End of the Story - Home Sweet Home!

After leaving St Augustine, we started north on Highway 1 which runs right along the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean.  When planning the trip, I had considered a stop at the World Golf Hall of Fame just north of town but I was certain that Joyce would not enjoy it at the same level that I would so that stop was not part of the plan.  Our destination for the day was Hilton Head, SC where we had reservations at a resort on the island as part of a mandatory time-share presentation of one and one-half hours.  We also had Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah, GA on our agenda but our schedule was flexible.  Being very fond of the game of golf, I was aware of several courses in the area and when I saw the sign for TPC Sawgrass at Ponte Vedra, I knew that I wanted to stop and see the course.  If you know anything about golf, the famous island green on the par 3 17th is one of the most famous holes in golf and the Players Championship tournament is played annually on the course.

We parked and wondered into the clubhouse just to look around.  I had thought about asking for a tour of the course but didn't want to be embarrassed.  A uniformed volunteer lady walked over to us and asked if she could be of any assistance and I said that it was our first time to be there and just wanted to look around.  She asked if we would like to take of tour of holes 16, 17, and 18.  What a silly question!  She also asked if we would like to have lunch in the dining room and we had a lovely lunch on the second-story veranda which overlooked the 18th fairway.  After lunch, the volunteer took us on a tour in a larger than usual golf cart and drove us on the cart path through holes, 16 - 18.  We stopped for photos on the 17th and the threesome that had just teed off asked if I would like to hit a tee shot with them furnishing the ball and the club.  I would have jumped at the opportunity but the volunteer nixed the idea.  Here are some shots of the island green, the club house, and others.

Just finished lunch on the veranda overlooking #18

Island green from the tee box.  This is the threesome that invited me to hit a tee shot

Island green from the side.  Tee shot will be left of the tree on the island.

17th taken by volunteer using my phone.  Tee box directly behind me.



18th hole looking from the tee box to the green



 

Nice view of the clubhouse

 

After the outside tour, we were given a tour of the clubhouse and I bought a ball marker from the pro shop just to prove that I had been to TPC Sawgrass.   Picked up a brochure and scorecard also.  Looked like the cheapest green fee was around $300.                                                                             

 

After leaving Ponte Vedra, we headed for Hilton Head.  I had forgotten to see what our check-in time was so we called and found out that we needed to be there by 4:00 PM.  Since it was already almost 3:00 PM, we arranged a late check-in and arrived shortly after 7:00 PM at Hilton Head.  Our first check-in with the timeshare company was set for 10:00 AM on Thursday.  The first opening for a tour and the sales pitch was set for 3:00 PM that afternoon.  We had made reservations at Paula Deen's restaurant for 11:00 AM so we got directions on how to use the back roads and get there faster and off we went.  I let Joyce out at the restaurant, found a vacant place to park on the street about a block from the restaurant, and walked over to meet Joyce and it was exactly 11:00 AM.  We only waited 5-10 minutes to be seated but it was worth the wait.  The restaurant is in an old warehouse building in downtown Savannah and is three stories.  Each floor has a buffet line or you order from the menu.  Needless to say, we both chose the buffet.  Some of the best fried chicken and fried catfish that I have ever eaten and you are served a warm garlic cheese biscuit and hoecake with your meal.  I had never eaten a hoecake and it is simply a pancake made with cornmeal but was it ever good.  Don't drool on the pictures!

 

 

 

 

She wasn't really there.  Life size poster in the gift shop next door to the restaurant.



Name of her restaurant is "The Lady and Sons"

Old warehouse in downtown Savannah - three-story



Third floor setting



Fried chicken, fried catfish, and all the trimmings



Fried chicken - don't get no better!

Buffet line

Hoecake

My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach and dessert is yet to come!

We then drove back to Hilton Head and exercised our sales resistance before our 3:00 PM appointment.  We had heard sales pitches before for timeshares and this was fairly typical.  Surely you could afford $200 for a weeks lodging anywhere in the world anytime you want.  Then they got to the price of $10,000.  The sales rep next drove us to a three bedroom condo a few miles away which would be the Hilton Head timeshare site.  It was furnished very nicely and was quite busy with other victims and their reps.  On the way back to the office, we affirmed our "no" response and she said we needed to check out and we could be on our way.  She took us to another office and turned us over to the "closer" and he put a harder sales-pitch on us for much less money.  He would make us the same deal as the first rep for only $2000 and anyone could afford that with only $160 down and payments of $60-70 per month.  The weekly timeshare rate went up to $500-600 per week but still could be used practically anytime and anywhere.  Again, we held out even though he tried to question our sanity or something like that and we were on our way and had passed the test even though the last sales-pitch kept sounding better and better.  One negative is that Joyce and I rarely go anywhere and stay there for a week at a time so it was just not a good fit.

 

 

Since neither of us had ever dipped a toe in the Atlantic Ocean, we started hunting a beach and found one within an hour or so.  The beach life is very appealing and God's creation really gets your attention.  The ocean makes you realize how small you really are in light of all creation and makes you more grateful that you are part of the chosen of God and the same creator God is your Savior and has paid the price on Calvary for your sins.  Here are a few of the scenes.

 

 

Heading for the beach

Brrrrrrrr!

 

First time to touch the Atlantic Ocean

How do you turn this thing on?

Water, Water, everywhere and not a drop to drink!

Big ocean!

Now if I just had a towel!

 That evening we took a boat ride called the Vagabond Sunset Cruise.  Debarkation was near the lighthouse that is just off of the 18th hole at the Harbour Town Links golf course which hosts a PGA tour event every year.  We saw several dolphins but mainly just their fins, they weren't completely out of the water.  The sun set while we were boating and the moon came out and it was just beautiful on Calabogie Sound.

 

 

We had been given $100 in gift certificates and we used $60 for the boat cruise so we had $40 left and it was about 8:30 PM and we were leaving for home at 5:00 AM the next morning.  Thought about giving them away but they had our name on them so we returned to a restaurant we had visited the previous evening and spent the remainder of our gift certificates on pastries to go which included a $10 tip.  Still, $30 worth of pastries would send me into insulin shock.  It included blueberry muffins, butter cookies, apple turnovers, french cream pastries, etc.  Anyway we nibbled on a few of them on the way home but our daughter ended up with a bonus for house sitting.  I am sure the microwave would bring them back to just-baked freshness.

 

We traversed five states the next day - SC, GA, AL, MS, and TN and spent the night in Memphis across the street from our favorite BBQ restaurant - Corky's.  Yes, we tried it but it wasn't as good as our memory indicated.  Again, the next day we got up and left at 5:00 AM and arrived home around 12:30 on Sunday, September 30.  Summary - we drove about 3,100 miles in ten days and covered ten states.  The two new states for me were FL and SC.  Only SC was new for Joyce since she, Sheri, and Kaylee went to Disneyworld in April.  Needless to say, one of the most enjoyable vacations that I can recall in our 46+ years of marriage.  It was tiring but well worth the effort but it sure felt good to sleep in my own bed.  It is sad to get old and not be able to sleep well away from home.  In my sixties when we left home and in my seventies when we got back.  That travelling can sure age you!!