Lou,
If this is your first time on Hilton Head Island I suggest you plan on arriving during daylight hours to give yourself a chance to get oriented.
Parts of Hilton Head are not well lighted which makes it more difficult to locate locations if you are not well oriented.
Have a great trip.
Richard
ditto!!!! really great point there, Richard.
I've been going for decades and know my way around very well, BUT I still find it true, maybe more than ever before.....VERY difficult to see the small and inconspicuous signs at night..... sometimes during the day too. LOL
We happened to rent a couple of nights in Shipyard for this past Thursday and Friday nights before beginning a 2-week stay yesterday, and negotiating the roads and streets after dark was challenging to say the least. We don't go into Shipyard much, and so the feeling of being a new visitor suddenly became very real..... not to mention it was raining sideways with high winds on Thursday evening at our time of arrival.
The weather has been beautiful the last few days, if not a teeny bit hazy, but those hit or miss showers will definitely be a possibility for a while. It's that season, but the sun is always around the corner. After checking in we were actually enjoying the sound of the rain---it was then quite cozy and relaxing, and it did cool things off. Love those rainy evenings at the beach.
One more thing----this past Friday and Saturday (not us, thank goodness, but 2 different friends who were headed in told us) traffic going onto the island was horrendous from 2-6pm....long backed-up lines extending out past the outlet malls, bumper to bumper and creeping at 2mph. The 2 cash lines at the toll booth on Cross Island Parkway were about a half-mile long, and moved very slowly too. It was as if everybody was ordering a cheeseburger at the booth.
We were at the outlet mall and saw the Hwy 278 traffic stalled about 5pm, so we decided to eat dinner in Bluffton and waited it out, so when we started for HH it moved normally around 6:30-7pm. I'm sure it was all because of July 4th weekend traffic, but I think every weekend will be almost as bad this next month. Try to arrive as early as midday. You'll be glad. And if you're dining out, you'd better have reservations a few days ahead, AND use your Marriott concierge for call-ahead seating at the places that don't do reservations.
to the OP, I say go for Waterside (I sent you a PM), and also don't discount Royal Dunes, a lesser known but great small resort. It has all 3-BR units and it's a close walk to the beach, located one street behind Barony in Port Royal.
.
