2008 Summer Review

Yes, here it is September and I am just now reviewing my summer. Brandon, Carter and I have been lucky enough to travel to many places this summer. In May, Brandon and I were privileged to go to Naples, FL and stay in the FABULOUS Ritz Carlton for the AstraZeneca Circle of Excellence trip. This trip is awarded to the AZ sales representatives who achieve sales in the top 2% of the company for the year before. This was our second Circle of Excellence trip. We went back in 2006 (when I was 36 weeks pregnant- it was our "babymoon") to Palm Springs, CA to the La Quinta Resort and Spa. I loved that trip but since it was 2 years ago, just look up the resort if you want to know how wonderful it is. I might add some pics from that trip to my facebook page.

Anyway, back to this summer. Our trip to Naples started with a pool party that included synchronized swimmers, glass walk ways across the pool and yummy, gourmet island style food. On Monday I chose to go to the Spa for a facial and Brandon went Back Water fishing. We both thoroughly enjoyed our days and that night were treated to a dinner at Ngala. This means "the place of the lion" and is home to many abandoned animals, although no lions- go figure! Some of these animals were bought as pets and the owners quickly learned they could not take care of them. Others are not pure breeds like in zoos, so they are sent here. We were serenaded by African music as we ate wonderful, island style food.

On Tuesday we enjoyed the beautiful, blue Gulf of Mexico and sandy, white beach. We went out pretty early and were treated to a pod of dolphins playing right in front of our hotel. That night was our Gala and Awards Ceremony. It was decorated with Tiffany's blue, sliver and black. We had ballroom dancers as entertainment and the food was fabulous. I can't remember exactly what we had, but I know the entree was lobster tail and filet mignon- yummy! We spent the evening dancing, recognizing our hard work from 2007 and enjoying reps from all over the nation.











On Wednesday Brandon and I chose to go on a catamaran cruise to a private island. On the way there we passed the most beautiful homes. We daydreamed about what it would be like to have one of those or how we could get our hands on one someday. We also wondered what those people do for a living? Once we got to the island we searched for shells and enjoyed the quite ebb and flow of our own island- ours and about 40 other AstraZeneca friends.

That evening we had a free night to explore Naples. After all of the gourmet, us Kentucky kids wanted some laid-back, live music atmosphere and food. So we found a little, local seafood dive, my favorite places on vacations, and enjoyed the bay, the salty air and some good old hush puppies and crab legs.
On Thursday we chose to go on an air-boat through the Florida Everglades. As we drove to the area, we could see alligators in the canals on the sides of the roads. I started to get nervous. When I was little, I would get in line for The Beast or The Vortex at Kings Island, get all the way to the front, and then chicken out. OK...I might still do that. But that is the way I felt as we arrived to take our ride. There were 3 couples that wanted to go together and since we were the last ones to get to a boat, the only one left was for 4 people. Well, the driver said it would be OK to take 6, even though 1 of the guys we had with us is a good sized guy. The more I thought about it, I could just see how it would all play out...we'd get out there and start to sink while the alligators surround us and eat us one by one. The tune from Peter Pan when the crocodile was trying to get Peter or Captain kept playing in my head...that and Jaws for some reason. When we got on the boat, if you wanna call it that, we noticed there were no seat belts and no life jackets. Brandon made it all better when he said life jackets wouldn't help anyway! But, much to my surprise, it was super fun. We saw lots of alligators, many really close up. Our guide showed us the big males of the swamp and where they wait to mate and eat. We did have a bit of a scare when a HUGE fireball came out of the back of our engine. But we made it back safely and even held a baby alligator.



That evening we were invited to a "Night of Senses" dinner. Basically, there was loud music, every kind of food for any palate, lights everywhere. It was nice but after we all ate we opted to go out by the pool to enjoy our last night in Naples.

If you ever get the chance to go to Naples, I highly recommend it. It is absolutely beautiful. I can see why people retire there. It has a lot to offer, too. Lots of great shopping- black label shopping to local vendors. The Ritz is exactly like I thought it would be- perfect. This was a wonderful way to start our summer. Now that we have been on two of these trips, we are a bit spoiled. Brandon is always prodding me to work harder so he can go on another trip. In 2009 it is to Scottsdale, AZ, and we are working hard to achieve this award again.