I call this my first retreat because, well, it is my first retreat out of the three in a row. I consider myself really lucky and wonder why I didn't do this before. Even better, I think that they are in the order of most interesting too, so there are no obvious letdowns to anticipate. This first week is on the Neuse River in North Carolina between the Outer Banks and Myrtle Beach. It dumps into the ocean, but we're a good 40 miles from the ocean right now. I don't know what to call the thing that our condo is on since it's bigger than a creek and smaller than a river, but suffice to say that we're sitting next to some water that dumps into the river about 1/4 mile away. 
The resort focuses on golf and boating it seems, neither of which I've tried yet, but I plan to participate in both over the weekend. They have a nice marina and some sailing opportunities for residents. Right now the extent of my 'activity' is balancing a hectic schedule of jacuzzi time, painting, reading, and sadly, some work on my computer - but then I knew this would be a working holiday. This being the fourth day, I'm starting to feel more relaxed. I'm pretty happy with the progress of my watercolour, which is my one of my very few goals for this whole trip.
A huge bonus for Elle is that the screened-in deck and the open deck are both connected and railed off so Elle can be outside all she wants without supervision.
That alone has put her in seventh heaven since she loves being out of doors at will. That's the biggest drawback to our own condo in Indianapolis in my opinion. Meanwhile, I use the open deck for Tai Chi and sleeping on my bamboo beach mats a whole hell of a lot :)
