Jet Setting

Last week, I had my spring board meeting for the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA).  I flew down early in the morning on Tuesday and came back on Wednesday.  I’ve mentioned before in my account of previous meetings, but I must say it again.  I don’t know how people travel for a living.  It’s hard on the ole’ brain.

I think (hope) that I’m in the busiest time of my life.  Not only am I consumed with activities at the golf course, but I also have three children who keep me hopping.  My oldest son plays trombone in the Des Moines Youth Symphony (as well as several bands at his high school), so we attended a concert prior to me leaving.  My middle child is also in band as well as track, so I also watched one of his performances as well, plus I cheered him on from the bleachers at his track meet.  My youngest child competes in dance, so she and I made a quick trip (is there such a thing?) to Davenport for a dance competition the weekend before I had to leave.  When I had fulfilled all of my mom duties, I went to bed.  Silly me, I thought I’d be able to sleep.  Unfortunately, the only thing I could think about was the work that I needed to get done at the golf course before I left for the board meeting.  It turned out to be easier to simply wake up and go work at the course.  Who cared if it was 2:30 in the morning?  I got in two hours of work before it was time for me to catch my flight to South Carolina.  Flights at six in the morning always look good when you’re booking them, but seem really foolish when you actually have to get up to get on the plane.

I’m sure I will look back at this time in my life and remember it fondly.  Cough.  Cough.  It’s awesome to have kids who are involved and enjoy activities.  It always seems that somehow there is time to get it all done.  Maybe sacrificing a little sleep along the way.

Luckily for me, I truly enjoy the people on the NGCOA board.  They are smart, capable golf operators who always teach me something when I’m with them.  They are worth jet setting across the country.

Des Moines airport size + Charleston, SC’s airport size = three hour layover in New Jersey.  I pulled out my sunglasses to blind me from all the gold and picked up a few new swear words while I was there.  Kidding aside, I had some great flights and landed on time and made it to the board meeting.   When the meeting was over, the staff of the NGCOA asked several members to participate in a marketing piece explaining why we are members.  I was the first one to get interviewed.  Next up was Mike Hatch.  He has an English accent, so I’m pretty sure his interview will be far more convincing than mine.

When we were done with the taping, we headed out to the pool side of the Wild Dunes.

I always feel like I’m a walking advertisment for Charleston, but I must tell you that you need to visit this area of the country.  Our meeting was in an area called the Wild Dunes.  It had two golf courses on the resort and many beautiful hotels.  It’s within walking distance of the ocean.

The resort even had a really quaint shopping district.  It’d be the perfect place to vacation.  I love this area of the country because it has so much history.  One of the towns that I drove past had been founded in the 1600’s.

During our meal, it was apparent that I have northern blood.  There was a wind that had picked up and all of the locals were grabbing their jackets because it had dropped into the upper 60’s.

Because I’m classy, I cut into my orange that was on my salad and it squirted all over the NGCOA staff member sitting next to me.  I like to represent my family well when I’m in public.  No one at my table had been to Iowa before, so told them about Des Moines being named best place to live in the United States as well as about how our Iowa State Fair is on the top 100 things to do before you die list.  They were surprised.  I began describing the state fair and the whole table erupted in laughter.  It isn’t every day that you can compete for the longest beard, participate in a cow chip throwing competition or a mom calling contest.  In an effort to sell them on the excitement that Des Moines has to offer, I explained the Bacon Fest.  Apparently our town has a stronger affinity for bacon than others.  It was a great meal and I enjoyed the company.  I represented Iowa well.

The next morning, we had more meetings.

I have given up drinking soda and turned to coffee for some help.  I was pretty excited that they had a fun coffee bar set up with flavors.  Caramel is my favorite.

When the meeting was finished, we took a break for lunch.  I always enjoy visiting with the staff at hotels.  They thought it was cool that I had photographed their work.  It’s nice to get some ideas for our own club in different food display options.

I had to take a picture of their desserts.  I’m the only person on the board who takes pictures of everything.  I’ve been on it for a year now, so I think they are used to me by now.  I’m a little weird, but they accept me anyway.  At least they pretend to.  Ha.

Their desserts were fantastic, but I was pretty apprehensive about the Collard Greens.  They just didn’t look all that appetizing.

I am pleased to say that I joined the rankings of people who like collard greens.  They were delicious!  I try to make it a point to try out new foods when I’m away from the the comforts of sweet corn and bacon.  Once lunch had been served, it was time to hop back on a plane to return to my family.  Because I’m a pretty independent gal, I rented a car this time while I was in South Carolina, so I could do some sight seeing.  It rained while I was there, so I didn’t get any sight seeing done.  I DID get to drive the world’s smallest car known to man!

It was great!  I could cut people off really easily and I could fit into nice small parking spaces.  The best part was that I drove over 100 miles and barely used $5 worth of gas!  Too bad that I have too many children to fit in this fabulous clown car!  I had a blast driving it!

There you have it.  Allison’s Adventures.  If you’d like to read more about my trips to South Carolina, click here or here.