It’s raining. A cold, almost frozen, windy, sideways type rain. I’m not a fan. My hair is even less of a fan. My hoodies are big fans though, they get a lot of attention when it’s like this outside. At least it’s making something happy.
What does make me happy? Booking flights! And that’s just what I did this morning. After finally getting his schedule in order, Jim gave me the all clear to book my flight to Sarasota for Superbowl Weekend! I go to visit every year, and it’s exactly the winter warm up I need.
Last year there were Amish. They did not approve of most of the swimwear.
What’s better than booking a flight and knowing a vacation is coming up? Booking a flight to a tropical, sunshine ridden, boyfriend occupied place when it’s raining out. Sure, I’m going to have to do a 15 mile training run while I’m there, but I’m looking at it as a positive training experience. It has been known to be warm in Boston in April, so I’m really just training for all possibilities, right? Right.
Tomorrow is 13 miles (I’m going to add an extra .1 just to get the true half marathon done), and it’s going to be 30 degrees outside. I’m excited. I’m terrified. I’m hoping to find the lululemon gloves I bought at the beginning of the season (I’m fairly convinced they are lost in the abyss of my trunk). I’m not hoping for any impressive times with long runs, I just like the feeling of accomplishment that I went a little further than the run before. The feeling that I’m getting some hardcore workouts in before I have to wear a bathing suit in 3 weeks doesn’t hurt either. Upcoming vacations really make everything better.
So since I’m in a travel happy mood, this Friday are all of my favorite (travel related things). Enjoy!
JetBlue: I’m a JetBlue loyalist. That person that will pay $100 more to fly JetBlue instead of American, United, or any other crappy airline? That’s me. Sorry travel companions. There’s a lot of reasons for this, but one of the main ones is that JetBlue is an incredible honest company. I flew to North Carolina and the TV was out. I had my iPod, so I wasn’t really concerned. By the time I landed I had an apology email from the company, and a $15 voucher for another flight.
It's Ok JetBlue, I still love you.
It wasn’t about the $15. It was the apology. And it was the timeliness of the apology. The free checked bag doesn’t hurt either. Take a note Sprit Air, if you ever attempt to charge me $40 for a CARRY ON I will slap you.
Chicago: Ok, so I’m a little biased because my first time there was also my first marathon. Good memories all around. But Chicago is seriously one of my favorite places in the world. The locals are amazingly friendly (coming from Boston you don’t see this much), the food is absolutely incredible and the public transit system is pretty easy to figure out. Oh, and the Tina Turner impersonator in front of the Chicago Theatre will make your day. For a 2 hour flight from Boston, perfect long weekend trip.
Yay for Chicago! And deep dish pizza. The marathon didn't stink either.
Hotels With Good Gyms: CNN Travel put this list out the other day, and I couldn’t stop staring at the photos. A good hotel gym is really hard to find. Most of the time they’re a walk in closet with a couple treadmills. These gyms look like world class gyms with views to match. Sign me up. If the gyms are that good the beds must be amazing. That’s another one. Good hotel beds.
All of this travel talk makes me even more anxious to go away. Too bad I’m stuck at my desk for the next 8 hours. Maybe I’ll just make a pretty beach my screen saver for the next couple weeks. That should help. Or be a tease. One or the other.
Xoxo
What are your favorite travel things? Hotels? Cities? Fast Food joints on road trips? I wanna hear!
Run Brit, Run! 