer are Shadow prints. (More on shadow later) Also different here is the dining table which is a booth against the wall with two additional seats. The refrigerator has a water/ice dispenser. In general, the layout here is slightly different than the other DVC resorts. However, we can’t comment in this as it may be due to the fact that we have a handicapped room. We also noted that the balcony was much bigger with a picnic table and two rocking chairs.

After bringing our luggage up from the car and settling ourselves in we found the Publix and did our shopping for the week (give directions to store). Again a weird feeling having our car at a DVC resort. The people here are so pleasant, After putting away the food and cooking dinner, we relaxed on the balcony. It is so incredibly quiet and tranquil as our room looked out onto the marsh and there was a total wall of trees. After cleaning up we ventured around the resort and found the “boardwalk” to the pool and over to the Big Dipper- the main resort pool. We checked out the pool as well as the Broad Creek Mercantile (general store with food and DVC items). We walked out along the dock towards the marshes and got some beautiful pictures of the sunset.

We walked over to the dock (away from the marshes and facing the harbor) and across the bridge to the Shelter Cove Stores. All were closed as it was around 7pm on a Sunday. We then walked back over to Live Oak Lodge and played two games of pool (each winning one). The temperature had dropped considerably after dark to around 50. We got quite a chill walking around and actually put the heat on in the room (also a first for DVC). We quickly called it a day after desert.