Melinda Bates, Ultimate White House Insider on board Solstice

I’m just back from three exciting weeks cruising and speaking aboard Celebrity’s fabulous Solstice.  Our itinerary took us to the Eastern Caribbean, Western Caribbean and back to the East.  I spoke multiple times each week, from my five topics, often to standing room only crowds:

• Back Stage at the White House (my own story),
• They Did What? (funny, intimate stories of the families who lived and loved there and left their mark on White House history),
• Entertaining at the White House from George Washington to Barak Obama
• A Walk Through the White House (MY version of a White House tour, with all the behind the scenes stories I told to Michael Douglas, Robin Williaims, the Grateful Dead and the Queen of Sweden.)
• How to Talk to an Emperor – Simple Strategies for Putting Yourself and Others at Ease in Any Social Situation

We had so much FUN!  Great people in the audiences, some of whom came to EVERY talk that week.  Wonderful reviews:

• “Best speaker I ever heard!”
• “I never come to these talks on board, but I happened in the first day you were on and I’ve come to every other presentation – they’re all EXCELLENT!”
• “I’m buying your book for myself and also as gifts – I know a LOT of people who’ll love to read this story!”
• “LOVED your virtual tour so we’re buying your CD to take home with us!”
• “I never imagined getting to learn about the White House this way.  You are far and away the most interesting speaker we’ve ever heard!”

Celebrity has three of the Solstice class ships online, Solstice, Equinox and Eclipse.  I’ve been on the first two, hope to experience the Eclipse and the new ship coming online next spring.  We love life on board!  These ships are elegant, welcoming, and large enough to have plenty of space to party or just quietly relax without being so huge you feel lost.   My favorite place is a private cocoon in the Solarium, facing the sea as the sun goes down – HEAVEN!

The staff and crew could not be nicer or more attentive, and the food is FABULOUS.  People we met who have cruised often confirmed it’s the best food on any line.  And we love the Caribbean!  People hear that we live on the ocean in Mexico and think that means we swim all the time.  No, no no we don’t.  The Pacific off of California and Baja is COLD.  I’d need a wetsuit to swim here.  So we may wade, but we don’t swim.  But the Caribbean is warm, crystal clear and gentle – at least while we were there.  Those soft turquoise waters are so soothing, you can actually feel the stress melt away.

And then there’s the exploring of Mayan ruins, and the SHOPPING on St. Thomas.  No, I do not need a hot pink sapphire ring right now, but who knows about the future?  How about an elegant watch?  Everyone needs a good watch, right?  And it’s just so much fun to window shop.  There’s not much shopping in Baja …

So I hope you’ll check out Celebrity Cruises, and, of course, book ME, the Ultimate White House Insider for your next event.  Hope to see you!

Melinda Bates in the Rose Garden with one of the Thanksgiving turkeys the President pardons every year.

That’s me in the picture there, and you may wonder why I’m petting a turkey.  Good question!  (‘Cause, you know, who does that?  Not to mention, isn’t that the biggest turkey you’ve ever seen?)  Well, that’s not just ANY turkey.  That’s the official, White House turkey!  You’ve probably seen a video clip of a President smiling, laying his hand on a humongous white bird and officially “pardoning” it, as the beginning of Thanksgiving.  This happens every year in the White House Rose Garden, and there I am, just before President Bill Clinton steps out of the Oval Office (far left corner) to honor this tradition.

Why am I there?  That’s another good question.  I’m there because my office, for all eight years of the Clinton administration, was just across the House in the East Wing.  Every morning I’d see the President’s schedule for official events.  So, when the President was doing something fun and interesting, I’d walk on over to watch.  Just one of the incredible perks of being a Special Assistant to the President and Director, White House Visitors Office – and of being a lifelong friend of Bill.

For this particular event, the turkey farmer selected brings a van with not one, but two of these huge birds.  Why two?  Because 1) the birds are so darn top-heavy you never know if or when they might just topple over and lie there with their little feet in the air (NOT a great visual for TV) and 2) you also never know when they might keel over from the sheer excitement and stress of the moment, and then you’d have a DEAD turkey for the shot, and that would be horrible!  So there’s always a back-up turkey.  Just in case.  And POTUS pardons it, and it goes off to live in a petting zoo somewhere.  Probably just as well.  I always thought there could be no natural way to grow a turkey that size.

And that’s it for the official celebration of Thanksgiving at the White House.  The actual day and family feast is private, just the First Family and friends, gathered either at the White House or Camp David – a really nice place for everyone to relax, get together, play games or sports and enjoy some quiet time together.  The Clintons used to celebrate the day before by going, all by themselves, to a Washington soup kitchen to prepare and serve meals to the homeless.  I well remember the first year they did this, 1993, and how hard some Members of Congress pressed to get to go with them, and how hard the press pushed for major coverage.  But for Bill and Hillary this was a private moment of personal charity, something they’d been doing for years, and they didn’t want to turn it into a press, photo-op moment – so they pushed back just as hard!

There was also an earlier (FAR earlier) Thanksgiving I shared with Bill Clinton when we were both freshmen at Georgetown, but you should read about it in my book, White House Story, a Democratic Memoir!

It’s a long way from the White House and Washington DC to Calafia Paradise Resort in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, where I now happily live.  Instead of chilly, overcast weather we enjoy days of brilliant, warm sunshine, cool breezes and crystal blue skies.  We’ll probably have our Thanksgiving feast outside, gathering our friends on the patio, looking past the flowers in my garden to the dolphins fishing just off shore.  Maybe a whale, a forerunner of the pods to come in December, will cruise by, showing us a spout, or slapping a fin on the water.  Maybe we’ll take a dip in one of the pools after dinner to burn off some calories, and for sure we’ll walk the dogs along the cliff edge, or take them for a run on the beach – these are NEW traditions for us, and we love them.

The food will be even better than it was back home, because here we can get fresher produce, at the organic farmers’ market, richer cream, and just about all the traditional ingredients.  And what’s not available here we can easily get right across the border in San Diego – at Costco or Vons.  So, cooks have the best of both worlds!  And that proximity to San Diego means it’s easy for family and friends to fly or drive here for the holidays and share them with us.

So, yes, it’s a long way from “home,” but THIS is now home, and we couldn’t be happier.  We believe we’ve come to the perfect spot in a wonderful, welcoming country, with a much lower cost of living, security and amenities we could only dream of back in the U.S.  We’d be very happy to welcome YOU as new neighbors and friends, so please come take a look at Calafia Paradise Resort!