No matter how old you get it always feels good to go home. When you’re from Syracuse it feels even better when it’s not winter! Ian had to drive up to his camp north of Syracuse back-to-back weekends so last weekend I rode along and had him drop me in Syracuse to spend the weekend with my parents.

We left Thursday night after I got out of work and made pretty decent time after a rough start to the drive battling traffic and three accidents along the 8-mile stretch of the GW Parkway to get on our way. My parents have remodeled the “guest room” which my Mom calls the kid’s room. It was my brother’s room for most of the time growing up and then I took it over when he left for college and my room was turned into an office. Now it has the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in. Seriously, I would steal it if I could figure out a way.

I always try to pack everything I can in on weekends home and this one was no different. Friday I met my Mom for lunch and pedicures before heading home to meet up with Dad for our usual Friday night dinner at Mulligans. I’ve been going to Mulligans for as long as I can remember…so long that I actually could never have tried to drink underage in this bar because they knew my birthday and wouldn’t want to upset my parents! It wouldn’t be a Friday night at home without going to Mulligans. After dinner my Dad and I always stay up late watching TV or a movie. We rented Silver Linings Playbook on demand and I loved it. He fell asleep, but I assured him it was a good movie, haha.

Drinks at the bar at new Toby Keith’s restaurant in Syracuse

Saturday my Mom and I were up early to go to the Y and try out an Aqua Blast class hoping it wouldn’t just be us and a bunch of old ladies. Well, not only was it us and a bunch of old ladies, but the instructor never showed either. We ended up grabbing the water belts and doing some aqua jogging instead. I took a trip down memory lane later on a long run to my old high school and back. I ran around all the athletic fields and couldn’t help but be jealous of the new fence at the softball field – that would’ve made chasing down fly balls so much easier!

I spent some time at my grandparents too. I hadn’t seen them since my Florida trip in January so it was great to visit. I was always very lucky when I lived at home to have them just 5 minutes from our house during the months they were in Syracuse. They very smartly get out of there before the cold and snow hits.

We headed out to Destiny USA for dinner Saturday night – better known as the Carousel Mall to those of us who lived there when it was first built. I couldn’t get over the new addition and how many new stores and restaurants have moved in. Just saying…I might have to make a trip back to check out those go-karts! We ended up at the new Toby Keith restaurant. It was really cool. The bar was ginormous and in the shape of a guitar. I could probably have dealt with one of the hundreds of TVs not being tuned into Nascar, but oh well. The beers were cold, the mac ‘n cheese bites app was amazing and my buffalo chicken sandwich was great as well – so all in all it was a great spot!

After an 8k race at Green Lakes (recap coming tomorrow), Sunday was spent at the house before Ian and I made the trek back to D.C. I attempted some tech support fixes that did not go as well as planned (thankfully I was at least able to restore the Internet before leaving), enjoyed a home cooked meal and wrapped up the ridiculous amount of laundry that I brought home. I will never be too old to take advantage of free laundry…unless I eventually live somewhere that doesn’t require me to go to the basement to do laundry.

It was a great trip home as always. Hope you all had a nice weekend too!