Well, the year is coming to an end and so are the first four months of my blog!
Thank you for those who looked at my reviews on my blog and on yelp.com and followed me on twitter.
We've been all over New England and even took a trip over to San Francisco!
I hope the hotel reviews from New Hampshire and Maine will help you in the future, I know that as soon as it gets closer to the date of the Big Lake Half Marathon along Lake Winnie I'll be making my reservation at Sandy Point Beach Resort. And as for Maine and Bar Harbor, don't forget to take a drive over to the Jordan Pond House or some popovers.
As the new year rolls in don't forget that there are a number of budget friendly activities you can par take in. For one, a lot of libraries a low their members to get tickets to museums for a very low price: 5-$8 for the Science Museum and Aquarium admissions! You should also check out the Improper Bostonian and Lola for upcoming events and activities around town, you never know what might catch your eye.
I wish you all a very happy new year!
My first negative review...I guess it was only time until that happened.
I had been to a PF Chang's a few years back in Boston and thought it had been pretty damn good. Then one opened in the new Legacy Place in Dedham. The first time I went the was after a god-bye party with a couple of people from work and my boss. We got there at 8:45 and by 9:45 not even the girl who had ordered soup had eaten. We had seen our waiter maybe two times.
My boss being the man he is decided to complain to the manager who questioned us and asked if we had "really" been waiting that long. A few minutes later our food miraculously appeared and everyone's meals were sub par. The one good thing? We didn't have to wait for our entrees which we waited an hour for.
A few weeks later we went back and this time the service was better but I was the last one to get my food, this time I was the one who had ordered soup. There seems to be something off about that order. Once again, the one god thing? We got some free crab rangoon's which were phenomenal!
So...let's review...
1. Seems to me like the servers keep messing up and then always have to give handout which for someone on unemployment is fantastic.
2. Don't feel bad about complaining, seems like management is not happy about it because a lot of people must do it.
3. Moral of the story: if you are in a rush and are looking for a great meal, don't head to PF Chang's in Dedham.
For those of us on a budget this Christmas, TJMaxx is a great destination for Christmas gifts, especially if you've stepped foot in the new Newton Lower Falls store. It's right off of Needham Street and across from the Marshalls and Fresh City. I knew it was set to open sometime in November but hadn't had a chance to get over there yet. This past Monday, after sitting at the Panera in Watertown of course, I hopped in my car and headed towards the beacon.
I walked in and fashion was all around me. Now, this isn't my first time at a TJMaxx and I definitelly know by now which store to go to if I'm looking for certain items...Homegoods: head to Bedford, Shoes: go to Marshalls in Lexington, if you are in a mood for scavenger hunting and messy racks: head over to the Dedham store.
This new store did not feel claustrophobic, it was clean, well organized and had all of the key elements. Granted the shoe section could have been bigger but now I know that if one day I find a fancy job or win the lotto, this will be the store I head to for my designer goods.
So...let's review...
1. They're not showing all those "fashionista-maxxinista" ads on tv for nothing, I love this store!
2. If you have $300 burning a hole in your pocket, perhaps you should consider spending it at the Newton Lower Falls TJMaxx.
3. Never doubt a good cup of coffee at Panera.
I had heard about the Fashionably Late Thursdays at the Liberty Hotel but also knew I have class on those days. As I was sitting in Panera this morning, my home away from home, I saw that there was a special style section in the New York Times about Tom Ford. As I was reading about his new endeavors I decided I couldn't miss my chance at seeing a Betsey Johnson fashion show tonight.
I skipped out of class a little early and began circling Charles Street looking for parking, I lucked out and found a spot a block up from the hotel.
I walked in and the hotel was more or less packed, as expected, but thankfully there was no line out the door quite yet. The inside was decorated for the holidays with upside down Christmas trees hanging from the ceiling. I grabbed a drink and found a seat in a great comfy white leather chair. There was another event going on on the top floors but the models were to walk above us and then up the escalator.
The show began a little after 10pm to a Michael Jackson tune. The dresses were fantastic, pink with glitter! What girl wouldn't love a cocktail dress like that?
I watched the models do their thing while everyone else snapped pictures, probably for the local magazines, and then slipped out.
This was a great experience to see the latest dresses from a well known and hip designer. I can't wait for the next fashion show but more importantly for cocktails at Clink tomorrow!
So...let's review...
1. Yes, I might be in love with the Liberty Hotel and their events, but who doesn't like complimentary fashion shows and cocktails during this down market?
2. Keep a look out for other recession proof events through yelp.com, or lola magazine and other free magazines around town.
3. Looking for other great events at the Liberty Hotel? Go to their hotel affairs page.
Until the next review!
(And, you can follow me on twitter for more up to date event details.)
Welcome to lovely Napa!
It was Wednesday morning and we were going through a typically hectic morning of planning where to go first and what to do. We knew the vineyards opened around 11am and that we definitely wanted to stop by Mumm and Wm. Harrison vineyards. My boyfriend is in love with Cakebread Chardonnay and since this is his first trip to Napa we decided to go there first.
After about an hour and a half of driving we finally arrived at Cakebread Cellars. We were beginning to get worried as the sign on the front door stated that tastings and tours were by appointment only. Probably due to the fact that it was one day before Thanksgiving there weren't a lot of people at the vineyard and we got to hop on a tour.
We chose to do the select wine tasting. For $10 you get to taste three white and three red wines. If you are a bigger fan of the red the other option is a very exclusive red wine tasting in the front room which is sectioned off.
Grabbing our first glass of wine we ran over and caught up with the tour. Our tour guide, Lia, was very entertaining and informative. For a group of about 10 it felt like we were on a private tour. There was no other tour ahead or behind us so all questions were answered and there was no rush.
After tasting our wines my boyfriend decided he had to get the biggest bottle of Chardonnay they had, the magnum! He was going to bring it back home and wait for a special occasion. You might think it was a stupid idea but Cakebread is not allowed to ship to the state of Massachusetts yet and the last time we were at the NH liquor store they said that it comes in very rarely.
We took our glasses as a memento and decided to drive on to the next vineyard and have a light lunch. The weather could not have been more perfect on this November day!
So...let's review...
1. If you are visiting Northern California, you must go to Napa for a day.
2. If you are planning on visiting Cakebread Cellars, make sure to call ahead, you may not have the luck we had with walking in and going on a tour
3. I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!
Let me just start off by saying that I have never sweat this hard and for so long!
I was sitting and looking through the Improper Bostonian magazine as I waited for my Thursday classes to begin. After finding some delicious holiday cookie recipes I looked at the upcoming events and saw that the Liberty Hotel was holding some fall fitness classes taught by Equinox trainers! There was one today, Cardio Blitz, that I decided I had to go to.
I e-mailed my friend Lara and told her we had an event to attend. There are actually a number of complimentary events at the Liberty Hotel that one can attend.
We arrived at the hotel at around 9:30 and were greeted by Chrys, our trainer for the day. The hotel was kind enough to provide everyone with some water and towels.
As more people showed up Chrys told us that we would start off the class with some laps around the top level of the hotel. How exciting!
After about an hour of running, squatting and doing push ups I could not have been more energized for the day. Chrys taught an excellent class and I found myself wishing that my local BSC gym had a similar class. As we walked out we all got a free 3 day trial card to the Equinox gym! So far, the two classes I've taken with the trainers from that gym I've been blown away by their level of expertise.
So...let's review...
1. If you are feeling the recession, look around, there are tons of great free events to par take in
2. If you are not feeling the recession, join the Equinox gym, I am convinced that the classes alone are worth the money.
3. Want to get in on the action? Join me at the lululemon store at the Prudential tomorrow for a sport pilates class tomorrow at 9:30!
Until the next review! (It will be from California!)
It's starting to get colder again here in Boston so I decided it was time to put my gift certificate to G'Vanni's to good use.
I took the train in from Northeastern and walked through Government Center towards the North End. There were tour groups enjoying the day and the sellers at Haymarket were setting up for tomorrow's crowds. As soon as I crossed the new Fitzgerald Greenway it felt like the mood changed. There were old men sitting outside restaurants, even on this chilly day, families enjoying a late lunch and the typical construction crews blocking off half of Hanover Street. I walked past Mike's Pastry and realized that this is probably the only time that there aren't crowds all the way out to the street trying to get some fresh canoli's. Maybe I'd have room for one after my lunch...
I took a turn onto Prince Street and saw the maroon awning. The hostess seated me near the window so I could watch the crowds, there were two couples and me and the dining room was dimly lit to give that romantic feel. I was going to get some wine but realized that if the food wasn't going to put me to sleep during class, the wine surely would.
I ordered a chicken parmigiana panini and some Caesar salad. The waitress was nice enough to let me know that she can't give cash back form the gift certificate so I should just order extra food and take it with me, I settled on the Pizza Margarita. As I sat and enjoyed my meal and older man walked in and sat down at the front table. None of the waitresses bothered him and I found myself wondering what his name and story might be when the hostess walked by and said "Hey Tony, what's up?" The man didn't answer her or the other two girls in the restaurant but I knew that nobody took any offense.
I finished my meal that came to roughly $21 dollars and walked out with a pizza in my hand. As I walked back towards America I was glad that I got to spend at least a part of my afternoon in "Italy." Unfortunately there was no room for canoli's this time.
So...let's review...
1. If you are looking for some fresh produce you should stop by Haymarket, which is right next to the Haymarket subway station, on Friday or Saturday between 9 and 5pm. Towards the end of the day the farmers drop their prices.
2. Mike's Pastry is a must if you are in the North End!
3. G'Vanni's is an affordable and very quaint little restaurant off Prince street in the North End. Sit back, relax, enjoy some Italian food and maybe you'll get to meet Tony as well.
As I mentioned in last weeks review, lululemon at the Prudential Center is holding weekend classes at their wonderful store. The location itself is pretty exquisite, in the new wing of the Prudential, right across from Legal Seafoods, and right above Gucci. Can it get any better?
When I walked in this morning around 9am there were already some people set up with their mats for the Vinyasa yoga class being taught by Sarah Sturges from the Equinox gym. As I walked around, I didn't feel like I was in a typical gym or yoga store. There was a map where people had pinned where they were from, a lovely filtered water fountain for the customers to enjoy and an extremely comfortable leather chair for those who needed to take a little break.
The walls were adorned with mannequins modeling the different work out pants which were organized in an extremely neat manner down below. There was even a big flip book on the wall of nearby yoga studios, restaurants promoting healthy eating as well as some snapshots of celebrities practicing a healthy lifestyle. You could also learn a little bit more about the founders of lululemon and the people working at the Prudential store. There were so many great clothes that I would love to own that I was glad that I had not brought any money with me because the cozy sweat pants for apres ski lounging were really calling my name.
As the store filled up with over 30 early birds ready for the Vinyasa yoga class Sarah explained that while going though the movements we should focus on one thing that we'd like to attain once we leave the class. It did not need to be something with a goal attached to it, just something we can work towards.
As the class began I found myself wondering if yoga was really for me. I couldn't detach myself from my thoughts about several trips I would be taking in the next few weeks, all of the work I had to get done and on it went...I found myself just watching a woman next to me, as I have never been to a yoga class before, and went through the movements. As the time ticked away I did catch myself not really thinking about anything, which is really rather pleasant. We did several vinyasas and as the class came to an end I was still unsure of whether this really is for me... I walked to my car which was parked in front of the Lenox Hotel and found myself really at peace. People were walking through Boston, enjoying some brunch and perhaps one of our last warm weekends.
Yoga may not be something I do on a regular basis but I do think that it would certainly calm anyone after a stressful day or allow you to start your day on a more positive note.
So...let's review...
1. if you are looking for some great yoga apparel lululemon should be on your list of places to check out
2. yoga may not be for everyone but everyone could benefit from some stress release in their lives
3. be sure to check out the lululemon website to see if there are any upcoming classes you would be interested in
And before we end this review, Janice Thompson, the director of institutional advancement at the Athenaeum was kind enough to offer some correction to last weeks review.
I just wanted to clarify a few facts for your readers:
You are absolutely right; you do not need to know anyone within the Library to join. Membership fees are: $115 for an individual under the age of 41, $175 for a family membership for those under the age of 41; $230 for regular individuals and $275 for regular families. If anyone is interested, please contact Karen Beach at 617-720-7641 for more information about membership.
The First Mondays orientations and the biweekly teas -- as well as a whole slate of other programming -- are only available for members of the Library. However, the public may take docent-led art and architecture tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3 pm. Call 617-227-0270, extension 279, to register.
If you are like me, you've been intrigued by this exclusive library behind the Fox 25 studios and next to the State House. As the Boston Athenaeum Library's website states:
"The Boston Athenæum is one of the oldest and most distinguished independent libraries and cultural institutions in the United States. It was founded in 1807. It grew out of a slightly earlier organization known as the Anthology Society which had been formed in 1805 by a group of Bostonians with the primary purpose of producing a magazine that they called The Monthly AnthologyandBoston Review. In now creating the Boston Athenæum, their purpose was to form "an establishment similar to that of the Athenæum and Lyceum of Liverpool in Great Britain...The new Athenaeum flourished in culture-starved Boston and, as it voraciously acquired books, art, and artifacts, it grew rapidly...For nearly half a century the Athenæum was the unchallenged center of intellectual life in Boston, and by 1851 had become one of the largest libraries in the United States."
This past Friday, thanks to Suffolk University's Dean Reception, I got to spend some time on the first floor of the library. After talking briefly to Paula, the director of the library, I found out that you do not need to be a part of a special group to join...you just have to pay a $150 yearly fee. If I was residing in Boston, and frequented the library, and who are we kidding, had money, I think I would actually consider joining.
The first floor was a perfect location for a gathering like ours. There was a wonderful feeling of being in an old mansion or in the foyer of somebody's home. There were magnificent statues and books along the walls. While everyone else mingled I decided to walk around and check out the rooms. There were some great photographs in one room and a painting of John Singleton Copley in another.
By around 7pm I found a book about Latvia and tourism and decided to sit in one of the red leather chairs and get swept up into feeling like I was back home.
So...let's review..
1. If you are interested in at least taking a walk through the library, you can take a tour the first Monday of every month from 6pm-7pm. There is no fee and you should register a week before.
2. If you are simply looking for a unique experience, you can also register for afternoon tea, twice a month on Wednesdays. It does seem like you do need to know a member in order to participate in this activity however.
3. On to a new topic...next time I plan on reviewing the lululemon store in Copley...they are holding free yoga sessions every Sunday this November.
Are you and your girlfriends looking for reasons to dress up? Well, besides going out to dinner, or a show, or clubbing you could just sign up for the Hello Stiletto Shoe Club! My first event was a couple of years back when there was a trunk show at a Neiman Marcus with a Kentucky Derby theme.
And on that note...I signed up for an event at the new Hotel Chocolat on Newbury Street, this past Saturday, this is the chocolate stores first U.S. location. As I walked in, there was a tray of chocolates shaped into ghoulish treats, from sculls to tombstones, and the champagne and wines from Barefoot wines began flowing.
Towards the back, in the tasting room, there were some designer handbags from Genevieve designs which were exclusively made.
As the store filled up with more and more people wearing their finest fall heels, Melissa, the founder of the shoe club, invited everyone who was willing to take part in the pink carpet walk off. Jennifer, the handbag designer, along with Vickie, the CEO of Hotel Chocolat, were the judges. The runners up and winner were presented with different chocolates.
All in all it was a perfect event on a very rainy Saturday night in Boston. I may not have walked away a winner but I walked away being happy that I went out by myself and had a great time sipping champagne and eating fine chocolates.
So...let's review...
1. Please consider signing up for the Hello Stiletto Shoe Club. There are branches in various cities across the country and it is a great way to finally wear those shoes you keep in a box for special occassions
2. If you are in London, St. Lucia, or Boston and are looking for some great chocolate gifts, I would have to say that Hotel Chocolat is the way to go.
Well, it certainly feels like winter time again. Who ever expected snowflakes to fall on the 15th of October?!?
Hibernation begins and people are off the streets and back in the gym. Luckily, the BSC is finally providing some new and very effective classes. I have yet to try the Body Combat class but can't wait until Monday, until it actually falls at a time when I am free. I have however gone to two Body Pump classes and am loving the results already. The main difference is that Body Combat involves cardio and Body Pump is weight training...I know that a few months into the winter gym routine, running will get pretty boring and I will be showing up to Body Combat on a weekly basis.
As for Body Pump, if you are looking for someone to kick your butt and get everything from your quads, back, shoulders, biceps and other muscle groups sculpted then this is definitely where you should be spending your time, even the music gets you in the mood to keep going and pushing harder. So if you are looking for a change in your gym routine you should definitely try these new classes out and see the results for yourself!
So...let's review...
1. Unfortunately, and unexpectedly, winter is upon us already...get out your shovels!
2. Thankfully, the gym has become more fun again. For new cardio training check out BSC's Boot Combat class and if you do enough cardio you should certainly also be weight training on the side to build up your strength, so try out Body Pump.
3. If you are in denial and want one more fun fall activity, head over to the 45th Charles River Regatta this weekend!
It's fall and I think it's time to highlight some events!
The 49th Hatch Awards happened on October 6th at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston.
I have fallen into quite a fantastic group called the Ad Club, a big thanks to Suffolk University and one of their networking events.
This is the second event I have volunteered at with the Ad Club. Unfortunately at the first I was unable to see the finished product due to other obligations but I was extremely excited to see the Hatch Awards through the end.
I, along with several other volunteers, came by at 10am and began helping out with getting the venue set up for the evening. It of course took a lot of manual labor but I've realized that, if given the chance, event planning and set up is definitely the side of advertising that I would seriously like to explore. We all assisted in getting the goodie bags made and made sure that the winning art work was hung up correctly.
Eventually, my time for the day was up and I rushed home to change and be ready for the evening. When I arrived it looked like more help was needed so I helped out with registration until one of my fellow volunteers came and we then decided to really enjoy the night.
The amount of people that showed up was incredible. The night started off with cocktails and was followed by watching the Boston University drum line kick off the awards show. There were a number of unique categories and student awards to be handed out, Arnold Worldwide and Hill Holiday, were of course among the biggest winners of the night.
The night finished up with more cocktails and "street food" to follow in the urban themed night.
Overall, this was once again a fantastic event and great opportunity.
So...let's review...
1. If you are looking for some great event planning/coordinating experience look into volunteering for the Ad Club or any other organization to get a better feel for the industry
2. There is always time to attend a fantastic event such as the Hatch Awards, so throw on your heels or a nice pair of slacks and put yourself out there!
If anyone was to ask me for a place to apple pick, I would without a doubt suggest Honey Pot Hill Orchard.
I have made this a yearly occasion and don't plan to stop any time soon. The orchard is located on a beautiful hill in Stow, Massachusetts. The drive to Honey Pot itself is worth the trip, especially if you come down route 27.
This is a perfect place for people of all ages. There are hay rides, a number of animals to feed, pumpkins to pick, many options for sweet treats and depending on the season, you can also pick pears and blueberries. You should also stop in the store to pick up some fresh apple cider, honey or perhaps some fresh veggies to cook with.
One note of caution is that the orchard does get pretty busy during the weekends, so if you are not keen on large crowds of apple pickers I would suggest you come during the week day when it feels like you have the whole orchard to yourself.
So...let's review...
1. If you are looking for a great apple picking location, I would strongly suggest Honey Pot Hill Orchard
2. Make sure to bring a camera for all of the great pictures you can take of your children on the hay ride or among all of the pumpkins
3. You absolutely have to have a caramel apple and fresh cider donuts!
I think it's time to head up north for this review...
If you are ever in the Bar Harbor area you should:
1. Take a drive through Acadia National Park, if you don't have the time to actually hike
2. Have some popovers on Jordan Pond and most importantly
3. Head over to Two Cats Restaurant and Inn in the center of Bar Harbor.
We did not stay in the inn but I remembered from my trip last year that if you are looking for a fantastic breakfast then this was the place to be. There seems to always be a line but do not get discouraged.
Saturday morning we got seated without a problem, and this was a table for four! We all ordered different omelets that were incredibly delicious, you can even get some with real Maine lobster in them! You should however expect to wait a little while for your food but as it says in the menu, good food takes time, so you should just relax, have some more coffee and whip out your Maine map to get a better idea of the rest of your day.
Our waiter Liam was great. He was always around with more coffee and helped me out when I tried to name the flowers that were on our table but was stumped.
We spent the majority of Saturday hiking the Precipice and Beehive trails and lounging out on the beach at Sand Beach.
Sunday was our last day and although we were willing to try something new for breakfast we knew that we were hungry for some excellent food and nothing was going to beat Two Cats. This time there was a bit of a wait but because people go off for walks your name may be called much sooner, so a word of advice, even if you are told you may have to wait 45 minutes for a table for two, don't get discouraged. Grab some coffee, sit out on the garden and hope that the people ahead of you have decided to go for a little walk. We were seated out on the patio and ordered the same thing as the morning before and were once again greeted by Liam.
The rest of the day was spent driving through Acadia and then unfortunately seeing first hand what can happen when you are too close to the water. Yes, we were in Acadia when Hurricane Bill hit Thunder Hole...
So...let's review...
1. Bar Harbor may be a pretty long drive away but it is certainly worth the visit
2. If you've already made it to Bar Harbor, take a drive through Acadia and have a few popovers
3. You should never forget Two Cats for breakfast!
First of all I would love to thank the people behind the Big Lake 1/2 Marathon for adding my blog to their website!
This past weekend I attended a friend of mine's wedding dinner. A girlfriend of mine and I took a walk through the South End to scope out some good restaurants where we could have the small get together for the dinner. We stumbled upon Stephi's on Tremont, the sister restaurant of Stephanie's on Newbury Street, Stephi's is located where a comfort food restaurant, the Garden of Eden used to be. Stephi's was opened this year and has a very upscale feel but the benefit of not feeling like you've been robbed after having a light lunch.
The day my friend and I walked in to check out the place and sample some of the food we both had the Turkey Reuben Panini, which was fantastic! The bread was toasted to perfection and the turkey twist was a great one in my opinion. We asked about renting out the back room and were told that there was no deposit or payment required, which is very hard to come by these days. We were also told that if there was a cake we'd like to bring in then we could absolutely do that. We booked the room on the spot.
This weekend we waited at the bar for our friends to arrive and watched as the staff diligently rearranged the big table that could fit up to 12 people into one that would fit 8. We all went in and were given complete privacy by shutting the shades so it seemed like we had the whole place to ourselves.
We ordered some great appetizers (prosciutto and parmesan fritters, salty pretzel crusted crab cake and hoisin bbq chicken). The bbq chicken came with some mandarin pancakes that remind you of flour tortilla's so you could make a little wrap. Be cautious though, the carrots are spicy!
The majority of us then went for some savory comfort food. The macaroni and cheese could not have been better and unless you have not eaten in a while you will most certainly have some delicious left overs to take home to enjoy the next day, the same would go for the meatloaf.
We did bring in our own cake from Vicki Lee's in Belmont which was delicious as well. It was a chocolate genoise ganache cake which for the amount of chocolate it had was extremely light and tasty! I highly recommend going in to Vicki Lee's cafe on Trapelo Road in Belmont.
Overall we had a VERY enjoyable time and our waitress Casey couldn't have been more accommodating.
Thank you everyone for a great time and allowing us to have a very pleasant and memorable wedding celebration.
So...let's review...
1. If you are looking for a great and affordable restaurant for a dinner or a bigger gathering I highly recommend Stephi's on Tremont.
2. If you are looking for a delicious cake consider popping in to Vicki Lee's. Even if you don't need cake, Vicki Lee's has great pastries and coffee you can have on a lovely lunch date.
Please bear with me as there is a story that goes with each review. By not telling the full story I would feel like I wasn't giving you the real me, so here goes...
Each year I go through a lull in my work out routines. I really am a runner at heart, among other sports, but running on that treadmill every single day gets really boring really fast. Come early spring I start looking at some 5K's I can start training for. This year March came around and I went on to www.coolrunning.com and one of the first things that popped up was the Big Lake 1/2 marathon along Lake Winni.
About three years ago I had signed up for the Rock and Roll half maraton in Virginia Beach but never ended up going so I promised myself that sometime in the near future I just had to run the half.
So I started my training in March following Ryan Hall's half marathon training guide. Very quickly I burned out my already somewhat aching knee seeing as instead of taking days off I would just run at least three miles. I ended up having to go see a physical therapist who unfortunately put me out of commission for two weeks due to a wrong stretch move on their part. I then had a massage session with my friend Ginnette Ryan who was studying to become a certified massage therapist. She gave me a new stretch to perform and followed it up by a great massage. Miraculously after doing that one stretch it helped me overcome my knee problem that was actually hindering me from walking down the stairs at this point. I took a few more days off and was back on the tread. By this point I was about two weeks away from the half marathon.
I had booked a beach eficiency room at the Sandy Point Beach Resort right along the route of the half
marathon. I wasn't expecting anything much for $80 a night. We arrived a little late the night before the half marathon but the girl behind the front desk stayed and waited for us. We checked in and the room was pretty much what my boyfriend said he expected "rustic." Meanwhile I was surprised because for $80 you don't really expect a huge room and a full kitchen!
The next morning that we woke up we fell in love with LakeWinni. It turned out that we pretty much had the best room in the whole place, outside our window was a huge deck right overlooking the lake.
I went for my "short morning jog" of 13.1 miles which was also pretty fantastic. The whole course was relatively easy and there were more water stations than I think anyone would know what to do with. The finish line was only a half a mile from the motel which was perfect seeing as driving back along the running route may have been a problem since runners were still coming in pretty strong.
We spent the rest of the day exploring and playing at the arcade on the WeirsBeach boardwalk.
There needed to be some celebrating so we asked the guy at the front desk about the best place to eat out, and quietly joked that he'd probably send us over to the (SandyPoint) Restaurant right next door. Fortunately he did just that. Apparently it had just opened that day and the people were flocking in. There was even a police officer guiding traffic. The prime rib and lobster really did turn out to be fantastic and we deemed this to be the hot spot, Club R.
We got home Sunday afternoon and were incredibly bummed out about not having a lake to walk out onto. This was truly a perfect vacation spot and I have decided that I will most certainly be running the half marathon again next year and we plan on returning to our favorite spot in NH, Sandy Point Beach Resort and Club R.
So...let's review...
1. If you plan on really training for a half marathon for the first time, don't over do it and run 6 days a week.
2. If you plan on taking a short get away to LakeW seriously consider Sandy Point Beach Resort
3. If you have children who need to be entertained outside of doing the usual hiking, which there is a lot of right near the motel, you should definitely take them to WeirsBeach.
4. If you stay at SandyPoint, do not forget to go to Club R!
Well, I should start by telling you how I came up with the idea for the blog I suppose. My name is Linda and I very recently got laid off from my last job as an International Marketing Coordinator. While talking over this type of scenario with my boyfriend he told me that he learned from some business book once that when you think about a situation you should also consider "what is the worst that can happen and what will I do about it?" I then decided that in the case of a lay off I would go to school full time and finish earlier.
Well, clearly the situation did occur and I went into "fix it" mode. I have enrolled at Suffolk University full time so I can finish out my GlobalMBA by May. I also moved into a very quaint and quiet apartment in Newton Corner and had I not had this free time I would still be tripping over boxes and be unhappy that two weeks later it looked like I just moved in.
Today I was sitting out on my "porch" and was reading something for class. As it usually happens, if I am reading about something completely general that I don't see will necessarily benefit me, my mind begins to wander.
As I was reading about the auto industry I somehow wandered upon the idea that I should once again start a blog. I had previously blogged about my year in Spain during my undergrad studies at Northeastern University but this time I knew it had to be something more. Out of nowhere I came up with the title "Let's Review" and decided that I would review the places I visit, eat out at, drive through and frequent on a daily basis.
So, I hope you will enjoy my reviews and I truly look forward to your comments and any suggestions you may have about what I should review next.
I will review everything from my local BSC gym to my vacation hot spots and restaurants I dine in in order to help you make a good choice about whether it's worth your time and money.
