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My husband and I are going to spend a week in Hilton Head to celebrate our first anniversary in November. (so excited!) We are staying at the Disney resort. I've heard it is nothing like the Orlando Disney resorts that we are used to. We are definitely looking forward to a laid back and relaxing trip. Does anyone have any suggestions of things to do, restaurants to try or things to see in the surrounding areas? November isn't exactly a "hang at the beach" time- so any ideas are very welcomed!
Very quiet and laid back indeed. Go to the Disney beach house and if you play golf... Mecca. There is shopping and great dining everywhere. There is only CS at the resort. Harbour Town is a 10 minute drive. We loved it.
HHI is our home resort, but we've only visited once! We did a 6-hour fishing excursion on the Gullah Gal, which was amazing. We had some amazing Italian food at Giuseppe's, just down the road from the resort. We went down to the Salty Dog cafe, too, & ate at Land's End (great crab legs!) Friends recommended the Shrimp Shack, but we didn't try it. It's kind of popular, and reasonably priced.
Depending on when you go in November, you may get to sit on the beach. I'm in Greenville, SC (about 5 hours diagonally across the state from HHI) and we currently have temps in the mid-80s. I would expect it to be mid to high 70s in early November, so you may enjoy a beach day. We're heading down for Thanksgiving, and I cannot wait!
The resort itself rents out bicycles, but get there early. They go quickly.
We love the Hilton Head area and hope to retire there someday.
During Nov. you could be surprised at how nice the weather can be. Be sure to pack swimming stuff.
Biking is huge in the area with extensive biking trails and rentals are plentiful. Be sure to see if the resort has them first and in Nov. I don't see it should be a problem to get them. The sand is so firm you can ride right along the ocean.
Savannah is about an hour way and if you haven't been there it might be worth the drive down. We like to take the hop-on/hop-on trolley tours that start at the Visitor Center. We have found the Old Savannah Trollies the one to be well priced and most convenient.
Restaurants in the Hilton Head/Bluffton are plentiful with over 250. Everything from MacDonald's to very nice upper end dining. Lots of coupons and early bird specials.
There are at least a half dozen places right across the bridge from the resort, so only having a snack bar operation on property is not really a big deal. Love the Nachos and Margaritas at San Miguels.
Other favorites are;
The Chart House for a more upscale option, they run specials that are very reasonable for what you get.
For pizza we like Paulie's Coal Fired Pizza.
For brunch I love the Godfather Scrambler at Frankie Bones.
For a cupcake Sweet Carolina Cupcakes.
For a fun atmosphere and dining outside if the weather is nice The Skull Creek Boathouse.
For fish Hudson's On The Dock and many, many others. Love their Blackened Shrimp Poorboy for lunch.
For deli food Gruby's New York Deli.
For barbecue Jim 'N Nick's in Bluffton. And we're trying The Smokehouse next trip down.
For cajun Kenny B's Cajun Seafood Hut.
For Japanese teppenyaki Kurama Japanese Restaurant (check out their early bird specials - amazing).
For breakfast Skillets or Stacks Pancakes or Signes Heaven Bound Bakery and Café.
For grilled cheese and tomato soup Truffles Café - to die for.
For bagels Island Bagels is very, very close to the resort and there is also a Panera Bread or an Atlanta Bread.
If you do go to Savannah The Pirates House is good, we also like The Lady and Sons and dining down on River Walk has many choices.
For our next I have to go to one of Robert Irvine's restaurants either Eat! or Nosh.
All of these have websites.
If you want to dine or visit anywhere at Sea Pines (Harbor Town) there is a $5 entry fee at the gate.
If you have any more questions let me know.
Have a wonderful trip.
There are visitor's guide books like the kind you pick up at restaurants & there are usually coupons in them for free entry to Sea Pines. I found that out after we'd already been there & paid to get in.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDuckRocks
The last 2 times we were down I looked for the coupons but the only ones I could find were a refund of the $5 if you bought something from a list of gift shops. None of the restaurants were included. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to get one when we go down in Dec., we like eating at the Quarter Deck for lunch.Quote:
Originally Posted by Basket Mommy
Our family spends a few weeks every year at HHI--but at a Marriott property. I've heard there is Dole Whip at the Disney resort. Is it available for guests not staying at the Disney resort?
As for recommendations--I definitely second Kenny B's--he does a great Sunday brunch.
For seafood we like Sea Grass Grill and Black Marlin.
For pizza we like Mellow Mushroom (we have them in ATL as well).
For Italian we LOVE Pomodori--small place amazing homemade pasta.
Have a good trip.
We love Hilton Head! :thumbsup: so much that we purchased a house there and plan on moving in the next two years :cloud9:
We love the shelter cove and palmetto dunes area. Our favorite barbecue place has to be One Hot Mammas we go at least once every visit. They have a great buffet on Sundays, very reasonable.
Also the Flat bread Grill in Coligny is really good.
Frankie Bones has great food the meatballs are amazing! You will need reservations for there, but we hit it at a good time and were able to walk in. In Shelter Cove we ate at San Miguel's (loved) Scotty's fish market ( loved) the Kingfisher (okay) and little Venice ( did not like would not go again)
There is as much or as little to do as you please :)
Enjoy! Wish I was there right now...
Dana :mickey:
I forgot, if you are adventurous my husband did the zip line adventure near broad creek ( he loved this) I am sure there are ads for it in the booklets. We want to do Pinckney island nature preserve, it is on our list. That might be nice to do as its a lot of walking and in the summer it's way too hot, November might be much nicer.
We did the kayak tour in broad creek, signed up right in the Disney Resort, saw a Dolphin about 20 feet from the front of our Kayak :) we have our own bikes so we ride pretty much everywhere we can so I would recommend renting bikes from the resort, you can pretty much ride anywhere.
If you like art there are galleries up and down the street in Old Town Bluffton only a few minutes off the island in Bluffton.
So many things I could go on and on....
:blush:
Thanks for all of the great tips, everyone! I can't wait to go!:thumbsup:
Great tips everyone!!! We are going in February for the first time...can't wait! Any idea on weather the 1st week in feb? Thanks!:mickey:
7 days!!!!!!! :cloud9:
We're also going in November, as we do every year. The CMs are so nice, and the resort is beautiful. Very relaxing, maybe too relaxing for a few. And so many great places to eat, yet so little time! If you love nature, I think you'll love Disney's HHI resort.
If you don't mind me asking, where on HHI did you purchase? On plantation or off?
The Disney Hilton Head Island Resort is on island and we purchased there as a Disney Vacation Club Membership. It is located right across the Highway 278 from Palmetto Dunes. The beach club that Disney owns is actually oceanside through the Palmetto Dunes gate.Quote:
Originally Posted by DisNut
I was asking luvDaMouse where they bought on HHI.