Dolphins on Kiawah

Long story short: I had an amazing weekend with my mom and Aunt Deb! Debbie took a million amazing photos for us so those will come later. For now, here are a few pictures of the Dolphins at Captains Sam's Inlet!

And some room decorations...Our place isn't usually anywhere near this messy

New chart of the peninsula for my room

Chart of Kiawah

Trash picked window, tiles you can write on and wine bottle vases

Our new clock, chalk board paint, and a million bottles of honey

Empty honey bottles 

Fresh paint and a net

New lamp and curtains

My new room

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done on the decorating front, but compared to last week this is looking amazing. I found amazing (new!) furniture from a guy who sets up model homes and rental homes. Next stop will be a comforter and some decorations for the walls, maybe a huge sailfish, map, or coral? Eventually I'll get to painting!

Chest!

Check out my huge bed! 

My amazing dresser (and stuff I still haven't found a spot for)

4th of July

4th of July was like Easter, but we were prepared and had more staff. Essentially it was a ton of fun. Check out the pictures below.

I worked in the bike pavilion that morning trying to dodge bullets as we had to tell people we were out of bikes (all 2,000 rented out!!)

That afternoon/evening I worked in the nature center, which is located in the middle of the Night Heron Park where the festival was taking place.

Andy and Grace

Jamie (manager of the Nature Center), Andy (Supervisor of the Nature Center), Sarah, and Grace

Grace, Sarah, Liz (director of Recreation)

Andy and I

Hard at work!

Pre watermelon eating contest!

I finished work just in time to see fireworks at the Sanctuary! 

Mom's Visit

Mom is in town!!! (well she was; not having internet in my house means I have to wait until I go the library or a cafe before I can post)

My mom drove down Sunday night and spend Monday on the beach while I worked. After work Katherine, my mom, and I went ocean kayaking. If you haven’t been before I would definitely recommend going. Fighting against the waves was an awesome workout and getting flipped out of the boat was  tons of fun.

After kayaking we headed over to Mingo Point for the classic Monday night oyster roast. Not only were  oysters being shoveled from the pit every few minutes, but there was bbq, chicken, ribs, steaks, salad, greens, mac & cheese, banana pudding, and pecan pie. The food was amazing, as well as the atmosphere. There was a band playing, motor boats leaving for river cruises, and a local artist painting.

Oysters!

The store I work in

We started the day off Tuesday with yoga on the beach. Yogafit  was such an amazing way to wake up; it was already pretty hot at 9 in the morning, but the breeze off ocean made it not that bad. After yoga we rode bikes around the island looking at houses and trying to burn off the millions of calories we ate the night before. The houses on Kiawah are huge!  Later that night we headed to the Ryder cup bar on the Ocean Course for dinner (the Ocean Course is going to host the PGA next August!). Amazing food and an even better view again!

On the Ocean Course

Wednesday morning we headed out to the beach for some ocean seining. The fish we caught are now hanging out in the nature center’s salt water tank. After a little relaxing by the pool we had dinner at Cherrywood Bbq and Ale House. If you like bbq and mac& cheese you have to eat here. The deck over looks a pond full of alligators and provides another beautiful atmosphere for dining. Later that day we took a glass fusing class at the Turtles Nest Art Studio. I’ll post a picture of our glass pieces later.

Thursday morning we went to Angel Oak.... After I got done work we relaxed by the pool . 

The oldest thing east of the Rockies; 1,500 years old

And some more pictures....

The Sanctuary

The adult pool

Our room

THe view from the bathroom...The shutters next to the tub open so you can see out the window wile taking a bath or shower

The Ocean Room (steak house in The Sanctuary)

My own kind of Paradise

Today I went through Sanctuary orientation. Orientation for most companies is boring paperwork and rules, but not at Kiawah. Orientation is more like a string of motivational speeches about how we can help each other, guests and the hotel. The speakers throughout the day weren't random hotel employees, but the top managers (GM, director of rooms, director of F&B, head of engineering, director of the spa, and head of group events). We also got to tour a room. Almost all the rooms in the Sanctuary have ocean views. The one we got to see was gorgeous with a huge balcony and shutters separating the bathroom and bedroom so you can see the ocean while showering or taking a bath if you would like.


Orientation finished at 3:30 so there was lots of daylight left and I wasn't hungry yet so I changed into my bathing suit and wandered over to the beach. I received a quick paddle boarding lesson and then ventured out into the waves. The waves definitely beat me up and I swallowed my fair share of salt water, but overall it was successful. I've found another workout for after work, another perk of working on an island with 10 miles of private beach.

I'm almost as good as this guy

This champagne shore watchin' over me
It's a sweet sweet life livin' by the salty sea
One day you can be as lost as me
Change your geography and maybe you might be

Knee deep in the water somewhere
got the blue sky breeze blowin' wind thru my hair
only worry in the world
is the tide gonna reach my chair
Sunrise, there's a fire in the sky
never been so happy
never felt so high
and I think I might've found me my own kind of paradise

Come on in
the waters nice
find yourself a little slice
grab a backpack
otherwise you'll never know until you try
when you lose yourself 
you find a key to paradise

Living the Dream

When you ask someone how they are, you expect to hear "good," "fine," "well," or something along those lines. Come into the recreation department and you'll hear many other things (part sarcastic, but mostly serious). Lately the popular answer has been, "living the dream." Even though it's part sarcastic, there is a lot of truth to the answer. 


On Saturday it was only interns/seasonal workers holding down the nature center. Leslie, Katherine, and I closed the center and then decided to go for a bike ride. We are constantly suggesting places for guests to go ride, but we haven't ridden to many of them ourselves. So we ventured out to see exactly where we are sending guests (and to see where all these people who are dropping bills live while at Kiawah).

The start to our bike ride

Vanderhorst Plantation

The path to the marsh tower

The marsh

Catching crabs to use as bait

bike ride to the beach

Kat and Leslie

Saying hello to the insanely warm ocean

Me and Leslie

Should have worn flip flops

Doesn't get more gangster than Kiawah

Kat and her boyfriend

Intern love

Going to the marsh tower

Kat, Leslie, and Me