I love the term FTW!! I can't help it..I'm a video game junkie and that's just a popular comment... For The Win, for those of you not involved in all the new abbreviations out there...

That being said I was invited to a year end sales meeting this weekend in Santa Barbara. It was being held at the Biltmore which is a Four Seasons Resort...I have seen these places on TV and always thought how cool it would be, but never figured I would have the money to enjoy one. Well that all changed with this little trip.

The rooms are rather pricy...I was told that off season the upstairs rooms run around $450 a night...I spent less than that on a weekend in Monterey with dinner...
But it's a freebie, so hell yes I took it.

It was a bit surreal for a country boy like me. I'm well enough versed in how to act. I am told I clean up fairly well. I'm pretty sure that compared to some of the other rednecks that came with us I didnt' look to hillbillyish (that just became a word). The concierge treated me like I was royalty. They apologized about 100 times, because a vehicle had blocked their front entrance and we had to drive around to the back parking lot and walk. The poor guy that hauled all the luggage was the one that got the short end of that stick. He smiled the whole way and told us all about the things we could see in the town. Where we should try and get to. We also learned that he is in his 3rd year of college and working towards his pilot license. Nice guy. The room was amazing. The closet alone is as big as our other bedrooms in our home. It had as much hanger space as two of our closets as well. The shower had a seat and it took me about an hour to figure out all the places the water would come out in that damn thing. The tub was just as phenomenal. I had never seen an old fashioned free standing tub that had hidden jets in it...Until this weekend. Amazing as it was I never even got the chance to try it out. Three swimming pools and 3 hot tubs, a full service spa and gym. Guided tours, a putting green and crockett.

The food is where i encountered some discomfort. I am a meat eater. I'm a meat and potatoes kinda guy. They were making funky salads with names that I'm quite sure were made up. I love seafood, so that was a plus. Sea Bass, and salmon, crab cakes, and lobster (drooling a little). All I had to do for all of this was sit through an 8 hour sales meeting. I slugged down about 8 or 9 cups of coffee and smiled through my 8 hour punishment.

The last night there we had an awards banquet and I found out this was the real reason for me being invited. It turns out that our facility was 1 of only 3 that went then entire year without an accident. I guess I should mention that we have about 900 facilities nationwide. So we accepted our award and I patted myself on the back and managed a few drinks in celebration as well. (everything was free!!!)

I loved the weather and the scenery of that little town. I could do without the snobby people living there, but other than that this was 4 days to remember. I can hardly wait for next year. My boss told me that we might get to try that one in Hawaii.... Keeping my fingers crossed...