Thursday, May 2, 2013

Hilton Head Memories and a Grandstander Milestone

"The Grandstander" first saw the light of day on January 8, 2010 when in search of something to occupy my time in my new found retirement, I decided to start blogging.  Didn't know if I would like doing it, didn't know if anyone would read it, had no idea if it would sustain itself.  Well, as it happens, this post that you are now reading is Grandstander....




Thanks to all of my "loyal readers" out there - there must be, oh, a couple of dozen of you - for continuing to read and engage in some back and forth dialog on the topics I cover.  Thanks also to Facebook for giving one the ability to post these on my page for I do believe that Facebook is the vehicle where most of you see these posts.

I am looking forward to the next 1,000.

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Knowing that this milestone was approaching, I wanted to make sure that #1,000 would not be just another rant about Neal Huntington.  I wanted it to be something special, so I was able to hold off (perhaps you've noticed my absence in recent days) and save it for a recap of our just completed vacation in Hilton Head Island.


This trip marked our sixth visit to this great place, and our first one since 2005.   Why in God's name did it take us eight years to return, is a question that we kept asking ourselves, because this really a fabulous vacation spot.  We spent seven days and six nights at the recently renovated Westin Resort on the Port Royal Plantation.  An absolutely gorgeous place that I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat.  

The view from our room was spectacular....



...and we were able to relax everyday at this fabulous pool area....



Every morning, there were walks along the beach...


...where we saw the most unusual massive clumps of what I thought was seaweed...



...but which was actually something called Spartina Grass, a vegetation that grows in the inland marshes on the island, but ends up being uprooted and washed ashore on the ocean side.   So, I learned something new on this trip.

Unfortunately, a minor muscle pull in my back put me on the Physically Unable to Perform list, so I was not able to play golf on this visit, which was too bad, because Hilton Head is a golfer's paradise.  It is also an eater's paradise, so we hit all of our favorite eating spots, including our most favorite....


We never miss eating at Scott's.  Great location on Shelter Cove....


....there's always a singer there to entertain you, and yes, he DID sing "Margaritaville", I think it's against the law not to...


...and, oh yes, the food there is terrific.

We also hit a couple of other favorites.....




....and discovered a new place that we will definitely hit on future visits...


Not every hit was a home run, however.  We saw an ad for a place called The Bamboo Room (and there is a reason there is no picture here) that features a singing duo called "The Beagles" who specialized in singing acoustic versions of Beatles tunes, so we figured this is for us.  Well, The Beagles were not so good, and the food was, to be kind, ordinary.  Very ordinary.  Lesson learned: if you see "Surf and Turf" on a menu for $13.95, it's probably a good idea NOT to order it.  Just sayin'.

Our lunch most days consisted of ordering something at the poolside bar.  This can get to be expensive, but, what the hell, you're on vacation, right, and I confess to considering ordering a meal and eating it poolside to be luxury of the highest order.  I can tell you that were the Westin's Poolside Bar located in Pittsburgh, it's hamburgers would rate very high on The Grandstander's Burger Rankings.

I also found myself drinking a lot of beer while in Hilton Head.  Nothing like the hot sun to make a cold beer especially tasty.

I have lots of other observations that will deal with air travel, and the absolute preponderance of electronic gadgets that we saw while on our vacation, but I will stop now and save those for future posts.  

I had a boss at Highmark once who said "Some vacations are better than others, but I've never had a bad one", and this Hilton Head trip ranks very high on Marilyn's and my list of great vacations.  As always, though, it's good to be back home.

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