Latest travels ... driving tour of the Southeast!

I am so blessed to get to travel to neat places all around the country for my work. Part of my responsibilities as director of the program is to get out and visit the professionals that refer to us.

This is a really nice gig for me ... it means that I get paid to go sightseeing and have great meals with a bunch of really nice folks! No, you can't have my job! I have worked too long and to hard to get here! (That's what she said!)

So, my last marketing trip was to the Southeast. I flew into Charlotte, NC on Sunday night. Arrived at the airport at about 10:30 pm. Went straight to Hertz Gold to pick up the rental; this was the one time out of a million that there was a problem. They had me booked in a car without NeverLost; there was no way I could get myself around without "Miriam" ... the name we've given to the soothing voice that gets us where we need to go. So I had to wait about an hour for my car. Finally left the airport at about midnight. And headed for Asheville .... two hours away! So I jammed to the satellite radio to stay away and pulled in to the hotel at 2:30 am. (Sometimes I over-book my travel ... kinda like the rest of my life?!) Went to bed and had to be up at 7 am for an 8:30 breakfast meeting. Boy, was I hating the alarm clock that morning! The meeting was terrific; met a nice with a nice lady who has two young sons and spent the whole meal talking about potty training with boys. And had the best bacon I've ever eaten (& I've eaten alot of bacon!), along with the hugest whole wheat pancakes I can remember. And a big glass of whole milk to top it off! (I say go big or go home!)

After breakfast, I got back in the car for the next leg of the journey, back to Charlotte for a 3 pm meeting. This road trip was filled with a book on tape ... Grisham's "The Appeal". It was so good that I drove around the block several times before going to the location of the appointment. Silly! Once I found the office building, I realized that I had about an hour to spare, so I just started driving around to see what I could see. (My dad taught me to be an adventurer! And to never ask for directions!) So I'm in Davidson, NC on a beautiful day with the sunroof open and begin to hear the faint "ping" of bat hitting ball ... so I follow the sounds to find some pre-game warm ups happening. Davidson College was playing Yale (yes, THE Yale!) in an afternoon match & I just happened to stumble upon batting practice. Are you kidding me?! So needless to say, I took a seat in the stands next to the guy that was clocking the pitches and visited and sunned and had a great time. What a way to spend the afternoon! Seriously considered skipping my appointment. But didn't!

The last leg of this day's journey was to drive to Greenville, SC for a dinner meeting with a former student and her family. Now, this was really the highlight of the whole trip. This was a girl that was so angry and so defiant and so determined to be miserable. And to see her with her family a year later, laughing, joking, and listening to her parents was just almost more than I could take. I had to really work to not cry right at the dinner table! Man, I love what I do!

OK, I need to shorten this up ...

The next day I spent in two amazing places. First, I had a leisurely lunch with a lady in the industry who has become a good friend. Over lunch, she started talking about her anxiety about seeing the doctor that afternoon, so I stayed for an extra hour to talk with her and get her mind off the appointment. Funny thing is, she's a therapist that specializes in meditation! I guess it doesn't mean she has it all figured out for herself, huh?!

Anyway, then I stopped in downtown Greenville to see one of the most beautiful downtown areas I've ever seen. There is literally a river running through the city. You can see from the pictures that it was like full-blown spring there.

I stopped for about my 100th glass of sweet tea (YUM!), then hit the road to go visit a program in Clinton, SC. I recently met a lady who runs the program there and was inspired by what she told me about the place. Again, my words won't do justice to the pictures. This program has been in operation for over 100 years and serves all ages of kids. I got to play with Desmond for a minute, an adorable little 5 year old. Then visited one of the teenage girls homes to spend the afternoon. This campus was beyond amazing. Old stone buildings with huge wrap-around porches, of course with rockers & porch swings. They have a school, church and working dairy farm on the property. It was like going back in time. And the best part was the warmth and hospitality of everyone there, staff and kids alike. Everyone called me ma'am! I love the south!

I drove to Columbia, SC that night and went to do a session at the temple there. One of the neatest things about that for me was being in the temple with such a diverse group of people. And this is the only time that I have done temple work when the men outnumbered the women. Interesting!

I had a lazy day on Wednesday morning. I think the driving and unloading and re-loading was catching up with me. So I slept in, ordered room service for breakfast, then checked out at about 11:30 am. Then went to lunch with three ladies who have a practice in town. Again, this was a time when this really doesn't feel like work ... we spent the two hours over yummy Greek food talking about books and kids and everything else. And they put together a list of places I needed to see in Charleston and Savannah, my next stops. Now, here's an example of true Southern hospitality ... I mentioned at the end of lunch that I had seen an old church that I wanted to get a picture of before I left town. So one of the dear ladies took me on a driving tour of the city, stopped by the local college (University of South Carolina) and found the Greek Orthodox church that I had seen from the freeway so I could get a picture. You just can't beat the laid-back attitude of true Southerners! What a great day.

I drove through Charleston (sorry, no pictures) on my way to Savannah. Got into town at about sunset and checked in to the cutest little hotel. I had to stay outside of the downtown area -- little did I know that the second largest St. Patrick's Day celebration in the nation happens in Savannah, GA. (New York has the largest celebration.) Who knew?!

Now comes the good stuff ... which I'll be brief about also ... (I'm a bit shy!)

I met an amazing man the last time I was in Savannah, about 6 weeks earlier. Christian, Nikki and I were out for one last wild night on the town. We went to a karioke bar for dinner and I was shocked when Christian got up to perform. He was great! We had some great people-watching adventures until about midnight when my two partners started getting tired. Of course, for me, the night would not be complete without a trip to the local dance club. So, off I went! And that's where we met -- don't judge! We just hit it off -- we danced very little but talked all night til the club closed (much later than in UT -- don't tell mom I was out until 4 am!), then spent most of the early morning talking on the phone, and committed to stay in touch. And we have ... talking and texting, sending pictures, and all that other mushy-gushy stuff for the past few weeks.

So, the end of my trip was a treat for me ... a chance to see him again and have some great dates! We went to dinner on Wednesday night at a cute restaurant near City Market in Savannah. I ate a HUGE pulled pork sandwich and drank some more sweet tea. We watched NCAA basketball during dinner and argued about who was going to win the whole thing. I'm pleased to announce that I predicted the Tarheels right then and there. And it looks like I might just be right. (I really like being right! -- "I told you so" is one of my favorite things to say!)

The next day we went to lunch at the best home-cooked Southern restaurant I've ever eaten at (sorry to Paula Dean's place, Lady & the Sons, where I ate the last trip!). It's called Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House. I have never eaten so much & so happily. They treat you like you are their guests for Sunday dinner; we were seated with some really nice ladies from Florida (originally New Yorkers) who were in town for the big festivities. I'm sorry to say I didn't take a picture here, either. (However, like my dad would say, I took a picture with my heart!) I think I experienced a little bit of heaven ... the food, the company, the service ... it was ALL GOOD!

We spent the afternoon downtown -- we walked around, down by the river, in Savannah. Ate some ice cream. Looked at some art. Bought a t-shirt and a watercolor print for my wall of fame at home. In the evening, we went to the beach to play in the water (only me) and to watch the sunset (AWHH!). I know, it sounds like a cheesy chick flick ... but it was real! And really romantic! (I'll leave out the juicy stuff and just let you all imagine ...)

Now, here's the real-life part that is just as romantic as the rest to me ... Jamero had to get home to be with one of his daughters for a field trip! He's a cute dad of four girls! And loves to spend time with them. Adorable!

I spent the next two days sightseeing and people-watching during the St. Paddy's festivities.

A funny moment ... I bought a statue for the campus of the famous bird girl from the most interesting shop owners I've ever met ... two gay men, each with a cat on a leash! I swear it's true!

One of the highlights of the trip for me was on Friday afternoon; I spent several hours at the Civil Rights Museum learning about how instrumental Savannah was in the cause. On Saturday, I found an outdoor market with a little bit of everything and spent the day wandering around in there, looking at antiques, old coins, old books and eating a funnel cake!

I also went to the wildlife refuge on Saturday evening; you'll see the pictures of a huge alligator and a really lazy turtle.

I spent several hours driving around in the refuge and finishing up my book on tape.

There were bad storms in the South the weekend I was there; I spent Saturday night in the dark in my hotel room. Kinda scary, truthfully. The power was out for about 12 hours. I finally fell asleep at about 1 am and was woken up by the lights coming on at about 6 am. Exciting! Then off to the airport and back to Utah ...