It's Officially Official!

I am a graduate! Commencement was last night. It was a rough commute thanks to the first major storm of the season, but we made it there and back safely. There were times that I questioned why did I go down there, but it was worth it when I heard how excited Elijah was when I walked across the stage. I was proud that my little man appreciated the significance of going to school and earning a degree. It took forever to get home, but we made it!

The Joys of Traveling

I had to go to Minneapolis for a business trip. Funny thing about that. There is a certain airline carrier that is the hub in Detroit and the hub in Minneapolis. So you would think that the airfare would be pretty reasonable right? WRONG. So wrong that I had to not only fly with another carrier, but I also had to connect in O'Hare.

So I get to the airport on Sunday to find out that my connecting flight in Chicago has been canceled. Nice. The bumped me to a flight two hours later. You would think that wouldn't be too bad, but since I was there such a short time, my schedule was planned to a tee, even on a Sunday. That meant now we were off schedule.

Needless to say we had to scrap some tours of the competitor hotels and go right to dinner. It was nice and I was more than ready to go back to the hotel for some sleep. I was scheduled for a tour at 7 a.m. the next morning.

By the time I had to leave Minneapolis, I had logged 30+ hours over 2 1/2 days. The town is fabulous and really had a good time.

Coming home was another joyful venture. It was discovered at check in that we were scheduled with a different carrier than the one we flew in on. Then they didn't mention to us that they bumped up our connecting flight by one hour. Add to that the fact that we sat on the runway for 30 minutes waiting for approval for take off thanks to wind in Chicago (I thought that was the windy city). So, we didn't realize that our connecting plane was about to leave until we were in Chicago and saw on the screen "final boarding." WTF. Do you know how big O'Hare is? Did I mention that we seriously walked about 10 miles in downtown Minneapolis earlier that day, touring the competition? Needless to say at one point while trying to hustle it to the gate, I wanted to say just put me on the next flight. But we made it. So close that they shut the cabin door as soon as we walked on. That was close.

Cleveland Rocks

I'm writing this from my hotel room in Cleveland. It is the third hotel I've been to today and I've only been here for five and half hours! Tomorrow I have a meeting and lunch appointment and I'm out of here! Nothing like a quick trip. I won't even be here 24 hours!

Grand Rapids -- WOW!

It's been about 10 years since I've been to Grand Rapids. The last time was with Gary for a mountain bike race. I remember that we spent most of the time in a suburb and only went downtown to go to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. I highly recommend going to the museum by the way -- regardless of your political affiliation, it is a great experience for all.

On Friday, myself and seven others from work embarked on a journey to the great town of Grand Rapids. The occasion was the near opening of the first J.W. Marriott in the Midwest. The hotel officially opens in about three weeks, but we got a preview! Let me tell you that in my 13+ years in the hotel business in addition to all my other years of travel, I never seen a more amazing hotel. This is a one of a kind work of art. If you ever go to Grand Rapids, you have to go to this hotel and check it out. There isn't one room with an amazing view. The entire building is glass so you see everything. Wow - that's all I can say.

BTW, the nightlife has picked up a bit as well, so if that is your kind of fun, this is your kind of town!

Insomnia

Can't sleep. I don't know if it's because of excitement to have five days off starting tomorrow, anxiety over finishing the class I'm in (Monday is my last day of class), delight over having a week off of school (starting Tuesday), or the stress of getting everything in order to be off work for a few days. Whatever it is, it stinks.

Tuesday I went to Chicago for business. It was a day trip. I could only get a 9:30 p.m. flight home, so that was the only bummer. Or so I thought. . . turns out that a couple of the airlines, including the one I was on, was experiencing delays. Needless to say I left later than anticipated and got home at 1:30 a.m. On top of it, I flew into O'Hare -- aka the massive beast of an airport where you have to walk a mile to get anywhere. Poor planning on the shoe part caused me to have a miserable day.

Not much else going on. Just trying to finish this class. It's the project that is getting me down lately. I'll be glad when it's over.

Columbus, An Intersting Town

I went to Columbus, OH on Wednesday for a business trip. We got back yesterday. The hotel we stayed at was fabulous, but I must say that I encountered some interesting people along the way. I wouldn't know where to begin in describing it, other than imagine being a bar/restaurant when all of a sudden you are overwhelmed with over 21 women (a few men, but they were only about 1% of the total), coming in excited about the Christina Aguilera concert they went to. It was something and the selection of attire made me flash back to the 80's. I really think some were caught in a time warp. I would have thought of it as a one time thing, but the next night wasn't much different in regards to the choice of attire. All I can say is never a dull moment!

Cincinnati

Yesterday I drove down to Cincinnati for a business/pleasure trip. It was to visit the Kingsgate Conference Center, and see the area. Since it was a Friday, I brought Elijah, along with Grandma & Grandpa H.

We started with a great lunch buffet. From there, we (others from my office and myself), split off from out guests and did a tour of the University of Cincinnati Rec Center and Student Union -- which BTW has a movie theatre and a bar in it -- I think I got ripped off in my undergraduate education! While we were on the tour, the fire alarm went off, so we got to see Cincinnati's finest come in and save the day (well, they would have it it wasn't a false alarm)! After that excitement, we headed off to a great place called Newport on the Levee. Great place to shop, eat and have a great time. It's on the Kentucky side, but has a great view of downtown Cincinnati.

On Saturday we wrapped up with business and were off to enjoy the rest of the weekend on our own. Thanks to the great team at Kingsgate, (and it looks like our friends at the SpringHill Suites as well), we received free tickets to the Beach Waterpark. What a great day! Elijah had a blast -- actually we all did!

We are about to go down and have dinner . . . enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Mini Trip

I took a mini trip to Cedar Point yesterday. We left on Sunday and stayed at the Castaway Bay Resort and Waterpark. The waterpark was really cool and Elijah loved it! On the downside, the hotel did not have internet (WHAT?). How can that be in today's world? I had some projects for school to turn in, so I found myself at the local Starbucks. The employees there were so nice and accommodating . . . Thank you!

All I have to say is Cedar Point is not Disney or Universal. From the service, to the maps, to the overall experience. Elijah had fun, but the park just wasn't what I remembered it as growing up.
It's the last week of Marketing! Yippee! Wish me luck!