Typically when my wife and I head down to Ohio to visit her sister's family, we are rushing around going to this softball game or that basketball game. The weekends seem to be filled with something and the time spent down there is always far too short. In the past, we would stay at the house with my sister in law and her family, but since our oldest niece moved home and had a baby of her own, space is at a minimum.
Pushing 50 years old, sleeping on a couch doesn't have the same appeal that it used to shy of a mid-afternoon nap. Although it costs a bit more money, @mrsbozz and I decided a while ago that we are going to start staying in a hotel when we go down to visit. There are several right within walking distance of their house, but we tend to gravitate towards the Embassy Suites.
If you have never stayed at an Embassy Suites, it's a Hilton brand hotel and they are mostly known for three things. First, they usually have a large atrium in the center with all of the rooms surrounding it. Second, each evening they have a ambassadors reception where paying guests get free (well) drinks and some snacks. Finally, each morning you also get a full (hot) breakfast with a made to order omelette station.
As I said, things were a little more relaxed this weekend even though we were down there for our nieces high school graduation. Since most of the activities weren't until later in the day, we actually had the luxury of sleeping in (though we still woke up at 6:30 AM), and we also got to take a walk each morning. The hotel sits back by a commerce park with lots of office buildings and a nice paved path that looped through the area an then back to the hotel.
We clocked a solid mile and a half each day and we accomplished this distance in a span of about forty minutes. Perhaps a little slower on the second day. I had wanted to take my old broken in shoes, but @mrsbozz nixed that because the one shoe has a hole in it. She hates those shoes. She suggested I take a newer pair of shoes she had just gotten me.
The problem was, those shoes weren't broken in, so after the first day, I had a nice sore starting on the achilles area of my left foot. By the end of the second day it was a painful bloody mess, and to be honest I was a bit annoyed that I hadn't been able to bring the shoes I wanted to bring in the first place.
As you can see, even though we were in the middle of the city, there is a lot to look at in this area. The greens were quite impressive even when you contrast them against the blue morning sky. In case I didn't mention it before, I am including this post in the #wednesdaywalk tag started by @tattoodjay.
It was fairly brisk in the morning, but once you got out into the open and the sun was shining on you, it was actually a really pleasant day. Being a holiday weekend, I have a feeling most of the businesses were closed down and we actually ran into very few other people on the walking path. If I lived down in this area, I would walk on this path quite frequently I think. That's one of the things I love about this part of the greater Columbus, OH area. There are tons of great walking paths.
As we made the final corner, you can see the hotel just off in the center of the photo above. It's kind of hidden behind the trees, but it's actually not that bad of a distance. If it hadn't been for my heel hurting so bad, we probably could have went around the loop another time for a solid three mile walk.
The home stretch of the walk also takes you past a fantastic little ice cream chain called Graeter's. They have locations spread across the midwest and if you ever get the chance to visit one, I highly recommend it. Since they weren't open, and we still hadn't had breakfast yet, we just kept walking past back to the hotel.
After expending all that energy, it was time for a refuel. This is basically what I had every morning we stayed at the Embassy Suites. Cubed potatoes, a little bit of bacon, and a western omelette. If you aren't familiar with a western omelette, it comes with peppers, onions, ham, and cheese all mixed together and wrapped up with eggs. It was absolutely fantastic!
Finally, I just wanted to leave you with this cool building we saw on our walk. It has kind of sloped sides like an upside down pyramid. It would be cool to see what it looks like from the inside. I'm glad @mrsbozz and I were able to go on these walks each morning. Despite the lingering injury to my left foot, it gave us the kick start we needed to make it through all the chaos of the rest of the day.
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