Tuesday - Hilton Head

Tuesday a huge storm system swept the first coast.

We spent the morning being unimpressed with Hilton Head, which is pretty, but boring. We much prefer Fernandina Beach.

In the afternoon we went to our target development, Sun City. The community is awesome and there are three models which we like quite a bit. Sassy found a some relaives in one of the model's bathrooms.

Monday -- Amelia Island

On Monday we checked out of the Castillo Real and began our northbound journey.

We went to Betty and Tom's lovely house in Amelia Island (Fernandina Beach) and they took us to their club for lunch.

Tom was kind enough to take us on a tour of Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach. We saw (and learned) much more on his guided tour than we ever would have on our own. Thanks Tom and Betty!

When we reached our lodgings in Bluffton SC the manager was having a bit of a reception which included beer and pulled pork. That, then, was dinner.

Next up

We leave Castillo Real in the morning. We've a lunch date with Lee's friend, Betty, and her hubby in Fernandina beach. Then we're off to Hilton Head.

The plan to return to Raleigh has been scrapped in favor of Myrtle Beach.

So, starting tomorrow, we're northward bound. Usually at this point the season's major Nor'easter hits Philly.

St. Augustine - revisited

Back at the Castillo Real we got a different room. This one has a pool view.

Hank has been playing tennis just about every morning. We re-visited Coquina Crossing where we have seen some houses we quite liked. On Saturday evening our Realtor, Dave Andersen, threw a wine and cheese party (seems there's a theme with this vacation) where we met some folks from his complex in which we are also interested.

We had another meal at the on-site restaurant, La Cocina, which is quite good. Lee had the pork Osso Bucco. She persuaded Norberto to give her a few tips about making it.

We have one more full day at St. Augustine. In the morning, Dave is going to show us the newer units at his complex.

We leave for Hilton Head on Monday where we want to have a look at the Sun City development there. Lee has aready done the priceline thing and gotten a Holiday Inn (that has a rack rate of nearly a hundred dollars) for fifty bucks so we're settled for our lodgings for Monday night.

Looks like we missed the first big storm of the season in NJ. We just might stay down here a bit longer than planned.

Psychic Town

Last Wednesday, on the way back to St. Augustine, we stopped at a little town known for psychics.

We went to the restaurant in the hotel there called "Lost in Time".

They had menus.

If everybody is psychic, why do they need menus?

Thursday: Wine tasting

Rainy went to work while Hank and I went to the local winery for their tour and wine tasting. We bought two bottles of their offerings. I learned that many folks who used to get headaches from red wines no longer do because more and more wines are aged in steel rather than in oak casks. It's the tannins produced by the red grape and the oak that cause headaches.

On the way we stopped at the Visitors' center where there was a vintage chevy on display.

I made the shallot mushroom cream sauce and overcooked a turkey breast to go along with it. That, some baked potatoes, and a salad were our evening meal. Then we all watched while Omorosa and Piers duked it out on Celebrity Apprentice.

Wednesday - Orlando to Leesburg

Two years ago at Rainy's we kept trying to spot the resident Sand Cranes- with no success. This year we had no sooner entered the development than there one was.

My plan had been to cook dinner - chicken breasts with a shallot mushroom cream sauce that Chef Pasche had taught us. But Rainy had already put a roast in the crockpot, so dinner was set.
We ran down to the Publix for a few things then unpacked and hung out until she got home. Then we had a good visit and watched some tv.

Hilton Grand Vacation Club

Our Unit

Tiny kitchen with no counter space and ugly view of back of microwave.


Bedroom is fine except there is very little storage and no mirror.

Cramped living room - furniture too close to tv


Bath has no stall shower - small jacuzzi tub has very high sides one has to climb over to take a shower. (how is that a handicapped bathrom?)
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A regular one bedroom unit



large kitchen - lots of counter space

Nice living area

jacuzzi in bedroom - and mirrors

stall shower

Turns out we aren't where we should be

I had a laundry list of things I dislike about the one bedroom units here. At the time share dog and pony show we learned that we are in one of the handicap units. The regular one bedroom units are quite nice. We'd have been a lot happier with our stay had we been in one of them.

And no, we didn't buy into their plan - although it is a lot more flexible than buying a timeshare it's still a very expensive deal. If you want two weeks worth of points it's over thirty grand plus a grand a year in maintenance and fees.

It rained like the dickens yesterday and there was a tornado warning for the area. We're all packed and the car is mostly loaded but I woke up early and can't get back to sleep. I made the mistake of running the dishwasher and it's noisy as heck so here I am on the computer.

We leave for Rainy's in Leesburg this morning. It's about an hour away.