Wild Dunes & Charleston

For fear that Hammock Beach Resort might be getting a little stale, our organization decided to try a new destination this year for the annual meeting that I plan every spring. I was actually ready for a change even though Hammock had started to feel like home. A few of the key people we worked with there had taken jobs elsewhere and I knew it would be hard for me to return and start from scratch with new contacts in the conference services department. So...the best solution was to find another place for our meeting, which always means an extra trip on my work calendar to do a site visit. This is definitely a PERK... especially when the new resort of choice is Wild Dunes on the Isle of Palms right outside of Charleston. I have spent very little time in Charleston and I was super excited to have a reason to go back. Perk #2 - the resort was on the beach! Before my time, these meetings mostly focused on golf resorts. The pools were small and there was rarely a beach nearby. If you didn't play golf, there wasn't much in the way of leisure activities. Our organization has grown tons and there are many non-golf players. The golf/beach resorts seem to go over well with our reps. And, of course, there is no argument from me. 

Being able to drive to the resort rather than fly made my life SO much easier. It is also so much cheaper to not have to overnight all of the materials many states away! Because everything was hauled down with us, there was hardly a spare spot in the truck for anything else.

While Hammock was more grand and Wild Dunes is more understated with more of a neighborhood feel, I appreciated the differences. Because we maxed out our room block in both of the hotels, I moved my reservation to one of the houses on the property to make room for others. Wow...what a treat. It was so nice to have a roomy house and a full kitchen. Not to mention the fact that it was even closer to the beach than the main hotels!

A few pics around the resort:

The main hotel (above) sits back from the ocean. You have to walk a "boardwalk" (below) through row houses to actually get down to the oceanfront.

I had one free evening before the event got rolling so I tried The Boathouse not too far from the resort. Wow...the fresh seafood, collards, and grits did not disappoint!

I typically do not take any pictures at these events because I am too busy but I was able to snap a few quick ones this year. Our first opening night dinner around the pool.

More intimate porch dinner for one of our smaller groups

After 4 1/2 days of non-stop organizing and running around (plus a month or two of prep), I was a free woman. My Mom came down the night before and was ready to relax with me as soon as my meeting was over around lunch time on Friday. I was so excited about having a long weekend with Mom to relax, decompress from the crazy past few weeks, and see some of Charleston.

Our first night we stayed close by for dinner and ate at Morgan Creek Grill. Another delicious meal of great seafood and southern favorites.

The restaurant had live music and was a pretty popular spot on a Friday evening so we waited for our table on the dock behind the restaurant. As always, I like being as close to the water as possible.

Saturday was a pool and beach kind of day. So thankful that my Mom enjoys these kind of days as much as I do!

I posted this for amusement purposes, although at the time we were not so amused. Key problems were the theme of the week for me and other advisors. It's a shame to go to a nice resort with great amenities but they cannot get the basics down...like giving guests keys that work to their rooms. It's always a pain to have to walk down to the front desk when your key will not open the door, but it's even more so when the front desk is down the street and around the block! So...before the picture below was taken, I had already been re-issued keys 3 times during the week. When Mom & I returned to our house after our day in the sun, our normal lock (that fits a hotel key card) had been replaced (WHILE WE WERE GONE) with a code lock. Code locks are easy...IF YOU HAVE THE COMBO. It almost seemed like someone had to be playing a trick on us. Back to the main hotel we went to inquire about why we kept getting locked out! (And no, I'm not a travel critic.)

Mom and I decided that Sunday would be our day to explore beyond the resort (i.e. not just lay by the pool all day...as tempting as that was!). It turned out to be the perfect day for it because it was a bit overcast and not the greatest beach-weather-day anyhow. We first stopped for brunch in Mt. Pleasant on our way to Charleston. The Mustard Seed came highly recommended by one of our advisors who had lived in Charleston for awhile. It was a delicious meal at a little local place on the side of the road.

Anything with eggs, avocado, and veggies has got to be good!

We spent most of the afternoon walking around Charleston (pretty much from one end to the other) and taking in the sights.

The houses are so beautiful

Battery Park

We met up with one of my co-workers and his wife at the Christophe Artisan Chocolatier for an afternoon snack and visit. Best. Macaroons. Ever. I should have bought a lot more to bring home with me. What a treat! Afterwards we headed back to enjoy a little more of the resort on our last evening there.

A few more pictures around the resort...

Hard to say goodbye to this beach

A few last photos of the resort before we left...

I've decided that the best way to finish any trip (at least from the south) is taking back roads off the interstate to Surry and then riding the ferry across the river home. It sure beats the interstate the whole way AND I'll take any type of boat ride any day of the week.

It was a great long weekend with Mom and a good ending to the busiest week of the year for me. The Isle of Palms would definitely be on my re-visit list!