6th November, 2016 Daytona to Bluewater Resort Hilton Head Island

We departed Daytona after a great breakfast and having enjoyed the Hilton Daytona Beach. 

weather was showery but this soon cleared and we drove the first 2 hours without a break or stop and particularly enjoyed passing by the Daytona International Speedway which we has previously visited.  As you can imagine Ken was really excited but we decided against stopping. 

This is an easy drive up the Interstate 95 with rest area spaced about 50 miles apart. 

We changed over at about 12.30pm with about 2 hours 15 minutes of driving remaining.  Little did we suspect that as we turned off after Savannah, that we were in for a dreadful shock Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew, which has devastated the islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina.  About an hour from Hilton Head Island we began to see the tell tale signs of large numbers of trees down and being or having been cut up by chain saws and gangs of workers from throughout the south seeking to clean up and restore the areas.   

This only got worse as we got closer to Hilton Head Island, where there are in excess of 5,500 trees destroyed and some 1,400 homes impacted and damaged.  Unbeknown to us during this tragic storm over 3 million people were evacuated from all of the islands and associated areas of South Carolina, Georgia and the northern end of Florida.  The scale of damage even almost 3 weeks later in undescrible.  Our photos will give some indication of the size of trees uprooted and thrown about.  The amount of tree foliage etc is pil d high everywhere.  They forecast the clean up will taken12-15 months.  The insurance claims are gigantic and there are many people under insured.  The damage to marinas and other harbours remains a cause of speculation as to the millions of dollars required to rebuild or repair.  

We checked in and just as we turned to leave registration our guests Frank and Kathy Boggs arrived and we greeted the, with hugs. 

Our villa is 6221, which us a 3 bedroom and 3 bathroom condo with a large lounge, kitchen and dining area.  We thought this lay out to be very effective and quite comfortable.  We gave them the master bedroom whilst we had the second king bed room. Everything was very comfortable.

We then had drinks and chatted for the next 2 hours before going to Hudsons restaurant, where we enjoyed a pleasant meal, but this local but very busy restaurant was totally booked and we had a 15 minute wait. We each had something different in terms of fish, with Ken having the scallops, Jeanette had fish(halibut) and chips.  Our guests each had other fish.  We started with a large basket of the local hush puppies and then clam chowder.  A great night to renew acquaintances and catch up. 

Bedtime came quickly and we all retired at about 11.15pm.