MCM weekend was nothing short of incredible. The race is fantastic but the weekend events are just as much fun!
As suspected, Marine Corps Marathon weekend had me cycling through all the feels. I have so many amazing memories from the weekend. It’s been hard to sift through what you guys want to read vs. what I want to tell you. (Which is everything.) For the sanity of everyone, I’ll try to keep the important points in and the less important ones out. In any event, MCM weekend/race recap will be split into two parts. Today I’ll tell you all about MCM weekend leading up to race day.
Please excuse the blurry photos. I’m so embarrassed as a blogger but for some reason my phone wasn’t registering images quick enough so they didn’t come out great. But I still want to share. 🙂
MCM Weekend Getaway: 2017 Edition
DC or Bust!
She believed she could — so she did.
Kicking off the weekend the right way. With some girl power!
On Thursday, Candice, Julie, and I loaded up the car and headed south. Before we started our trip, I wanted to give them a small token to commemorate our months of training together and to motivate us all across the finish line. We all wore our bracelets all weekend. It’s one of my new favorites!
After about five and a half hours, we made a quick stop at my aunt’s house just outside of D.C. She filled our bellies with pastries from the deli and delicious fruit, and then we were on our way to our AirBnB in Columbia Heights. After we dropped off our stuff, we headed to Georgetown to meet up with some of my favorite bloggers — Courtenay, Erika, and Deborah — for dinner. I wish my time with them hadn’t been so short but I’m so glad we finally met in real life. It’s always so nice to put a voice to a name and face, and these three ladies were just as I imagined them from their online personas. Hopefully we’ll get to do it again next time I’m in the area!
After dinner the three of us Clevelanders wandered around Georgetown. We ended up in a pretty awesome bar in a building that looked extremely familiar to me. I couldn’t pinpoint it but while we were waiting for our uber home I realized we were a few doors down from my brothers’s old offices on Wisconsin Ave. And I believe the bar we went to was an old bar my brothers used to frequent. It was such a trip! I snapped a few quick pics before our Uber arrived and we headed back for some sleep.
Sleep? Who needs sleep?
The first night in the AirBnB was god awful. Since there were only two bedrooms, I offered to take one for the team and slept in the living room. BIG mistake. Our place was at the corner of a busy intersection, we were on the ground level, and there were no blackout shades on the front windows. The pullout bed was comfortable, but between the noise and the light, I couldn’t sleep a wink.
We had made plans to go sightseeing on Friday but after Julie and Candice were up for the morning, I passed out in Julie’s bed for about two hours. I missed sightseeing but I really needed to rest. If I hadn’t been to D.C. before I would have been really bummed out.
Catching Up with Friends
On Friday evening I met up with my college roommate, Alex, my friend Ben (from Cleveland), and Julie. We met at a bar, had a beer, and then went out to dinner at Lauriol Plaza. There we ate delicious food and drank a delicious margarita swirl. Afterward we made our way to a gelato place, and we capped off the evening at a bookstore with a bar and restaurant inside. To say it was a fun evening would be a great understatement. It was so, so good to see my roomie again. We saw each other briefly three or four years ago (for like, 20 minutes) at a football game, but besides that we haven’t hung out together since 2003. He was one of my very best friends in Bloomington so it was really fun to spend time with him and catch up.
Causing shenanigans since 2001!
On Saturday, Julie, Candice, and I headed down to the National Mall for a shakeout run with an MCM Facebook group we’re in. We ran three nice and easy miles together while enjoying the sights and scenes of a quiet morning. Afterward, we headed to the expo where we promptly made our way to the Brooks area for all the MCM gear. We made our purchases and perused the rest of the expo before heading out to brunch with my family at Old Ebbitt Grill.
MCM Weekend Getaway
The Old Ebbitt Grill is the oldest saloon in D.C. It has a very rich history and it’s a bit of a tourist spot for that very reason. Not to mention the food is delicious. A personal highlight of Old Ebbitt is that my uncle in-law’s office is at the top of the same building it occupies, and has rooftop access and views of the Mall, the White House, and the Eisenhower (formerly Old) Executive Office Building. It’s a gorgeous view to say the least.
After brunch, I spent the afternoon with my aunt and uncle in-law and we got to catch up on family stuff and spend time together. They drove me back to my AirBnB and then it was time to start carb loading with the girls! We made pasta and watched Fuller House (which is actually quite funny if you haven’t seen it yet) and then we went to bed.
And that, my friends is where I’ll leave you. MCM weekend was fantastic and this story is to be continued. Please come back on Friday for the Friday Five 2.0 where I will once again go rogue and give you my race recap instead.
Have a glorious day!
xo
Let’s talk!
Have you been to D.C.? If so, what’s your favorite part of your time there?
Have you stayed at an AirBnB? Did you enjoy it?
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