It’s hard to believe that I’ve been vacationing on Hilton Head Island for 25 years. Thanks to mom and dad, Doc. B. and I now own one week there every year, for the rest of our lives. Or until we decide to gift it away like my parents did. They polled their four children to see who was interested in this early inheritance. Thankfully, since they owned just two weeks, there were only two of us siblings attracted to continuing the family tradition of a trek to Hilton Head every April. So now my middle sister and her husband own one week and we own the other.
Back in the early 1980’s, there was a big time share sales job done for (“on”) all of the snowbirds in the Midwest. Clearly people bit at this opportunity as even to this day, the parking lot at the Sea Crest Surf and Racquet Club, our fair condo, is full of cars with license plates from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc…. In fact, I’ve been seeing some of the same faces every year for the full 25 years. I remember when we first set foot on the beaches of HHI. I think it was incorporated into a family trip to Florida. I took to the Island from the first day. I was drawn to the quaintness of Coligny plaza, where our timeshare was located, just one block from the beach. There were three pools we could access as well as a deck overlooking the beach. Through the years, some things have never changed. For example on the sunny days, we read and relax in the sun, ride bikes, go for beach walks, or get in the pool/hot tub – that still is pretty much the same. I do however cover myself better with sunscreen and a hat. Back in the day, we’d get fried to a golden crisp – now we know better! The rainy day activities have however changed. I’ve gone from playing Ms. Pac Man at the ice cream shop, to hitting the tanning salon, to shopping. This year it wouldn’t surprise me if we ended up doing yoga in the condo on bad weather days. Hopefully we won’t need those indoor plans!
The condo is by no means a showplace, but it’s comfortable, large and familiar. It has two bedrooms and two bathrooms and can sleep 8 if needed. It has the basic kitchen utensils, TV and VCR/DVD, and it’s clean. Our “unit”, as we lovingly call it, overlooks one of the pools, the hot tub and the “Wren’s Nest” where there is the office, laundry and an activities room. And if we didn’t want to ever get back in the car once at the condo, we wouldn’t have to. Within walking distance is a grocery store, Red Dot Liquor stop, movie theatre, shopping, bike trails, tennis courts, the beach and some excellent restaurants. We even have a non-tourist bar hangout that we enjoy, thanks to my sister and her husband finding “The Lodge” a few years back. This is a great place to relax, enjoy a dirty martini (vodka of course), and chat with the locals.
This year our first stop is going to be the outlet mall for some new clothes. I’m at my lowest weight in the past ten years and while it feels really good, most of my clothes don’t fit. So for a treat, Doc. B. is taking me shopping! Hopefully she’ll let me stand in the dressing room while she picks things out for me to model. My sisters did this for me one time and it was a lot of fun – almost as much fun as the one year we all went to Hilton Head together and they died my hair a nice shade of pinkish-red, or was it burgundy?
SIDE NOTE: The trip to Hilton Head and back will take approximately the same amount of time as Doc. B.’s weekly drive to and from work.
4 comments:
I just wrote a REALLY long comment about the "history" of our timeshare unit and it got lost in cyberspace I guess. Before I forget the jist of the comments, I'll attempt to rewrite it and hope I don't end up boring you twice. On April 3, 1981 we picked up a rental camper for 6 and headed south for our spring break. We spent 2 nights at a campground near Panama City and then 3 nights at a Yogi Bear Jellystone Park in Orlando. Dad (Mart) had attended a presentation in Ann Arbor, MI about a new vacation concept called timeshares and the destination promoted was Sea Crest Surf & Racquet Club on Hilton Head Island so we headed north via Hilton Head Island. As we drove into the parking lot with our old van and camper we noticed that most of the cars were quite classy. We went to the sales office and met a very nice young salesman named Bobby Sandell. He showed us all of the models starting with the smallest and ending up in the largest unit called the Dockmaster. It looked so wonderful after camping in very cramped quarters with 3 girls (probably pmsing) and a son who liked to torment the girls. We told Bobby that we were going across the street to have ice cream and talk about the timeshare. Boy, was Bobby delighted when we returned and said we wanted to buy TWO weeks of the largest unit! Bobby is still in Real Estate on Hilton Head Island and doing very well. He also says that he remembers us.
I, too, have many happy memories of our years at Sea Crest. We used to say that our biggest decision each day was deciding which way to walk the beach. We would find a landmark, like a beautiful beachfront home, and walk a little further each day. We also had many conversations while sunning at the beachfront deck/pool area. We seldom learned people's last names but would pick up each year where we left off the year before. Gloria from Ann Arbor was particularly interesting.
The only sad rememberance I can recall (no it's not about the bedroom assignments Carrie :) ) but while there in 1999 we learned of the death of our wonderful friend and neighbor Mae Sherman.
We hope that you two have a WONDERFULLY relaxing week at Hilton Head. Going shopping on the way in sounds great. And, congrats to both of you for being so intentional about taking such good care of yourselves. Much love and hugs, Mom
Now it's all coming back to me! I knew it was on a trip to or from Florida but I couldn't recall all the details!
We are doing the last of our packing right now and will head out in the morning. We'll have a full report upon our return :)
I can't believe that it's been 25 years and I've never been invited! What's up with that? Of course, I'll expect that to change sometime in the next 25 years. . . you know I'm such a tennis fan! Congratulations, Slim, 'er, well . . . I guess that name's already taken, isn't it? Can't wait to see you on the 20th at the airport--you'll have all your vacation stories to tell!
Okay Ms. Laree, you'll get your invite sometime soon! Especially considering that the tennis racquet I use is one I bought from you at a yard sale about 10 years ago! As I recall, you gave me a very good deal - as you do on everything!
Great to see you at the ATL airport!
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