13 August 2008 

This is the first vacation my wife and I have taken in over 5 years and after many bouts of "what do you think about this place... that place, etc," we finally agreed on trying Hilton Head, South Carolina.  My sister has been here several times and had recommended it.  So the first thing we noticed about Hilton Head, it that everything seems to be hidden in the trees.  The local Wal-Mart, Target, and other stores are all set behind what I consider a "strategic" line of trees.  We did see the signs for quite a bit of shopping areas, including two back to back "outlet centers," which I imagine will be a "must explore" for my wife.

Having arrived at the Westin Hilton Head Spa and Resort, I was greeted by a nice little french girl who politely chatted about the rivalry between Paris and Marseille, France, then provided a nice overview of the hotel.

We selected the Westin's Deluxe King-Bed room with the prime ocean view for the duration of our stay.  After what felt like a 15 minute walk down one of the longest corridors short of the Pentagon, we were thrilled with the view our room provided.  The room offers a private balcony with a table and two chairs.  My wife and I both agreed that the view was fantasticly unobstructed.

The room itself seemed a little "dated," with small but obvious flaws in the workmanship of the room.  The marble bathroom countertop, for example, had cracks around the areas where the counter met the wall.  There was a small place next to the sink which looked as if the workman had, during the course of caulking the counter, simply wiped the extra caulk off of his/her fingers onto the wall.  Little details tend to stand out.  The rest of the bathroom seemed to follow suit.  the tub was ample but the surround looked as if it had been hurried along by someone hoping to be "home by 5:00."  Other minor details included the towel bar not being level.  I know these thing seem trivial, but when guests are paying for an "experience," it is important that the details receive priority.

Within the room, the carpet had quite a few "dingy" areas and although it is obvious that the builders had taken great care on the wall texture and crown molding, it seemed downgraded when set next to the "popcorn" ceiling.  the room closets were rather small and the doorknob wasn't properly attached.  Practically everything in the room had a note attached, or nearby indicating the "charge" for the item.  My favorite of these warning placards was the one for the "refreshment station."  It indicated that if an item was removed from the station for more than 45 seconds, that an automatic charge for that item would be added to the room.  45 seconds.... wow!  I hope no one wanting to visit the Westin Hilton Head Spa and Resort needs to read the ingredients of an item before deciding about consumption.  I'm wondering if the 45 seconds is cumulative.  Odd.

My wife have given the king bed her approval.  "Quite comfortable," she says.  Ill let you know my opinion tomorrow morning.  

Now that our check-in process is complete, I think we are going to walk down to the beach. 

Beautiful!  Excellent location.  And the exterior hotel layout is fantastic and innovative.  The Westin Hilton Head rooms are staggered in such a way as to draw the viewers eye inward.  The focal point is the central gardens area which contains several swimming pools, waterfall features, a swan lake, and a wonderfully pergola-covered terrace.  In all, the exterior is very thoughtful, and calming.  I've decided that the hotel staff are quite impressive.  I called the hotel concierge hoping for assistance with dinner reservations, and the hotel operator answered my call and immediately greeted me by name.  I found that simple act very impressive.  She recommended the Carolina Restaurant located in the hotel and even made the reservations for us.  Very well done.   

14 August 2008

Dinner last night was fantastic.  we ate at the Carolina Restaurant here in the resort.  It was casual/formal dining, meaning you were just as comfortable dressing casual as you were dressing formally.  Of course, we were casual.  :D  The Carolina was offering a seafood buffet at a reasonable price of $31.95, complete with crab legs and that was our choice in order to be able to sample many items from the menu.  The crab legs were my personal favorite and I destroyed 7 or 8 trips worth.  The she-crab soup immediately grabbed our attention.  The she-crab at the Carolina was different than what we are traditionally used to.  Our experiences with she-crab typically involve a moderate amount of spice.  The she-crab at the Carolina Restaurant had little spice and more of a sweet taste.  It was in a cream-base, and it was immediately noticeable that the soup was blended smooth with no lump crabmeat.  My opinion was that the soup had more of a blended "potato soup" texture and quality.  

I will offer that we were both impressed with the seared  salmon in leek sauce.  At first glance, it appeared dry, but once we got it to our table, we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually quite most.  The leek sauce was delicious and I offered my compliments to the chef.

Service in the Carolina Restaurant was top notch. 

So after a busy day, Shannon and I wandered around the hotel to unwind and take in the ambiance.  The hotel is beautiful!  And we both found humor in that there were lounge stations located generously throughout the hotel... with a hotel of this size, you have to pace yourself when going anywhere.  And having areas to take breaks along your journey was a welcome touch. 

Now the bed... I must admit that the Heavenly Bed at the Westin Hilton Head was very comfortable.  It offered me a very deep sleep!  I must admit that the bed at the O'Henry Hotel in Greensboro, NC is still the reigning champion, but the Heavenly Bed is a comfortable second.

I woke this morning and decided to take a bath.  Very impressive!  The tub was extremely large.  I was able to stretch out to near horizontal in the Westin's deep-tub.  And I noticed that there is a retractable clothesline located just under the shower head.  Nice touch

Ok so we're off to a busy day!  I think we are going to do some shopping, and (if I am lucky) investigate some of the local sailboat brokerages.  Off we go....

We didn't find any sailboat brokerages, however, we did rent an AquaCat for an hour and gotto take it out.  We visited The Frosty Frog owned and operated by our friend Patrick Taylor.  He has come up with an amazing recipe for crab-cakes.  I was quite impressed.  It was blackened and used lump crab and super lump crab.  He provided a russian-based dipping sauce and I like it so much I had to order two.  He is still such a great guy.  He would not even accept payment for our lunches.  Grrrr.... When the food is good, I LIKE paying for the meal!  After the crab-cake appetizers, my wife ordered Patrick's Prime Rib sandwich and I ordered the Italian Prime Rib sandwich.  The steak was cooked perfectly: Moist and tender!  If you ever have a chance to get to Hilton Head, SC, make sure you check-out The Frosty Frog in North forest Beach in Coligny Plaza.