WEYMOUTH WEEKEND 2008
By Jill (Commodore's Lady )
Click here for some pictures

When we first found the Riviera Hotel (thanks to the efforts of Carol Malpass, Bosun) we were a bit concerned that it was too near to Christmas and the New Year, but as it was the only weekend that the hotel had free, we decided to chance it and see what happened. We needn’t have worried as we had a record number of bookings – 132 members and guests. Now the only thing to worry about was would everybody have a good time or would the hotel and the entertainment be a disaster!?!

Again everything turned out well. There were one or two complaints about the rooms being cold on arrival, but the hotel had only opened that morning especially for us so the slight chill couldn’t be helped and it soon warmed up. The food was satisfactory and the speed and efficiency of service was first rate.

After about 30 or so people had arrived and were sitting about in the bar having snacks and a drink and regaling friends they hadn’t seen since crane out with stories of what they had (or hadn’t) been up to since then, we were surprised to find that the hotels programme of events started immediately with a Quiz. This was won by Jill and Alan Hill of Sea Chimes who were delighted when they heard that the prize was a bottle of Champagne. After dinner most people went to the ballroom, while some took advantage of the billiard tables (or was it snooker – I never know the difference!!). In the ballroom we had a couple of games of bingo followed by dancing to the resident duo. Then we had a couple of games of Hoy (which was actually bottle top bingo) and then came a cabaret laid on by the hotel staff. I think most people found it entertaining in some way, but I’m not sure that our lot are ready for ballet as performed by a sugar plum dumpling. Then it was disco until the early hours.

On the Saturday some people braved the weather and went out exploring but for those that stayed in there was some more organised “fun and games” from about midday consisting of, amongst other things, table tennis competition, quiz, bean bag boules etc. The swimming pool was also open but due to an earlier breakdown of the heating unit, it was still not very warm. In the evening we again had the bingo and dancing to the resident duo and this was followed by the singer Annie Sheppard who some of you may remember entertaining us at Bournemouth. She starred in “Stars in your Eyes” appearing as Judith Durham of The Seekers.
This again was followed by dancing until late.

As has become something of a tradition, the intrepid few (the numbers of which are growing rapidly and will soon be “the intrepid loads”), went for their usual midnight walk along the beach. This was made all the more exciting by the fact that there are no street lights so we really couldn’t see where we were going or, more to the point, what the sea was doing. The thought of a nice warming whisky kept some of us (or at least me) going, so it was a big disappointment to get back to find that the bar had just shut.

All in all I think everyone enjoyed the weekend - I know Bingo is not everybody’s cup of tea but I noticed a lot of people joined in and, as they say – you can’t please all of the people all of the time, but we do try!!

Hope we’ll see you all there again next year. The dates for 2009 will be 9th – 11th January. Click here for some pictures