By the time the sixth full-time Dragonfly Expeditions employee (with an occasional seventh or eighth in residence) came to our light-filled office with its full-sized windows facing the large Mexican-tiled patio and the looming Biltmore tower as a backdrop, the writing was on the wall.  It was time to expand into a new office.  As much as I had admired the spacious corner office that we had passed in our seven years at the Biltmore Hotel, I hardly expected that things would conspire to make it available to us when moving became inevitable.  But it did happen and we were ecstatic.  We moved in with paint and carpet samples, broke down desks and shelves; bought more bookcases for our expanding library and began the long shuffle down the hallway.

For the first time in seven years, Uwe was able to escape the desk setting that condemned him to sit across from me with all my interruptions and restlessness.  To escape the office’s raucous noise, Megan even got a separate office with a door and all.  Now, poor Bernardo is in the center of all of the activity of the main office floor while Trish has staked out a great location by the residential-facing window.

The greatest change, however, is that we finally have a much needed conference room. This room is alternately known as the aquarium for its blue walls, nautical paintings and large glass window facing the main office floor, or the Captain’s Quarters. The Captain’s Quarters moniker is related to a long-held dream of mine.  That dream started when Uwe informed me of an auction of the assets of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises in September of 2008.  As a huge fan of that legendary company and its idyllic way of travel, one of my prized purchases was the large, round wooden nautical table from Captain Mike Burke’s office (the founder of Windjammer).  I was told that it used to be the family dinner table in the early years of the company.  Because of space considerations, we were unable to put the table in our previous office.  So, it went into a three year hibernation at our company storage facility.

The table is gigantic and it weighs a ton, so we were worried that it would not fit through the doors and alternatively that we would kill ourselves getting it into the office.  Miracle of all miracles, it transported perfectly and is now “at home” in our office.  Meanwhile, our launching of Windjammer Sailing Adventures is underway with new partners in route to Miami (shout out to Cindy and Sly).  But that’s another story for another time.

We have now officially doubled our space for the second time in our seven years at the Biltmore Hotel.  New associates are coming into the office and I am spying the adjacent vacant space whereby we will break down a wall and keep expanding.  Mark this letter as an open invitation to all of our friends and associates to come by and see the new headquarters.  We always enjoy catching up with you.