Barony is wow!

[jont]

Thanks for the pix Susan. I saw the changes at barony last month and was very impressed. The back pool and slide are awesome and the new pool bar looks great, sadly it was closed at 8am when I was there.

 

[bogey21]

I don't count Memorial Day or Labor Day as summer, either. I go by whenever school is out in the summer.

Once my kids were out of school I found the week after Labor Day perfect. Weather is great and congestion has disappeared.

George

 

[post-it]

This looks so nice, I'll have to but it on my "list" for the future. Already booked for 2013.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[post-it]

Considering weather and crowds, when is the best travel time for Hilton Head?

 

[jd2601]

We are really enjoying the improvements to Barony. We own in the garden view units. The new outdoor kitchen area with grills is very nice. The pool and waterslide seem to be used a lot more then the quiet pool. I do wish the would have decided to heat this pool. Seems a little cool to me but lots of folks are using it.

The campfire area is used every night and a smore night is planned.

The Y'all grill is a big improvement and we will probably eat their this week. Our favorite is fish from Barnacle Bills and grilling in the new grill area.

We are offered $150 for owner update?

This is our first time renting bikes at Barony. I have bike routes figured out at Grande Ocean and trying to figure out this side of the island. We usually do one direction on the beach and trails back so we do not have to ride into thee wind.

Seems like another great week in HHI.

 

[Quilter]

Considering weather and crowds, when is the best travel time for Hilton Head?

That is up to your preferences.

We love April. The mornings can be crisp enough to wear light jacket/sweatshirt for walk on beach but it is usually shed once we do a warm-up. Great for bike riding since the humidity is low. Cool in the evenings but still ok enough to cross the resort to use whichever hot tub you want. You'll be so hot coming back to the room that a towel wrapped around you will be fine.

Summer is the favorite for many. I tried it with my daughter one year and was very uncomfortable. This is coming from a person who uses the heated seats in her car all through the year and throws a blanket in the dryer before bedtime so she can be warm. The heat and humidity were suffocating. No fun going for long bike rides or walks on the beach.

 

[Quilter]

Seems like another great week in HHI.

In April I met this guy: http://mayriverexcursions.com, Capt. Chris Shoemaker, 843/304-2878. He took our party of 6 from the dock in Bluffton over to the dock at Palmetto Bluffs. Gave us a nice tour of the marsh area. We had lunch at Buffalo's (one of our favorite spots to visit while on HHI) and called his cell phone for a pick up after walking the neighborhood.

We rode our bikes out through the beach access just past the airport. The tide goes out much further at that end of the island. If you walk around the wet sand you will see the trails of many tiny horseshoe crab babies. It's entertaining to watch the planes right overhead as they come in for a landing. The Farmer's Market was on the property adjacent to an interesting museum. Rode bikes to the Pineland Station strip mall to explore and found this quilt guild: http://www.palmettoquiltguild.org/QuiltersPublicSquare.htm Their space was full of lovely award winning quilts and was similar to visiting an art gallery.

 

[tschwa2]

+1 for April and early May. If you want to swim in the ocean it may be a little cold but not unbearable. I haven't made it down in Sept/Oct yet but I imagine weather wise it should be great now and the ocean would be warmer but the days are getting shorter.

 

[SueDonJ]

Considering weather and crowds, when is the best travel time for Hilton Head?

Our favorite time weather-wise on the island is the two weeks straddling Memorial Day (usually Gold/Plat seasons at the Marriott resorts) followed closely by a late September/early October week (Gold.) The only true summer week we've been there was late June and like Quilter we found it oppressively hot and humid, much more so than the humidity we're used to suffering in the Boston area. I can't imagine what it must be like in July or August and have no desire to find out. This week, right now, is gorgeous and we've been on the beach and swimming every day.

We also like the week between Christmas and New Year's but the weather then is a gamble - some years it's been warm enough to sit in the sun on the beach for a couple hours with a good book, other years we've had to wear hats and mittens while out walking. The island is definitely in "quiet mode" for those trips, though - some restaurants are closed, outdoor activities are scaled back or on hiatus, re-furbs are taking place at the resorts, etc... But we go then specifically for the peace and quiet.

 

[SueDonJ]

... Rode bikes to the Pineland Station strip mall to explore and found this quilt guild: http://www.palmettoquiltguild.org/QuiltersPublicSquare.htm Their space was full of lovely award winning quilts and was similar to visiting an art gallery.

Wow, love this! Saved the link and may try to get over there tomorrow morning - thanks so much!

 

[post-it]

Our favorite time weather-wise on the island is the two weeks straddling Memorial Day (usually Gold/Plat seasons at the Marriott resorts) followed closely by a late September/early October week (Gold.) .

I'm liking the late Sept early Oct idea. I think I'll try for this time frame.

 

[cp73]

one of at least 12 that we saw, LOTS of baby turtles on the way:

Hi Sue,

I also saw several of those last week. I was told by the Naturalist who did a presentation at Surfwatch that every morning very early a turtle patrol is done along the beaches. The patrol is looking for spots (markings in the sand if you imagine something being dragged) where you can see a turtle dragged or crawled her way to the sand to lay their eggs away from the water level. They then go to that spot and dig to find the eggs. They remove one egg (doing a dna test to see where the turtles are coming from or returning) and cover the nest back up. They then mark off the spot and date it with PVC and tape (see Sue's picture). When the nest is ready to hatch (about 60 days) you may be lucky to see the sand swelling up and puffing up. When they hatch and crawl out the turtles look for reflections of the stars on the sea (the horizon) and head in that direction. This is the reason why in Hilton Head they have no street lights and its so dark at night. They dont want the turtles confusing the lights with the ocean direction and going the wrong way. In addition I was told that the homes along the ocean are suppose to pull down their shades at 10pm to darken the the front of the house. All this darkness on the island is so the turtles can successfully lay eggs and return to the ocean and not to where the people are. Also each nest has about a 100 eggs and only about 1 or 2 of the eggs will survive and become full sized adult turtles.

Look at the number on the PVC Sue and it may give you some idea as to when its going to hatch. The lower the number the sooner it will hatch. Last week i saw one numbered 258 but it was gone later in the week. Here is another one I saw early in the week. Have fun. I wish I was back there.

 

[UK Fan]

We are visiting Barony for the first time in less than two weeks. I am so excited after reading this thread!!