Monday 19th April

Monday was a very busy day. We were out of the Holiday Inn at 8am and headed straight for the Cartersville Fire Department. We were met by Chief Carter who took us for a fascinating tour around the building. Steve got a chance to talk shop with his American counterparts and the girls (including Gareth) enjoyed a trip up the 100ft extending rescue ladder which gave us a magnificent view of the town of Cartersville.

A view of Cartersville from the rescue ladder

Chuck (our tour guide and Rotarian host for the day) then took us the scenic route to the Booth Museum – dedicated to celebrating the Wild West and Native American art and culture. We were thoroughly spoiled as they opened up especially for us and our tour guide was Jim Dunham, an expert on all things western. The art was inspiring and the museum itself beautifully laid out with a fantastic interactive area for children (and big kids too!). We even got to hold Jim’s gun and see his gun slinging skills.

Next, we were whisked off to give our presentation to Cartersville rotary club and enjoyed a good lunch. It was lovely to meet local Rotarians and we even posed for a photo with Avery who was celebrating his 94th birthday!

After lunch we were again on the road. Chuck drove us past the Etowah Indian mounds on the way to meet Diana Tate (leader of the city council) who gave us a guided tour of the City Hall and explained how Cartersville is run. It was refreshing to see how much the public is involved and valued in the decision making process. This was particularly interesting for Gareth who works for a local government authority back at home.

Straight from Diana’s warm hospitality we were taken to Adam Wade at the Tellus Science Museum. What a place! The museum is enormous and yet again the minerals, fossils, automobiles and other exhibits were laid out beautifully to inspire, inform and bring home the wonder of our planet. We enjoyed a show in the planetarium and all posed as US astronauts. We also did some ‘panning’ for minerals and discovered fossils in another great interactive child and adult friendly area. You can tell the Americans (and especially Cartersville residents) really value culture and learning and are rightly proud of these institutions. We may even end up in the local paper as we had to pose for the photographer – America, we have arrived!

Apollo 11

16th-24th July 1969

Don't know when I'll be back!

Finally, Chuck took us back to the Holiday Inn and gave us a leisurely 20 mins to change and make our way over to the BBQ at the outdoor pavilion back at the Tellus Museum. All the rushing was worth it though. For those of you back at home we have uncovered one culinary difference between our two cultures – BBQ over here means meat (pork/chicken) shredded and in sauce. BBQ as far as we know it is called a ‘grill’ over here. Very tasty whatever you call it!

Finally we went back to the hotel, Steve and Gareth did the blog and we sharpened up our speeches. It was a long day but great fun and very informative. We were made to feel very welcome and slept soundly – thanks to Chuck and everyone who treated us so well.

By Allison

Back on the road

Sunday 18th April

We hit the road again today and headed back up North towards Atlanta. The roads are long and straight so to pass the time we alternated between playing trivia and eating Gummy Bears. We pitted our witts aginst the American team but matter how hard we tried to let our gracious hosts win we failed miserably.

The midway  point in our journey saw both teams stopping at Longhorne Steak House for a flame grilled lunch. What we have all come to realise, much to the detrement of our ever expanding waistlines is that the food portions here are extreamly more generous than what we get back home. This is a big country with a big apetite.

This stop saw us bid farewell to our new friends from the  US GSE Team for the time being. This was a sad moment as we had shared so many good times together and bonded so well since our arrival.

The US GSE Team at Longhone Steak House

When we reached Atlanta we briefly stopped to swap drivers. We said goodby to Gary Moore who handed over to Candler Ginn who showed us round the palatial HQ of Georgia Power. We then headed onwards for the final leg of our journey which brought us to Catersville where we spent the night in a Holiday Inn.

Jekyll Island Day 3 - The presentation

Saturday 17th April


Today was the big day as it would be our turn to take to the stage and address the conference with our presentation that we have all worked so hard on over the last six months. But before that there was the small matter of the 5k charity race for which we have received so much sponsorship money from various rotary clubs back in the UK. We had to get up even earlier this morning as the race was due to start at 07:00.

Getting ready for the 5k race at sunrise

Those of you who did donate you can be assured that you got your monies worth as a fantastic effort saw all the team finishing well up the front end of the field with Steve coming in as overall race winner. Roy was pleased to be awarded first place in the veterans race although his pride took a bit of a hit when he found out the only other veteran walked the whole distance finishing a full 30 minutes behind him. All the money raised will be going towards Rotary’s work to eradicate Polio throughout the world.

It was then straight back to the hotel for a shower and change into our uniforms before heading off for our moment in the spotlight. Backstage in the ‘green room’ everyone was feeling nervous with a tinge of excitement, wondering how we would be received by our Georgian hosts. As we were introduced to the stage the crowed got to their feet and put their hands together and gave us the kind of welcome usually reserved for royalty. One by one we stepped up to the microphone and addressed the crowd with our individually prepared speeches. All the hard work we had put in over the previous six months paid off as the claps and the laughs came in all the right places and every member of the team each received a standing ovation. We were then given front row seats in order for us to watch our opposite numbers, the outgoing US GSE Team deliver their presentation which they duly did in a slick, polished and professional manner. It was such a relief for both teams to have finished and performed so well, everyone had a beaming smile from ear to ear as individual praise was given out to us from our fantastic hosts as we left the building.

The US GSE Team on stage just after their presentation.

(OUR TEAM PHOTO TO FOLLOW ONECE I GET IT!)

The afternoon saw both GSE Teams dolphin spotting just off the coast of Jekyll Island, which was a great way to relax after such a busy morning.

Dolphin watching off Jekyll Island

Everyone looked stunning as they dressed in their finest for the black tie evening.

District 6910 Dinner Evening

During the course of the weekend we have been hearing about so much of the good work that is carried out by individuals and clubs in the rotary district 6910 and this was highlighted this evening when one young 19yr old woman from Lebanon gave an inspiring speech describing her experience as a GRSP student in Georgia, which brought it home to all of our team how influential and life changing such cultural exchanges can be, and the important role they play in creating bonds between the four corners of the world.

The evening ended in a fabulous firework display

Jekyll Island Day Two

Friday 16th April


We were all up bright and breezy this morning for our first ever Rotary Club Breakfast and it seemed a little strange sitting down at 07:30 watching the Master of Ceremonies giving out awards to deserving Rotarians for all the good work they have been doing in the district. It was the type of event that we would usually associate happening in the evening.

After our breakfast it was off to the main conference hall where the trooping of the colours officially opened the proceedings.

US Soilders who trooped the colours

That was then followed by presentations from various clubs from District 6910 about the charitable work they have been doing around the world, helping those who are much more unfortunate than us. It was a humbling experience so say the least and the passion showed by some of the Rotarians was inspiring.

The Confrence Centre

The afternoon saw the team take a tour around the Historical District of Jekyll Island. Some of the fabulous properties we got to see belonged to America’s wealthiest families including the likes of the Rockefellers.

The Historic District of Jekyll Island

The evening saw the team attend a beach party which was almost a contradiction in terms as it was indoors. However if you put your ear to the fire escape door you could hear the waves crashing against the shoreline just outside. That said the dress code was beach casual so the spirit was there even if the sand was not.

Roy handing over a gift to District Governor Shane Burr

The Beach Party

Gareth, Jeremy, Steve, Roy

Adrea, Allison, Ali

After all the awards were handed out, The Swinging Medallions took to the stage to sing and everyone danced the night away to varying degrees of ability and a great night was had by all.

The Swinging Medallions

Jekyll Island

Thursday 15th April


We all rose quite early this morning, courtesy of jetlag, Allison and Andrea went for an early morning workout in the gym and Roy decided to go outside for a jog, however he soon discovered that this part of Atlanta has lots of roads and not many pavements so a few laps of the hotel car park was the order of the morning.

Listening to CNN News during breakfast we discovered that we had left the UK just in time as all flights had been grounded due to a Volcano eruption in Iceland which had covered the whole of the UK and most of mainland Europe in a large cloud of volcanic ash.

We met our opposite numbers, the American GSE time for the first time this morning in the hotel reception area before setting off on our 315 mile journey to Jekyll Island, the location of this years District 6910 annual conference. We had two large Ford people carriers to transport us there and we divided ourselves up according to gender rather than teams to enable us to get to know our fellow members.

Lunch break at Buckners family restaurant

Our first evening at Jekyll Island was special to say the least. We started off at the ‘Rah Bar’ eating shrimps, oysters and crawfish whilst watching the sun go down over the harbour.

We then moved on to the picturesque Jekyll Island Club Courtyard where Chris Stallworth introduced us all to his impressive single malt whiskey collection. A man with a more in depth knowledge of scotch I am yet to meet.

Pick of the bunch - a MaCallan fine oak cask 21 year old single malt whiskey

Both GSE Teams at the Jekyll Island Club

 The celebration of this fine beverage continued well into the evening before we all headed back to our beach front accommodation in fine spirits in anticipation of the conference opening early next morning.

Departure Day

Wednesday 14th April

The Team at Manchester Airport

We all met at Manchester Airport at 07:00 ready for the long journey ahead and it wasn't long before the fun started. KLM Airlines operate a self check in system where you have to go to a touch screen, scan your passport, enter every minute detail of your life, your journey and the history of the universe before you receive your boarding pass. You then take the pass to baggage check in before proceeding to security. A simple and easy process. That is unless the 'Computer say's NO !' which it did in Steve's case. To cut a long story short and after around 45 minutes of confusion and a few phone calls to Amsterdam, everyone had to check out and re check in again before we were allowed to board. The District Governor Chris Welton and Alec Johnstone turned up to bid us farewell but in all the confusion we hardly got a chance to speak and sadly they left just five minutes before we got the all clear.

The outbound flight was not direct and we had to change at Amsterdam which was a painless process and it wasn’t long before we were cruising at 38000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. It must be said that the service, food and entertainment we received from KLM was fantastic and we duly arrived at Atlanta at 17:00 local time (22:00 UK). We headed for US customs and had our fingerprints taken and eyeballs scanned for ‘our safety’ before picking up our baggage. We were all then ready to step out into the sunshine but how wrong we were! Atlanta Airport is HUGE! and little did we know that were still two and a half miles from the exit. We had to re-check in our baggage, go through security again, get on a train (which looked uncannily like the London Tube) before finally being reunited with our baggage once again. The whole process lasted around an hour or so.

Garland ‘Gary’ Moore and Melisa met us at arrivals and escorted us out of the Airport into the beautiful Southern sunshine with a temperature of around 26 degrees Celsius. They drove us weary travellers into downtown Atlanta for something to eat and within the hour we were having our first taste of American fast food, courtesy of ‘The Varsity’. Think McDonanlds only bigger with Hot Dogs and chilli cheese fries and you kind of get the picture. Step too close to the counter and you’ll hear ‘What’ll Ya Have, What’ll Ya Have’ billowed out in a double loud echo from the enthusiastic staff.

Roy was feeling hungry after the long flight!!!

Still smiling but wanting their beds

A final tour of the city took us past Turner Fields, The Atlanta Dome, Centennial Park, CNN Headquarters before arrival at La Quinta Inn, almost 20 hours after meeting at Manchester Airport.

La Quinta Inn

We headed straight for our rooms to rest our weary heads in anticipation of our 5 hour journey to Jekyll Island the next day.

Final Team Meeting Before Departing

WEDNESDAY 7 TH APRIL


We all met in the 'Merlin' close to Alderly Edge at 7pm for our final meeting before departure to Georgia. Everyone was in good spirits after our performance in front of the District Council the previous week and we all found it hard to contain our excitement in anticipation of what lies ahead of us in the coming month.
The past 6 months have flown by and to think that in just one week from now we will be landing at Atlanta Airport.

We ordered some food in the fantastic restaurant and talked about the finer details of what we will be doing at the District Conference in Jekyll Island on our first weekend.

We've all entered ourselves in the 5 km charity run and Roy informed us that the American GSE team who we will be meeting there had originally only entered two of its members. However once they heard that we had entered everyone, it appears that they have decided to follow suite, which is great news !
Roy also informed us that many Rotarians from our District have already provided us with sponsorship for the run and the GSE Team would like to express our thanks to you all.

The team said it's goodbye's knowing that the next time we meet will be 7am on 14th April at Manchester Airport ready to start our Adventure.