Amelia Island

Mike and I spent a few days this week at the beach, which was very enjoyable and relaxing. My company has a Pinnacle Award program, whereby if we meet our stretch goal senior leadership, certain salespeople and a handful of nominated others all attend an awards trip. The award is in its second year and it’s a big honor to be selected to attend – so this trip was a first-class trip in every respect. (I was nominated for the work I do with our company’s charitable initiatives.)

This might be the first trip ever I didn’t grossly overpack for (go me!) and the only thing I forgot was the memory card to my camera (oops!). So I literally have 3 iPhone pictures from this trip. (They took pictures of the awards ceremony, so I’m sure I can get a copy of a few of them.)

We flew down to Jacksonville on Sunday morning. It was perhaps the shortest flight I’ve ever been on. By the time we got up in the air, we were just about ready to start descending. Once we arrived, we were put on a tour bus and driven out to the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island.

The resort was beautiful! We had a spacious, well-appointed room with a balcony overlooking the pool/ocean and a large double-vanity bathroom. We wanted to pack up the bed (and definitely the pillows) and take it home with us. That bed was so comfortable! And all the big squishy pillows were a pregnant lady’s dream. I even took a picture of them:

The first afternoon (and most of the trip) was “at leisure.” Mike and I had lunch on an outdoor patio and enjoyed the warm, breezy weather. After lunch we went for a short walk on the beach and then he met up with an elderly friend of his who lives in the area. What did I do? I laid down on the big, comfy bed to read a magazine…and promptly passed out cold for two hours. Traveling at 29 weeks was completely exhausting (though to be fair, my symptoms make doing anything other than sitting on the couch exhausting).

Sunday evening we had a welcome reception. It was supposed to be outside, but stormy weather forced us indoors. (We had beautiful weather the rest of the trip.) The reception was nice and afterwards we enjoyed desserts and cocktails. I discovered a delicious new bar drink – cranberry juice and ginger ale.

Monday everyone participated in an activity – I chose the manicure/pedicure and Mike chose golf. We had lunch at the cafe by the pool (which did not agree with me whatsoever) and then spent some time out by the pool. A lot of people in our group were out by the pool, so it was some good social time. It was weird seeing coworkers in bathing suits!

The big awards dinner was Monday evening. They did it in a small ballroom, so it was an intimate setting and perfect for the awards. (There were about 40 people in attendance, including spouses.) The awards dinner was very nice, and our sales VP did a great job with the award presentations. Afterwards, we went to the “pub” room and enjoyed socializing, cocktails and playing pool. That was a lot of fun! When we got there, there were a handful of other people there, all in very casual attire. In walks a group of nearly 40 dressed in their Sunday best. The others didn’t stay very long after that…we sort of took over the place.

Tuesday Mike and I enjoyed breakfast on the patio, then it was time to get ready to leave. We had a shuttle bus vs. a tour bus on the way back. I’m sure baby boy enjoyed the rocking, slightly bumpy ride…but his motion-sickness-prone mommy couldn’t wait for that bus to get to the airport! The flight home was also uneventful, but definitely just as exhausting as the trip there.

A few other observations from the trip:

• A big pregnant belly will get you lots of smiles and “Congratulations!” at the airport. I also saw several “She’s brave” looks and a few “Oh my that can’t be fun” looks.
• I thought about asking for the little plastic wings to commemorate baby boy’s first flight, but in fact it was his third flight. (San Diego at 6 weeks; Raleigh at 15 weeks)
• I would be one happy lady if breakfast always arrived in my room, ready to go, at the exact time I wanted it. I love the special treat that is room service!
• The Ritz-Carlton has the biggest bathrooms I’ve ever seen. And trust me, I visited quite a few of them. They were all nearly the size of the ones in an airport.