Happy Henry's H20Park

 Splishing, splashing, swirling, twirling, and all while enjoying a family friendly Waterpark. Welcome to Happy Henry’s H20Park. With gallons of fun and dozens of waterslides nothing screams fun like a daring vertical drop into a deep blue pool of adventure. Why don’t you take a plunge and find out what all the bubble is about?

                When Henry was a little boy he told his parent’s, “I love swimming and to prove how much I love it I’m going to make the biggest Waterpark in Minnesota!” Now as a man in his sixties, Henry has brought his dream to reality. When Happy Henry’s opened in 2004 all of the Northern Snowbirds couldn’t believe that there was finally a Waterpark made for all seasons. Indeed ladies and gentleman, HHH20Park is not only an indoor waterpark, but it also ventures outside as well. How could that be possible some may ask? Let us tell you.

                As you walk in to Henry’s the first thing you see is slides zig zagging all around one another like a maze. There are tube slides, body slides, open top slides, and completely closed all the way around slides.  Plus, it has fun for all ages. There is everything from vortex pools, to our 300 gallon dumping bucket, lazy rivers, and multiple hot tubs. In fact one of our guest’s favorite hot tubs is the one that leads from our indoor facility to our outdoor facility.

                This four season hot tub tempts the brave to sit in the chilly Minnesota air while enjoying a nice hot soak. It also allows the summer lovers to have a comfortable setting to star gaze or watch fireworks over the 4^th of July. No matter the reason of loving this great feature, what people enjoy most is being able to visually map out the next Waterslide to enjoy.

                The Outdoor Waterpark at Henry’s includes many of the same large Waterslides as the indoor facility, however it also has the unique features such as: a wave pool, surf pool, tornado slide (pictured to the right), rowing pool, and a one large pool the size of a small lake that has floating docks and water trampolines. But because Henry didn’t want any of his customers to miss out on all of this fun during those chilly February days the outdoor facility does include a clear retractable dome. The dome keeps all of Henry’s guests enjoying an eighty degree day even on the days it’s negative twenty outside. Also, the clear dome design allows guests to feel like they’re in a very warm snow globe.

                So whether it’s a sunny day in August or a blistering blizzardy day in January-Happy Henry’s H20Waterpark has something for everyone to enjoy all year round.  So, throw that suit and towel in your bag, call up your friends and family, and come check out Henry’s for yourself. We guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

Home Away From Home

                Tall trees billowing in the wind, vibrant sunrises and sunsets, tons of golf courses and vineyards, and an endless supply of water. This is Long Island, New York and my favorite place in United States. You could call it my home away from home. About four years ago I was offered a job to work at a Golf Club in Southampton of Long Island, New York and because I had a wild hair I went for it. Even though it was only for six months of my life-it changed me and I’m forever thankful that I went. Everyone needs that life changing moment in their 20’s and Long Island was mine. It all started with the wine..

                If I hadn’t worked in Southampton I would not have discovered the excellence of wine. The Northfork had many more Vineyards than the Southfork (where Southampton is) but they sure know how to do wine just as well!

 

This is a picture of Long Island. The North Fork is on the left and the South Fork is on the right. As you can see there are only three Wineries on the South Fork.

                But it wasn’t just the wine that made these places memorable. I really enjoyed the Channing Daughter’s Winery because of the sculpture garden. The main piece is an up-rooted tree that is suspended upside down in the middle of the garden.

There is nothing like taking a bottle of wine and sitting in the middle of this big open field of unique sculptures. It’s so peaceful. In fact when one of my brother’s came to visit me I took him there and while we wandered our separate ways in silence I came back to find him napping on a tree. If that doesn’t speak of serenity I don’t know what does. 

                                                                          Serenity.

                However, the art and wine was just one small piece of my experience. There was also golf. When I first arrived I knew absolutely nothing about golf. All I knew is that you could play either 9 or 18 holes and choose to take a cart of walk the course. I had no idea that there was a science on how deep one should plant the grass seeds so that when it came time to mow there would be more options to make the course either a fast or slow play. Or, that the course had to be manicured daily to keep the game interesting. I learned quickly that golf was not just a sport but a business meeting and family gathering. I mostly worked with the upper crust of society (each member had to pay a half million dollars to even join the club) but I sure met a lot of interesting people. These men and women are powerful business people who fight for every dime they’ve ever made, but when it came to golf they were the most relaxed and polite people I had ever met.

                One of the most interesting things about Southampton is that there were three clubs within three miles of each other and most of the members belonged to at least two, sometimes even all three of the clubs. If I had the money I think I would do the same-these clubs are beyond beautiful and filled with history.

This is the back of the club I worked at. This view shows the staircase that leads to the upstairs deck, bar, and dining room along with the downstairs patio that overlooks the course.

This is a club that is literally right next door. I had taken this picture from the back deck of the club that I worked at. This club had been around for quite some time. It looks more like a gargantuan house than a club where you would enjoy food and drinks.

                The whole experience was magical and healing all in one. I started off as a 20 year old kid and returned as a 21 year old confident and happy adult. I learned how to stand up for myself while still being supportive of the people around me. It’s not just the golf, wine, sculptures, and never ending water that changed me, but it was mostly the people. I was the youngest person who worked at the club and I didn’t know a single soul when I started, but these people became not only my friends but also my family. 

Can you see why?

   None of us live in the same state or even the same part of the country, yet we still make time for each other because those six short months changed us all.

                I’m lucky to have tons of relatives that live in New York state, so I’ve made plenty of return visits since I left and every time is as great as the first time. Sometimes traveling is to relax. Sometimes it’s to escape and sometimes it’s to discover. Whatever the reason people find, I know mine is to find that place that makes the “Cheer’s” theme song come true. I want to travel to a place where, “everybody knows your name.”

How May I Help You?

 “If my best wines mislike thy taste, And my best service win thy frown, Then tarry not, I bid thee haste; There's many another Inn in town.” –Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Working in the Hospitality Industry I have come to form a strong opinion on what exactly hospitality means. I believe that most people perceive this word as just what the title says -an industry. This industry can encompass places such as restaurants, hotels, or some sort of club. It’s almost as if it has nothing to do with the people working there but rather the place alone.

            However, how can a hospitality industry run if not without its people? Which brings me to my definition of hospitality: Hospitality is the generosity, amenities, and services rendered within a place of business. Notice I did not specify the type of business because I believe all businesses support some type of service. My point of defining hospitality in this way is some people’s attitude in a defined Hospitality Industry such as that restaurant, hotel, or club. It’s almost as if some people totally forget that they are even interacting with another human being.

            Have you ever walked into a restaurant without a reservation and been told that it will be a fifty minute wait? Do you then get mad and yell at the host/ess, or do you simply just say “no thanks” and find a different place to enjoy your meal? It always amazes me that people who take the route of yelling forget that they somehow too probably deal with some sort of customer in their day to day life. How would they feel if something was not their fault, but yet they had to take blame for it because that’s what part of customer service is? Would you like to seat that angry person right away, or would you like to seat the nice couple who stayed quiet and understood that they had not made a reservation so they were going to have to wait?

            Why do some people think that they are supreme the minute that they are receiving a service? It’s as if they forget that they just had to deal with that same awful type of person the day before. Do we not all deserve a little human courtesy?

However, there is something to be said about taking ownership of one’s mistakes as well. If you made a mistake then you should apologize and try to fix it to help that customer, otherwise your business could sink in bad reviews.

I had a moment at work where a guest was upset. I took the guest aside and sat them down and listened to their complaints while noting down the key points of their issues. As they finished telling me why they were angry I addressed each issue that they had been upset about. I apologized on the things that shouldn’t have even happened in the first place and let them know how we would deal with these situations moving forward so that we could better ourselves.

Side bar: I should also mention that this person had made a huge scene earlier in the day and had bruised a fellow manager by snake biting them (placing two hands on another person’s arm while pulling in the opposite direction). The only reason they had been allowed to stay on the premise was because it was his child’s birthday and we didn’t want this child’s birthday to be ruined by her father’s poor behavior. With a promise that he would behave, we let them stay.

So, when I had talked to this man I was the second manager he had spoken with (the first was the snake bitten manager). He thought my calm tone was demeaning and started swearing at me. I let him know he needed to stop swearing at me to continue the conversation. He did not stop swearing and so I asked him to leave. He then told me that he was going to sue the entire facility and fire everyone who worked there. It was quite the temper tantrum. His occupation you may ask? The owner of a small town pizzeria. It made me wonder if that’s how he spoke to his own guests.

So, as retired news-anchor Denny Anderson always would say at the end of his broadcasts, “Good night and be kind.”