These conference work trips did not leave a lot of time to venture out or do any real exploring in a visiting city. We usually would only stay for two nights since the conference would start on Thursday and end on Saturday. Secretly, I was hoping that there would be some way I could slip away from work duties to soak in some of what Orlando had to offer. I wasn’t asking to ditch work altogether for theme parks and beaches, but I still welcomed any chance of capturing some small memory of Orlando that was non-conference related. Miraculously, an adjustment in our itinerary worked heavily in our favor and created a scheduling shift that blew a window of opportunity wide open. Here is what happened.
Since the conference started with the Best Practices Showcase on Thursday afternoon, our business unit manager scheduled a Wednesday meeting for a select few team members to give a safety presentation to the other business unit sites in front of the corporate manager. Therefore, we were told to arrive in Orlando on Tuesday of that week to be ready to present on Wednesday. But upon arrival on Tuesday, we were informed that the corporate manager pushed the presentations back until Thursday morning and, voila… we had ourselves an entire free day on Wednesday. This was a golden ticket. Not only were we in Orlando, home to some of the greatest tourist attractions on Earth, but it was Spring Break during the start of March Madness and Bay Hill was hosting the Arnold Palmer Invitational that same week. When all was said and done, we were gifted with an obligation-free Wednesday to do whatever we wanted. It felt like I wished it into existence.
As if that wasn’t enough of a treat, the management team treated us all to a fancy dinner at The Capital Grille once we arrived Tuesday evening. It was a wonderfully extravagant evening of ordering dishes that I usually could not afford, sampling wine, and sharing desserts with managers we did not usually get to rub elbows with. It was the kind of restaurant that had far too much silverware and far too little lighting. Regardless, I graciously took part while mentally pondering how I would spend my obligation-free Wednesday. Spend the day at a theme park? Or make it to the beach? Shopping and sightseeing with crowds of other tourists? There were a ton of options. If I recall, one of my coworkers spent the next day driving all the way to Tampa. Another spent the next day sleeping off a hangover from boozing and schmoozing after dinner that night. As for me, the golf gods were too tempting to ignore, so I turned in shortly after dinner.
Protected: My Luckiest Day, Part 3: Disney’s Sunrise 9
Fatherhood and Marriage 