Horses, Harbours and Happenings:Steve and Sue visit Chincoteague and Hilton Head, May 2009! - COMPLETE - Page 9 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Sounds like a great day!! The Salty Dog looked like fun and great food!! Living in Ohio, I can understand Sara's desire to leave!! Your lasagne looked delicious and great evening shots!!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I was up at about 8 AM. I made coffee and went out on the patio. It was going to be another beautiful day. Steve got up and I made us breakfast. We ate the rest of the melon and made eggs and English Muffins. We had decided to go to the LowCountry Shrimp Boil at Disney's Beach House that night, so I needed to RSVP. I took a shower and got dressed, and I walked over to the main lobby. On the way, I noticed a squirrel laying in the road. I went over to see what was wrong, and he had been hit by a car. He was trying to run away and he couldn't. I really hate to see animals suffer. I went up to the CM at the front desk, RSVP'd for dinner and told them about the squirrel. She contacted animal control for me. When I walked back to our villa, I saw a maintenance guy with a broom and a shovel. He had seen the injured squirrel, and was gently rolling him onto the shovel. I went up to him and told him I had reported it to the front desk. He said he was going to take him off the hot blacktop and put him in the shade. He took him away and gently laid him under a shady bush in the grass, so that at least he wouldn't hurt anymore than he already was. That is just another reason that I love Disney....they care about even the smallest creatures and making them confortable.
I went back to the room and we walked down towards the campfire pit. Shadow was making an appearance at 11:30 with her friend, B'Lou Crabbe!
A local:
A Corona commercial in the making:
Ah, the ever present Blackberry:
We waited a little while, and suddenly, B'Lou Crabbe and Shadow made their appearance:
B'Lou told us Shadow's story. She has been here since the resort was built, and she is, as he put it, ageless! She is very friendly and lovable, and the children loved her. Of course, she loved the attention, also!
Shadow and I:
Shadow and Steve:
After our Shadow adventure, we walked back to the car. A few shots along the way:
We got in the car and drove off of Hilton Head Island. We were heading towards Blufton and the weekly Farmer's Market!
Next...a great town, the May River and lots of history!
We left Shelter Cove for Bluffton. Bluffton is a town undergoing a sort of rebirth. There is plenty of history in this town, and the residents are working hard to preserve it! Hilton Head Island – Bluffton, SC
I had read about Bluffton on the Hilton Head Island website, and saw that they had a Farmer's Market on Thursdays. That seemed like a perfect thing to do on this relaxing vacation, so I scheduled it into out plans. Steve was a bit reluctant, and didn't think it sounded as fun as I thought it did. I programmed Garmin and we were off. We drove for about 25 minutes, and he started to get a bit antsy. I saw the sign welcoming us to Bluffton, but he didn't. He asked how much longer ("Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" ) and I couldn't resist:
"About four more hours."
And....my husband, for once in his life, was speechless.
I, however, could NOT keep a straight face and told him we had just arrived.
We parked on the street, and drank in the quaintness of Bluffton. The Farmer's Market didn't open until 2, and it was only about 1:
So we started our day in a little shop called "Eggs-n-tricities". It was part antique shop, part souvenir shop, part arts and crafts shop, and part general store.
Steve bought a sign for his bar that said "Bluffton: A state of mind"! We walked a little further down the street and went to a store aptly named, "The Store".
Our car:
We bought Bluffton T-shirts and talked to the owner for a bit. We still had some time to kill, so we put our packages in the car and walked down to the May River. This is where the historic part of Bluffton comes in. Some of these homes date back to the 1800's, and they are preseved in part by the historical society.
The Fripp-Lowton House, 1909:
Seven Oaks, 1850:
The Allen Lockwwod House, 1850:
The Squire-Pope Summer House:
The Graves House, 1915:
We stopped at the end of the street at the Church of the Cross. The church was open to the public, and we went in. Steve spent some more time inside, filming, I took a few more pictures:
The church was absoutely beautiful! It was all original wood inside, I beleive she told us mahogany, and had survived many things, including the Civil War and a hurricane or two. We spent a little time here, and then we wandered outside and down to the beautiful May River:
We walked back down the street, and the Market was open! There were vendors selling fresh fruit and veggies, meat, eggs, fresh flowers, candles, soap, honey...all sorts of great things! We decided to first get something to eat. Steve opted for barbecue:
And I went for shrimp:
We got homemade iced tea from a vendor who sold a different tea every week. This week was "Arnold Palmer", which is a blend of half lemonade and half iced tea, and one of our favorites!
We found a seat on this fountain:
And were entertained by "Old Bill":
A few pictures of the Farmer's Market:
I bought tomatoes, plums, peaches, cucumbers and strawberries. We bought some honey and some Philly pretzels! Steve liked his barbecue so much he got another serving, and he sat in the shade and enjoyed it while I shopped. I didn't want to get too much because it had a long ride home, but I was happy with what I had, and boy was it goooood! Purchases in hand, we made our way back to the car and drove back to Hilton Head. Bluffton had been alot of fun, definitely a repeat in the future!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Bluffton looks lovely - we didn't get there on our last Hilton Head trip, maybe it's somewhere to head to whenever we get back there. Loved the "four hours" joke!