This is so long overdue! Now, Hilton Head is not somewhere I would personally seek out if I was going to spend my time on an east coast beach. I mean, I am from Florida after all and the beaches there are fantastic. BUT it is a cute town with an interesting history and dynamic. In September, after leaving Atlanta, business took me there. It was my third time back and though the resort where I stayed was the same as always, I discovered new places.
Here is my trip, in photos:
I flew of out of Atlanta and after about 45 minutes landed in Savannah a-okay. Took a photo of a sign while waiting for my luggage. People looked at me funny until I said, “We don’t see advertisements like these in California.” “Ahhhhhh!” I heard from a few people.
After getting my luggage, I picked up my rental car – which was supposed to be an SUV, but they didn’t have any for some reason and gave me something better at no extra charge (cha ching!) then headed south before going north to Hilton Head. I just had to get to Harley Davidson to pick up a t-shirt, pins and a poker chip, of course:
After chit-chatting with the crew there, I headed north to South Carolina… A terrible photo of my approach:
I finally made it to the resort and checked in, dropped off my things in my room, found the welcome cookies from the hotel manager (cute), then strolled to dinner with colleagues and customers. Not a bad place to spend some time:
We all dispersed at some point in the evening and then I got up the next day to head back out to the beach for a jog/walk. As I passed, I saw all of these people with their dogs. Since the hubs is an internationally certified K-9 instructor, I stopped to say hello given all the German Shepards! They agreed to (attempt) to take a photo for me to send to hubby. Very nice folks and thanks to them wherever they are!
Not bad real estate…
The sea turtles apparently agree:
After about an hour or so, I headed back to shower, but not without eyeing these in the gift shop on the way to my room. I love the luggage tag, but didn’t want to pay $30 for something that would end up torn off my luggage anyway:
After a very insightful customer meeting, it was time to head to the outdoor welcome reception:
After way too much awesome food and UNsweet iced-tea, my co-worker (whose tiny baby bump is so adorable) and I ‘ghosted it’ as we like to say and headed to our respective rooms so we could get up early and prepare for room rotation meetings.
I woke up, got dressed and was disappointed to find I had left my US Flag pin at home in San Diego. It was September 11th. I headed to the gift shop to see if they had any. They didn’t. Instead, I found this to complete my red, white and blue:
I stopped for a few minutes to remember that day and my friends who were in NYC during the time. Hard to believe it has been so many years.
Each vendor had a theme and something planned for their meeting rooms. We chose to have inspirational and motivational speaker Spencer West address our attendees and were told it was by far the best of all of the vendor rotations, life-changing and incredible.
There were tears. Truly, what an incredible human being. I hate to have to crop my co-workers out of this photo, but out of respect for their privacy, I did. If you do not know his story, I am adding a link in my list below. Look it up. I am honored to have been able to work with him. (Pinterest updo click here). Here I am with Spencer:
After a successful day, we headed to get ready for the awards ceremony. I have to say that the designer did a magnificent job on the ballroom. It was an “Anchored in Success” Nautical theme that made me miss my Navy husband even more, but at the same time made me smile throughout the entire night.
Here we are getting ready to go into the ceremony. I got compliments on my hair (click here for tutorial). It was so cute from behind! Again, co-workers faces blocked out for privacy:
In the awards ceremony:
The awards ceremony was…well…LONG. Nice, but long. After it ended, we chatted a bit, shared some chocolate truffles and then I ‘ghosted it’ as I was pretty tired and wanted to be ready to go in time for the team building activity I chose for the next day: ZIPLINING!
Now I am not a big fan of heights, but I wanted to conquer my fear. Or at least attempt to conquer it. I started out scared, heart pounding and by the end hanging upside down having a grand time! It was also wonderful to interact with people in the business and learn their stories in this setting:
Now, I wonder why they nicknamed me “Harley Heather”? LOL…
Signing my life away…
It was a great time and I think this ziplining property was the perfect spot for a beginner! After, we all headed back to the resort and had lunch. Then I met up with my coworkers and hung out for awhile.
I went back to my room, showered and checked emails and then we met up to take our trolleys to the farewell reception which took place in the Mary Anne Peeples Pavilion at the Coastal Discovery Museum.
The following photos were shared with attendees from the event photographer. He gets credit for these:
Enjoying oyster shooters with a bunch of square people! That hairstyle was actually super cute from the back thanks to Pinterest! Click here for tutorial. Maybe I need to start doing circles…
Beautiful end of the night:
After a lovely dinner, it was time to head back. A lot of people stayed behind to watch and listen to the band, and a bunch of us headed back to the resort. I was ready to pack and head home to the hubs for a day before taking off again.
My sleep was restless. I finally got up the next morning way before my alarm went off, packed up the convertible and headed to the airport. I left, very happy, to have learned more about our customers and for gaining so much more insight into the context of my role and how it fits in with what we do. I grabbed a couple of things for the girls and boarded my flight.
Arriving home was fantastic. We received some very nice giveaways during this event and the hubs put this one up in our surf-themed guest bath. It’s perfect!
For those wondering about this little island of South Carolina, Hilton Head is a small, sleepy town with an interesting history – from the Gullah-Geechee community to the real estate development boom of the 50’s, there is much more to this island than its strict sign ordinances, golf courses and beaches. If it’s relaxation you’re looking for, you’ll find it. And if you seek some fun, you’ll find it too. All you have to do is look.
