Life, Love, and Marathons: Long Weekend in the Bay Area

My brother & sister-in-law had their second baby boy a few weeks ago so after some quick planning, I booked a trip out to the Bay Area to meet my newest nephew, Jack. Besides from meeting him, it was another big milestone because this was my first trip ALONE since having kids (almost 5 years)! Todd has been on several fun/personal trips (2 bachelor parties, Tahoe & Portland, and a wedding in Mexico) as well as numerous business trips to LA, India, and Japan so I felt a little overdue on some time away.

I flew out last Thursday evening and was back by dinner time on Sunday and, as expected, the weekend flew by. I really only had two days (Friday & Saturday) to visit and I felt like I was able to spend some good quality time with my family as well as take some time to myself. Todd held down the fort back home (not that I was worried) and by Sunday, I was ready to see him and the girls...although I wouldn't have complained about one more day away. I rented a car and stayed in a hotel for the first time by myself (and was actually quite proud of myself I never got lost and figured everything out) so after spending most of the day on Friday & Saturday with Jeff, Meghan, and the boys, I was able to go back to the hotel both nights when the boys were going down for bed and have some quiet time to relax. I even read 2 books in the span of 4 days! We probably won't make it out to California as a family this year but Jeff, Meghan, and the boys are supposed to go on several trips with us this summer so we should see them a few times.

Highlights of the trip included:

Day 1 (Thursday, March 1, 2018)

Direct flight to Oakland at 5:55 PM & arrived at 8:20 PM (local time)
Picked up my rental car and drove to hotel, Claremont Hotel & Spa in Berkeley
Checked in & went to bed

It was raining in Columbus as we left and it was raining in Oakland as we landed

Sunset in the air

Book, celebrity gossip magazine, Diet coke, and snacks = perfect flight

Lobby of the hotel was gorgeous

Another view

My room

TV was across from the bed along with a walk-in closet

The bathroom was amazing--I loved the shower

Vanity and shower

Day 2 (Friday, March 2, 2018)

Workout at Claremont Club
Hung out at Jeff & Meghan's
Lunch at Wood Tavern
Wine at Ordinaire
Dinner at Steven & Karen's house

The hotel is also a club & spa so there is typically a really nice fitness center but they're doing renovations so they had all the fitness equipment in an annex building (it was kinda like a trailer); this was the hallway that had the locker rooms and fitness equipment through the doors on the left