Pouring into the Goblet instead of Kicking the Bucket

Pouring into the Goblet instead of Kicking the Bucket

As relax at one of my most beloved lake views, I reflect over the past few months and one thought keeps coming to mind. Trying hard to shake it, I glance up at my surroundings. The expression on everyone’s face here appears as if my recurring thought is the farthest thing from their mind. You see the recurring theme in my life for the past six months has been one of my least favorite phrases, but no matter what event takes place it seems to be falling onto that which most people call a “Bucket List”!

Here at my beloved, The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation, that phrase did not seem to have a place here where my normal anxiety filled mind is so at ease. At all of The Ritz-Carlton locations, legendary customer experience is the gold standard, so anxiety should not exist in such an environment. At this very moment as I relax at Gabby’s by the Lake, determination takes over to replace that term with something new. This term must be something worthy of my luscious week at Reynolds Plantation that included family, friends, spa visits, lingering dinners and a few frozen concoctions from Gaby’s by the Lake.

Then suddenly as one of the staff approached to inquire what whim they could satisfy for me my view became a little hazy. At first I thought it was just too much sun or that last frozen enhanced smoothie, but the haze evolved to what appeared to me as a gold goblet. At first I thought this was just an aberration of my next chardonnay request, but quickly it became so finite to me that I had a new list and it was going to fill up fast!

The Goblet List was my shiny new replacement for that dreadful Bucket List. This list was not something that leads to your demise, but an enhancement on your life. The items that pour and flow from the goblet would be experiences that would be a cherry on top of that sundae of life. Its contents would not need to be checked off. They could recur over and over again and the list would never fully get completed because the list has no conclusion. You see the “Goblet List” has no beginning or end. This optimistic forum would be a positive spin on that dreaded bucket list. So I decided to kick the bucket list and introduce “The Goblet List”!

Well yes eventually I did become fluent enough to order that chardonnay and while I was sipping, the first items started flowing into my goblet. Fortunately about a month back within the space of only a few days, I found myself inside both The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead and The Ritz-Carlton Atlanta. Each of these afternoons left me invigorated and refreshed ready to take on the world or at least the laundry. The very next week a venture downtown for a convention did not include a visit to a Ritz. As I was navigating around the city and proceeding with my business of the day, I was amazed that this was the same city that just the week before enticed a move back downtown. The hectic pace I encountered during the convention week left me running back to the suburbs. After analyzing both weeks, I realized that the non occurrence of a stop into what seemed now like an oasis make all the difference in the world. That is what a visit to The Ritz-Carlton feels like whether it is a must needed oasis within a hustling city or just a very comfortable way to experience a national forest as in the case of The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation. This is when I was so pleased my recently formed goblet rule stated items do not have to be checked off. I was about to pour a visit to every Ritz-Carlton that was anywhere within my vicinity on any occasion absent of fear the list would overflow. Quickly the pouring proceeded!

Added to my list was The Ritz-Carlton resorts of Sarasota, Naples, Miami, Amelia Island, New Orleans and Orlando. Of course the spas are supplementing the list. Excitedly, I thought of the need to review the spa menus of each location to place specific treatments as side notes. Oh, I must be careful here or I will be adding items to my To-Do List. I can tell you that if other Ritz-Carlton Spa treatments are anything like the Lazy Day Swedish Massage that I had this week at Reynolds Plantation this was going to be some list! This massage treatment includes gentle relaxing strokes that melt away tension leaving you in a Zen-like state that I was not aware existed; well at least within me! This was enhanced by aromatic vanilla bean moisturizer. My most treasured scent.

My mind is reminded of a treatment that intrigued me when Joe Murphy, Director of Public Relations for The Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island enlightened me while we chatted at Lumen’s the Lobby Bar at The Ritz-Carlton Atlanta. When at Lumen’s be ready to be astonished by their menu and I don’t just mean the food! Back to the spa treatment, The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Amelia Island offers Heaven in a Hammock. This zero-gravity massage is an exclusive treatment. The hammock elongates the spine to deliver a sense of weightless flotation allowing greater flexibility and range of motion. During this unique relaxation experience the rhythmic movement ranges in tempo from comforting to energizing. Hear the chugging as this enters the goblet?

Quickly I decided that is was a necessity to review the spa menu for The Ritz Carlton Spa, Sarasota. After becoming friends with Suzanne Willis, the Director of Public Relations for The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, I discovered that we had many things in common from family names to sharing the same birthday. Maybe this location would hold the perfect spa treatment for this spa crazed gal. While perusing the menu the Sapphire Sea Wrap jumped out to this seaweed addict. This wrap offers complete rejuvenation including pearl exfoliation, kelp nutrients and scalp serenity. This sounds like it was designed just for me! My thoughts turned to how fast a trip to Sarasota could make it onto my Outlook Calendar!

Well there it is! Never again shall I have to utter the horrendous term “Bucket List”. It is forever out of my mind!