Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Driving from PA to FL - where to stay half way?

We are a family of 8 driving to Fl from Northeastern PA in June. This is our first time going - and would like any ideas for a hotel to stay at for one night on the way. I am guessing somewhere in N or S Carolina.

Anyone make this trip before?

Thanks for the help!

Diane

Driving from PA to FL - where to stay half way?

Are you coming down I-85 or I-95? What part of Florida are you going to?

Driving from PA to FL - where to stay half way?

We will be coming down I-95 on our way to Orlando. :)


Anywhere around Hilton Head SC or Savannah Ga is a nice area.


For a quick, relatively quiet, overnight stop, we like Santee, SC, on I-95. Located on Lake Marion, the area has a more vacation-like feel than most of the other ';just off the highway'; locations. It is popular with golfers and fishermen.

We usually stay at the Best Western Santee, a family-run, single-story hotel with parking at your door. The BW includes a good ';expanded continental'; breakfast and has a nice, small swimming pool.

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  • things todo for 16 yr olds?

    Been doing some searching for specific things to do for our teenage daughters while in MB next week. We are hoping for great weather, which will help keep them from being board.



    But have been reading conflicting reports on the topic of a Teen Club. I have read about the Attic, older and the newer, now both closed. Possibley a teen night at the House of Blues, but also read that doesnt happen anymore. Has anyone been to MB lately, or if any locals read this, could you let me know if there is a teen club, or a bar that has a teen night? And what else would they enjoy doing while in MB? Thanks. Charlie.



    things todo for 16 yr olds?


    Here is the website for Karma (teen club) http://www.karmamb.com. That should help


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  • Directions

    Anyone know of a good way to get to MB from Michigan (Howell)? Mapquest gives some strange looking directions. Would prefer the fastest route - don%26#39;t really care about scenery and places to stop.



    Thanks a bunch!



    Directions


    I think your best (and fastest bet) would be to get on I-75 and head south to I-40 in Tenn. East on I-40 to I-26. I-26 south to I-20 in SC. I-20 to US 501 and follow signs into MB. MB is to the east of US 17. There is also US 17-Business which is east of US 17. The street that runs along the beach and in between most of the motels/hotels is Ocean Blvd.



    The streets run east and west, intersecting with Ocean Blvd. They sort of start in the middle of the area with First Street and then go up with Ocean Blvd. North, and south with Ocean Blvd South. The Block numbers correspond to the street numbers, that is the 2400 N addresses will be north of 24th street, and 1900 south addresses will be south of 19th Street South.



    I hope that makes a little sense.



    Directions


    This is great... much better than MapQuest.





    Thanks for your help!




    To save a little more time, when you come in from I20, rather than trying to find 501, head North on I95 to Hwy 327.



    (Keep an eye out for the signs to Myrtle Beach.) Take that exit to Hwy 576 (76). (This way you don%26#39;t have drive through downtown Florence.) That road eventually merges with 501. Where are you staying? There are new highways that can save you time (Hwys 31 and 22. They can save lots of time if you are staying in North Myrtle Beach.)




    Are you staying at the North end of Myrtle Beach or the South end?



    It helps to know what Ave. your hotel is on so you can get the best directions.



    And you defiantly want to take Rt.327 to avoid Florance.



    I-95 North to Rt. 327 (exit 170) turn right on 327 South



    Rt. 327 approx. 5 miles. Take a left at light onto 301/76 It is approx. 63 miles from here to the beach.



    The next 18 miles are pretty much the same road the numbers just change. 301/76 8 miles to 76 then 7 miles to 576 then 3 miles to 501 South then 38 miles to 22 East (There is a welcome center on the right before you get to 22 East锟斤拷锟絊top at Welcome Center for coupons and beach info.



    If you are staying North of Myrtle beach you will want to take 22 East. But like I said it helps to know where you are staying.




    Thanks for your advice - this forum helped me out a lot! You guys are great!!!




    Thanx to all for the suggestions. We are heading to the Caribbean Resort April 14th, wonder of any suggestions to circumvent 501...I LOVE freeways and 85mph...so any thoughts are very much appreciated.

    Things to do in HH this Easter weekend

    Hi all,



    We just got a room at the CP through Priceline. We know the Harbortown area and shopping areas I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for possibly renting a boat to tour the inter-coastal, my husband has his power squadron and grew up boating in the BVI.





    Also, does anyone know of a Sunrise Service for Easter morning?





    There will be 3 adults and a 5 year old. Any suggestions would be appreciated.





    Thanks- Angela



    Things to do in HH this Easter weekend


    The First Baptist Church holds a public Sunrise Service each year. It will be on the beach in front of Marriotts Grande Ocean. Starting time is 6:45 AM





    Stan (hhiguy)



    Things to do in HH this Easter weekend


    It%26#39;s probably too late but the Crowne Plaza where you are staying has an Easter egg hunt for the kids this morning. At least they did last year. My kids had a lot of fun doing it last year.

    Review of the Wreck Restruant on Shem Creek.

    We ate at the Wreck on Shem Creek on March 15,2008.We arrived at 5 pm when it opened.The Wreck is not a place to take a romantic date or have a special dinner it is run down and dirty inside and out. We Ordered the combo plates with shrimp, oysters and scolps (sp).We paid about 26.00 per person (my daughters plate also no childrens plates)



    with the drinks (tea) the total meal ran 85.00++ dollars for three people.The price was high for us to be served on cheep paper plates and cheep plastic cups which spilled drinks on a dirty table covered with white paper.The food inself was not as good as what we can get here for half the price and nice tables setting in a high class restruant.



    We will not return here again.Not worth the trip to this place. Save your money to use at a better place.



    Review of the Wreck Restruant on Shem Creek.


    Another downside is they don%26#39;t take credit cards! My DH and I walked in, checked out the menu, looked at the place (very casual) and walked out. I%26#39;m glad we did as there are too many good places in the vicinity to eat 26 dollar plates of fried food. It might be tasty, but for that price you could dine at McCrady%26#39;s or even find something a the Peninsula Grill.



    Thanks for posting - it%26#39;s better that people know what to expect before going.





    Review of the Wreck Restruant on Shem Creek.


    Culture,



    Your right and I forgot to tell that little detail of no credit cards or checks.Cash only is their form of payment accepted.I wonder if they are afraid of large charge backs due to customers not being satified with food or service?




    Oh, dear. Sorry this one didn%26#39;t work for you.



    The ambiance is purposefully ';fish shack'; style (like a picnic). The price per person seems extremely high ... I am sure that we have never paid that much at the %26#39;Wreck%26#39;! Thanks for the review.

    Wyndham Ocean Blvd

    We are thinking of staying at the Wyndham Ocean Blvd, but are unsure of the layout. I know there are four towers, with the fourth one across the street, but in Tower four- do the rooms face the ocean? If all we can get is Tower four, I don%26#39;t think I%26#39;d like it unless I can at least can see the ocean.

    I know some of you have written reviews and I am hoping to hear from you!

    Thanks!

    Wyndham Ocean Blvd

    Doubt if there is much of an oceanview from any of the Tower 4 units. In fact. Large portion of the units in oceanfront towers have poor oceanviews.

    The three bedroom units are oceanfront while smaller units are down the sides facing each other. Sitting at an angle, one person of the two on the balcony can see a sliver of ocean.

    I%26#39;ve never been a fan of large resort complexes and our stay there confirmed all my fears. Too many details to list here.

    Go to North Myrtle Beach T/A Board.

    tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g54371-i198-North_鈥?/a>

    Scroll down left side of page to list of resorts. Click on Wyndham Ocean Blvd for reviews.

    You might notice most of the positive reviews are from off season visits. Summer season.....not too good.

    P.S......Ocean Blvd is Wyndham%26#39;s crown jewel in the area. Most if not all of their sales tours are there. Bad enough you have to waste 2-3 hours of your trip sitting through it. But the rest of your stay, you%26#39;re on display as they march hundreds of other potential buyers though the complaex.

    Wyndham Ocean Blvd

    Thanks pop, I knew I could count on you to respond! I did see your review, as well as others on the review boards. I am hesitant to book there as I would be coming down in the summer.

    I appreciate your response.


    We are also looking at booking the Wyndham Ocean Blvd or Wyndham Seawatch Plantation for a week at the end of March.

    There would be a booking of two, two bedroom units and we also would want to have oceanfront rooms. It looks like the Tower IV pools are under construction, so I am hoping that if we booked they would put us in the Other towers. What are your experiences in comparing these two Wyndham properties?

    By the way, we are two families with two children each (ages 10 to 13).

    As an aside the other RCI property would be SOuth Beach Resort - although not on the water it appears. Any ideas?

    Many thanks.


    Haven%26#39;t stayed at SeaWatch but from what I can tell from reviews and drive by peeks.....

    SeaWatch appears larger. Spread out over larger area. Ocean Blvd is CRAMMED into two block space. Three if you count third row parking building.

    Two choices of building types at SeaWatch. Villas or highrise. Looks like you have better chance of oceanfront/oceanview at SeaWatch.

    Probably won%26#39;t matter for a March visit but looks like SeaWatch has five outdoor pools to Ocean Blvd%26#39;s three.

    I%26#39;d go with SeaWatch. If anything. In March it would be more centrally located to off beach attractions.


    Wow!

    Thank you very much, great information. I ended up calling both locations to make sure that construction would not be in full swing for our visit. The response from both was that re-furbishing is happening now and will be on-going into April.

    For the Seawatch - North Tower is closed now and may be finished when we arrive. The South Tower is closing soon and will be closed. Apparently the Villas (middle of the horseshoe) are open and are newly renovated. There is suppose to be ocean views from these Villas. The pools and lazy river are unaffected by these renovations.

    For Ocean Blvd - In Tower IV the pools are closed for renovations. When I asked about the photos on the website, they told me that these are pictures of Tower IV - the rooms look wonderful; however, we want to be oceanfront, not across the street. It doesn%26#39;t look like we can request to not be in Tower IV and I don%26#39;t want to take my chance. All reviews I have seen, appear to be of the newer tower and I have yet to see what the rooms look like in the others.

    Again, thank you for the time to reply and I will book Seawatch. The location appears to be better and having the chance to possibly get into the newly renovation Tower 1 would be nice. In the event we only have the option of the Villas, the pools will be empty as not many guests with two towers closed.

    The lady I spoke to was also very nice and if she is any indication of their hospitality, it can only be a great holiday.


    we stayed at Wyndham Ocean Blvd last summer. We were in tower 4. The view was of the pool with the ocean in the far background. It was a beautiful facility and we enjoyed our stay very much. It was just a short walk across the street to the beach and was no problem with 2 small children.

    I would prefer to rent a private house on the beach but we are timeshare owners and this resort was available at the time.


    My experience with Ocean Blvd. is that it is well kept,';roomy'; and clean. If you are staying in tower 4 then the ocean is only a short walk across the street. I%26#39;ve been there on a golf trip with friends and everyone was impressed. We were there in 2005 and the balcony outside the entrance to the condo had a pretty good view however the balcony within the condo overlooked the pool and the construction going on across the street (beachside).


    Exactly what soho said! Tower 4 overlooks the pool and play area. I can show you pictures of the ocean from Tower 4 if you%26#39;d like! Of course you can barely see it between the buildings of tower 1-2 and 3 now but you see the ocean and beach very well north of towers 1-2-3 from your room balcony. I normally have stayed on floors 7 and 8 since tower 1-2-3 were built. The higher the better view of the ocean. I%26#39;ve stayed there 6 times in the last 3 years and know it well!

    It%26#39;s a very nice place for a family vacation and summertime is busy, as it is at any decent place on or near the beach. You put up with a little elevator traffic during the summer but the amenities help make up for it. It%26#39;s a PRIME Ocean Drive section of NMB location!


    I just saw your second post; SeaWatch is very nice too! A little more secluded and a little older but very nice with very nice amenities. I was one of the first to stay there when it was one small building and plans for more. I went by a couple of times while they were building the small building. I%26#39;ve stayed there around 10 times and in each building on the property. Both SeaWath and Ocean Boulevard are very nice vacation spots! You won%26#39;t go wrong with either place.


    I may be too late replying to your post, but for what it%26#39;s worth...

    We鈥檙e a family of four (mid forties, kids aged 8 %26amp; 10). Stayed at the Wyndham Ocean Blvd, Myrtle Beach thru a timeshare rental from March 16 鈥?21st. Overall, we were happy with our stay, with a few complaints

    The positives: The rooms were spacious, nicely laid out and stocked with the necessities.

    I鈥檓 sure the beach is very nice during the summer. We were lucky enough to get a couple of days warm enough for my kids to swim in the ocean, and it was great.

    The staff was mostly friendly and helpful.

    The negatives:

    Resort layout: There are 4 towers鈥? are Oceanside and one (Tower 4, or T4) is across the street. Residents of T4 are the outcasts of the resort. We were in T4. All of the pools, amenities and activities are located in the 3 oceanside towers. We were on the 8th floor in T4. Every day, we would have to take the elevator down to the parking garage, navigate past the moving cars, literally run across a four lane highway, navigate through a second garage and take another elevator up to the lobby to get to the beach or pools, etc. There are no garage walkways, no underpasses, overpasses, crosswalks or exterior entrances into the fortress of the Oceanside towers. It鈥檚 just you against the traffic. We鈥檙e a forty-five year old couple with kids visiting during the slow season. I can鈥檛 imagine a senior citizen having to deal with that during the busy summer period with cars coming from every direction.

    Parking: We stayed mid-week in March and we often had a hard time finding a parking space in the garage. I assume that people in the 3 oceanside towers had the same problem and the overflow came to the T4 garage. Additional overflow would have to park behind T4 in a 2-level lot. When that fills up, I guess you鈥檙e out of luck, 鈥榗uz there ain鈥檛 no parking on the street.

    Amenities: The resort has 5 pools altogether-one small indoor (Motel 6 Sized), 2 medium sized outdoor (about what you would expect at a Holiday Inn) and 2 lazy rivers 鈥?one about 15 yards long and one about 30 yards long. There are also four small outdoor hot tubs.

    We expected cool weather, but figured heated pools would allow the kids to swim. Based upon 3 separate conversations with the hotel staff, we were assured the pools were heated to about 80 degrees. As it turned out, only the larger lazy river was barely warm enough to swim. One of the pools was minimally heated, but our kids toughed it out anyway. They were the only two people I saw in that pool the 5 days we were there.

    Also, two of the four hot tubs weren鈥檛 heated. What鈥檚 the point of a cold hot tub? The result was severe overcrowding at the two working hot tubs and the very small indoor pool. Obviously, the beach is a main focus during the summer. But, the summer only lasts about half of the year. What about the rest of the year?

    Wrap Up: I have stayed at other Wyndams in the Wisconsin Dells and Tennessee. My overall impression of Wyndham Resorts is that they are only interested in building and filling rooms. They do not add or enhance amenities as they bring more people to their resorts. The result is overcrowded and possibly unhealthy conditions.

  • client time
  • historic homes/plantation tours - if you only had time for 1

    If you only had time for one plantation/museum/historic home tour which would you recommend?





    Thanks!



    historic homes/plantation tours - if you only had time for 1


    Here%26#39;s my thoughts:





    If you have a car and...



    into ';preservation';, it%26#39;s Drayton Hall.



    into ';restoration';, it%26#39;s Middleton Place.



    Both of these are on Hwy 61 and easily doable in 1 day...stop at Drayton Hall 1st, then hit Magnolia Plantation for lunch (great restaurant) and then tour. Drayton Hall doesn%26#39;t have furniture in it and no electricity (just like in its heyday).





    If you don%26#39;t have a car and...



    into ';preservation';, it%26#39;s the Aiken-Rhett House



    into ';restoration';, it%26#39;s the Edmonston-Alston House.



    Both are downtown...Aiken-Rhett is on Elizabeth St near the Visitors Center and the Edmonston-Alston is on South Battery.





    Happy Travels!



    historic homes/plantation tours - if you only had time for 1


    Middleton Place would be my first choice but it is not something that you see in just a few minutes. Be sure to do a house tour but I would skip the carriage ride. Allow half the day then have lunch either in the restaurant or a picnic under the oaks. They have sandwiches and picnic type foods at the Garden Market near the parking area.





    For a quick (about 30 minutes) house museum tour, I would do either the Edmonston-Alston House or the Nathaniel-Russell House.




    If you are mainly interested in seeing the interior of a home, any of the downtown houses previously mentioned would be a good choice.





    At Middleton, I think the gardens are amazing. The house (which not the original main home, but a side building) contains a lot of interesting artifacts from the Middleton family; but it is not particularly illustrative of what life would have been like before the original home was destroyed.





    Hate to disagree with SCBlossom, but I found the carriage ride (actually a big wagon drawn by very big horses) at Middleton to be fascinating. I learned a lot about the economics and life of a massive rice plantation.




    We will be in Charleston in May. We did a road trip last September and spent an about 6 hours there and fell in love. Decided that an extended weekend back there was definitely in order. I fell in love with the place!!!





    That being said, we will have a rental car so getting around will be no issue. We are staying at Charleston Place. From the hotel, how far of a drive is it to Middleton Place (and the other plantations)? And I LOVE exploring while driving, so while on the way to Middleton, Magnolia or Drayton.....are there other things we might want to stop and see?





    I%26#39;m so excited! Ohhhh and not sure if anyone agrees with me, but we %26#39;accidentally%26#39; fell upon Jestine%26#39;s Kitchen during that afternoon we were there.....the food was SOOOO good! I can%26#39;t wait for an afternoon lunch there again.




    For me it would be Magnolia. Love the secret gardens, the use of the river as scenery, the swamp boardwalk, even the ';petting zoo';.



    For something completely different I have to say the Boone Hall is underrated. The avenue of oaks is second to none and although the home is not the original one it is historic and lovely. The fact that it has been in continuous use as a plantation is impressive to me too. (Oh, and if you can go when the story teller is there, what a bonus! He%26#39;s awesome!!!)




    So little time for so many great choices! My vote is not to spend time driving to Middleton or Magnolia or Cypress. Walk around downtown, peek into the alleys and gardens, read the plaques about the buildings--get the real flavor of Charleston. If you want to do one home, I would make it the Aiken-Rhett house. The restored homes like Nathaniel Russell and Edmonston-Alston are fantastic if you%26#39;re into architecture and period furnishing, and the family histories are interesting--they are well worth doing--but Aiken-Rhett is special. If you can walk the steps into the slave quarters without thinking of how many times those steps had been tread and getting goosebumps, you%26#39;ve got no soul.




    Culturehound,





    Thanks for the info! I think I%26#39;m torn between a couple. I%26#39;ll have to see if we can maybe take a day and tour a couple different ones.





    Laurel, we were in Charleston back in Sepember for a day (during a road trip) and that%26#39;s why we are going back for a few days. We fell in love with the downtown area and walked down the streets falling in love with the houses, the Market, the Battery and the stores downtown. I think we put miles and miles on our feet and now we want to put those same miles on again, but this time at a much slower pace. :)





    Thanks for the help folks!




    That%26#39;s how we got hooked - our first visit was too short, the next one a day or two longer, the next 10 were longer still, and now we live here! :) This area never gets ';old'; (wow - I was just hit with the irony!) there is always something new to do.