Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Lake Lure Trip - Day 3 - Fairfield Rumbling Bald Resort

Disclaimer: My mother is a Fairfield resort owner and the review is based on that ownership. 


Weather: High 52 / Overcast

(Cara) - Today was spent hanging around the resort. Kelly and I were the first ones up, and we decided to attend the Rumbling Bald Welcome Breakfast where the staff was to fill us in on all activities in and around the area. 

It was another chilly and overcast morning. We drove to the Lakeview Restaurant on the resort property. I had left my camera back at the unit thinking I wouldn't need it. What a mistake. On the drive down the mountain, two deer walked right in front of us from the woods our right to feast on something in a yard. Three more deer stayed in the woods just staring us to see what we would do. We were so close and had nothing to document our sighting. 

The Lakeview Restaurant sits lakeside with a breathtaking view of the mountainside. The restaurant was, for the most part, bare. Apparently, it doesn't open until April 8th. We were directed into a room overlooking the lake and the only other person in the room was the Activity Director, whose name I have forgotten. 

Along the bar was the breakfast set up which included coffee, various sodas, a plate of fruit (out of season cantaloupe and honeydew and pineapple), and a plate of semi-frozen danishes. No juice. No bagels. No hot items. Certainly not the type of "Welcome Breakfast" I'm used to as a Fairfield/Wyndham owner's daughter-who will one day inherit. (Also another faux pau in enticing Kelly to purchase points) More people arrived and the meeting began.

It lasted about 30 minutes with the Director apologizing over and over throughout his spiel, "I apologize for cutting this short, but I've got to unload these boats from China." 

He had earlier explained about some boat festival set for May and how these boats had arrived today from China and how the needed to be unloaded, but after he kept talking about it, "I apologize for cutting this short, but I've got to unload these boats from China," it began to sound more and more like a line. 


In the 30 minutes of babbling Kelly and I learned almost next to nothing as JoAnne, one of the Wellness/Recreation Center staff had explained all of this stuff to us the day before. At one point my mind drifted away, and I almost went to sleep. Then the man from one of the horseriding stables appeared and awoke everyone with this joke:


A woman found a bottle on the beach and when she rubbed it, a genie appeared. He told her he would grant her three wishes, but that whatever she wished for her husband would receive the wish 10X greater than her. The woman okayed that and she asked for a million dollars for her first wish. The genie granted that to her and told her that her husband would be rewarded 10 million. For her second wish, she asked to be beautiful. The genie granted that and said that her husband would now be so drop dead gorgeous that all women would fawn over him. Then he asked her what her third wish would be. "A mild heart attack," she said.
He was quite friendly and easy going, as well as vivacious and he woke me right up with his talk on activities at the stables. Kelly asked him a question about having reservations and then he moved on. 

Next came the Food and Beverage Director of the Lakeview Restaurant, but since he really could tell us nothing about his restaurant seeing as it was closed until April 8th it was the silliest talk I've ever heard. "This is a nice restaurant with a nice variety of items on the menu which we are in the process of putting together, but we don't open until April 8th. As you can see we are still getting things in order for our April 8th opening. I hope you are enjoying your breakfast. Come back and see us after the 8th." 


Really? Because if this is your idea of breakfast, buddy, you need another job!

Then the director apologized once again for cutting the meeting short, and he passed around tickets for a raffle. He had a variety of free coupons and as I was winner #1 (well, really is that a surprise?) I got my choice of prizes. I chose the River Cruise for two over a bucket of golf balls, a free movie rental and a round of golf. 

Kelly won the third time, but she couldn't be counted because she was with me. 


NOTE FOR FUTURE: Come to "Welcome Breakfast" three minutes apart from one another and sit at separate tables. 


Just another asinine rule that I've never heard of before. In Pompano Beach at the Fairfield, we left there with another suitcase just to hold all our raffle winnings and contest prizes. Kelly and I gathered up some brochures and headed back to the unit.



(Kelly) - Later in the day, Cara and the kids ventured down en mass to the Wellness/Recreation Center. The girls went swimming in the indoor pool while Cara watched and read. The indoor pool area was quite steamy and Cara had some trouble staying awake. Krista and I hung back at the unit. I took a nap and Krista did something. Then she and I walked from the unit down to the recreation area. 


We walked past a golf course with brown grass. The views of the mountains are spectacular. The recreation area has a playground, an outdoor pool called the Trout Stream Pool, which is evidently not open yet, a miniature golf course, picnic tables with grills, a beach with lounge chairs, a marina, tennis courts and a basketball court. The miniature golf course was fairly busy, but the other areas were not. I assume it was due to the chilly weather.


After the girls finished in the pool, I played mini golf with the older girls, while Krista, Cara, and Natalie hung out by the beach and the playground. Several girls got holes-in-one, but I came out the winner.

I can't think of anything else exciting that happened on this day; however, I am leaving space at the bottom in case I am wrong.


(Cara) - No that was about it. The beach area is a swimming area in the lake. The beach faces the lake and there is a large section roped off for swimming. The view is amazing. On the other side of the swimming area is the resort marina with paddle boats and the launching area for the Lakeview Cruise.

No comments:

Post a Comment