Recession?? Inconceivable!

Like most of the US population, I have also been feeling the effects of the economy's downturn but last weekend I had a chance to take a mini vacation from the economic woes....someone I knew had free tickets to the Yacht Fest in San Diego!! Normally it costs about $30 per person to get in, so if it wasn't for the free tickets I would not have gone to this decadent display. Apparently this event allows people to display yachts that are for sale and/or available for charter. Well, who wouldn't want to check those out?! This picture was taken at the beginning of our tour...they had a red carpet tacked down on the boardwalk throughout the entire area along with fake Greek statues, silk plants/flowers, and fountains!! No paparazzi though.....very disappointing.

This was held in San Diego, so of course you have the "normal" natives strolling around in casual wear and flip flops (like me). But then, we are also at the Yacht Fest, so there are more people strolling around dressed up - women in their high heels (because that's what you wear when climbing the steep stairs in yachts and walking around the boardwalk) and men wearing their yacht club polo shits and linen pants. The smell of money was definitely in the air....competing with the sea salt scent. No scent of economic depression here!!

My friend Dawn and I checked out a couple of the smaller yachts first - only 50-60 feet long. These were mainly available to charter for fishing expeditions. We had our eye on the bigger yachts - especially the one that won the Best in Show award. So off to the Piano Bar we went...

This was definitely my type of yacht!! Amanda was our fantastic tour guide...and one of the deckhands on the crew for the Piano Bar. She started our tour on the top deck pointing out the inviting jacuzzi. There is a full service bar just 4 feet away from the jacuzzi - it is WAY too far to go down a flight of stairs to the bar inside - and of course the spectacular view you can see from being on the top of the yacht.

Amanda then took us downstairs to check out the entertaining areas. Of course we had to check out the full service bar here as well....very nice! The yacht was not named the Piano Bar without reason!! Not only is it well equipped to entertain a large crowd with two full service bars, but there is in fact a full size piano as well!! It's an all digital player piano that include s a CD player. Dawn and I had to stop for this great photo opportunity!! The doors to the left of the piano in the photo lead to the upper deck of the yacht. This yacht comes with plenty of toys for anyone who has a more adventurous side. As you can see in this next photo, there are jet skis (4 total), an 18' powerboat (under the tarp), and deck chairs. Also available but not shown in the photo are water skis, wake boards, a 22' powerboat (sometimes 18' just isn't enough), and gear for snorkeling.

Of course the yacht had a lovely dining table inside for formal meals. There was also a dining table on the lower deck that would be used for less formal dining. Dawn and I continued our tour down another deck and were shown the kitchen (galley in nautical terms). The kitchen on this yacht was twice as big as my kitchen at home.....just a little reminder that I was a tad out of my league here. But it was VERY nice to drool over it!! This is Dawn and our tour guide, Amanda, posing to give you an idea of the size of the kitchen. It wraps around behind Amanda where there is more storage, a full size industrial refrigerator and freezer, along with a huge pantry! Apparently a chef is part of the crew - how could there not be one? - and this is his domain! Amanda spoke very highly of his culinary skills.

The living room area....lounging area...family room, whatever you want to call it, was very nice! Not too stuffy looking, but huge!! Check it out...I had to take two pictures to get the full width of this room - it just wouldn't fit in one photo! So on either side here, you can see the two halves of the living room area.....not too shabby!!

This yacht came with six cabins, plus quarters for the five crew members, and I think I counted about six bathrooms as well. I asked what the sale price was...a mere $14.5 million! Pocket change!! And if you wanted to charter the boat, it would only cost you $140,000 per week (plus expenses and 10-15% gratuity for the crew, of course). And I left my checkbook at home! How foolish of me!!

The rest of the yachts looked just as decadent from the outside but hadn't won the award for Best in Show. We were going to tour some of the other large yachts but they want a salesperson to escort you on each one. Charging $30 at the door apparently isn't enough screening for them - they really want to make sure you are interested in at least chartering a yacht before showing you one. Another reminder that we were out of our league was when we were walking along the boardwalk and I said hello to one of the salespeople who was standing on the deck of a nearby yacht - she looked at us as if we were something she stepped in!! WOW! That kind of brought our illusion to a shattered end and we began our trek back to our vehicle. It was an amusing adventure though - the luxuries we saw were unbelievable - we even saw one yacht that had a helipad! So....did someone say recession? Pshaw!! Not here!!