Brendy's Blog

A Swim With A Sea Lion

We recently returned from a trip to St. Thomas – my virgin trip to the Virgin Islands and I am hooked!  Numerous highlights included a day trip on The Bad Kitty,

snorkeling in Magen’s Bay and soaking up the sun (as well as a few adult beverages) at The Soggy Dollar Bar. 

 

But by far our favorite adventure was a swim with a 350-pound, South American Sea Lion named “Remo.”

We met Remo at Coral World, truly an amazing and beautiful place. Privately owned, Coral World goes above and beyond your average visit to Sea World – not only can you observe amazing sea creatures, you can actually get into the tank with them.  Ever wanted to swim with sharks or sea turtles?  Then this is the place for you.  

It was a tough choice, but in the end we let Jack decide our aquatic adventure at Coral World – a Sea Lion Swim.

I’m not the most daring of souls so when Remo waddled out to greet us on the deck of his tank I thought I might faint.  After a few minutes of getting to know each other my fears subsided and I began to really enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience.  Not that a personal encounter with a sea lion was ever on my bucket list, but if it’s not on yours you may want to consider it.

 

We played with Remo on the deck for a few minutes and took lots of photos with him.  We were amazed and enthralled by his intelligence and comical sense of humor.  

Just when I was thinking, “OK, this isn’t so scary,” Remo’s trainer told us to get into the water.  Really?!!  Reluctantly I followed my family into the tank…trying not to wonder about where this huge animal relieves himself.

Remo dove in after us. He swam underneath our feet then side-swiped me, rocking me like a buoy.  Once I got my bearings again, Remo’s trainer instructed us on the art of playing peek-a-boo and catch with a sea lion. We all thoroughly enjoyed our exhilarating, in-water encounter with this remarkable creature.

Our Sea Lion Swim was thrilling and magical. Thank you Coral World for an incredible adventure that I hope many others will be able to enjoy for years to come! 

PR Postscript: It’s not enough to have a truly unique product; stellar customer service is essential to long-term success. 

 

A Summer Day on Mackinac Island

Ahhhh....the sweet smell of chocolate fudge mingling with the stench of horse manure! Where else can you have this rare and unforgettable sensory experience other than on Michigan's historic Mackinac Island?

Having spent many summers in Northern Michigan (particularly at my grandparents' cottage in Charlevoix), we often took a day trip to Mackinac.  But it had been several years since I had been back to the island, so a couple weeks ago my husband (John), dad (Gait) and son (Jack) decided to hop a ferry across The Straits.  

As we were speeding across Lake Huron (east side of that great bridge), the memories came flooding back, especially those of the legendary Grand Hotel.

 I have been very fortunate to have worked for some really wonderful clients, and have them to thank for some amazing experiences -- the Grand Hotel is one of those.  I was on the account team for the resort when I worked at Anthony Franco PR in Detroit, back in the early 90's. My fellow account team members and I spent three days touring every inch of the property behind the scenes and interviewing every key staff member, from the executive chef to the chief gardner.

So as my family and I took a tour of the island on horseback, I recounted my stories of Grand Hotel.  And at that very moment, as we were trotting down a shaded lane of impossibly gorgeous summer homes, we were nearly side-swiped by a man in a three-piece suit speeding by on a bicycle.

He looked vaguely familiar to me.  I called out "Is that Dan Musser?"  He stopped and turned around to take a look at this crazed women on a horse yelling at him.   It was indeed Dan Musser III, who took over the reins (no pun intended, really) from his dad as President of Grand Hotel.  I had no idea how to stop my horse to have a chat with Dan, so we quickly exchanged "nice to see yous" and the reunion was over.

How bizarre.  Even our horse guide was stunned about the ironic encounter. 

After our ride, we ventured down Main Street to buy a snow globe for Jack's collection (he now has 63 of them from all over the world) and headed home...happy to have more great memories of Mackinac Island.

- Brendy

PR Postscript:  This was a day of brand value at its finest…we paid $40 just to walk through the Grand again…and it was worth every penny.