5/9/2014
Arrival & Check-in
We were scheduled to fly out from Newark Airport (EWR) with United Airlines at 9:00am and connect in Chicago O'Hare (ORD), but due to bad weather in the northeast, we were delayed and missed our second flight. We were lucky enough to be bumped onto the next flight heading to Savannah (SAV), so we decided to have a long sit-down lunch at Johnny Rockets to fill the gap. Around 6:00pm, we safely arrived in Georgia, grabbed our bags, rented a car, and drove up to Hilton Head Island. By the time we pulled into the resort, the sun was beginning to set. I instantly fell in love with what I saw.
We were officially on island-time and vacation mode set in!
Driving over the resort bridge
The Live Oak Lodge / Check-in
Check-in went smoothly and quickly. Our packet was waiting for us on the counter when we arrived. We were given a map of the resort, received a list of restaurant recommendations, and left donning big smiles and our 'First Visit' buttons. We went back to the car and drove down to find our villa.
View of the marina behind the parking lot
We were placed in building 20, about halfway down the resort drive. It didn't have the idyllic marsh view I was dreaming of, but I found the location to be the perfect distance between the Live Oak Lodge and The Mercantile. We were in room 2022, a 2-bedroom villa, which was on the second floor.
I was ecstatic to see that our villa was newly renovated and freshly decorated. Chris and I claimed the king bedroom and my parents took the room with two queens. We split up to explore the place and to unpack. I quickly fell even deeper in love. Just look how amazing this place is:
King bedroom
Mickey!
Recreating our Disney's Vero Beach tub picture
Living Room
Kitchen
Hall with laundry / leading into the second bedroom
Disney magic on the hall bench
Second bedroom
View from our deck
By this time, it was getting late and we were exhausted. We knew we didn't want to go out and have any kind of heavy dinner, so we opted to go to the nearby Kroger grocery store to gather some supplies. This new store is open 24-hours and literally the next plaza up from the resort (about a 3 minute drive).
After some light shopping, we had some snacks and then went to bed. We were wiped from a tiring travel day, but couldn't wait to see what our first full day at Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort had in store for us!
To be continued
