Hampton Inn, East Tuscaloosa, Alabama

I reserved two rooms at the Hampton Inn, East Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The hotel was located right off interstate 59 at 6400 Interstate Drive, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 35453. The hotel was easy to find, convenient and offered many discount options.

I stayed in a quiet two queen bedroom. I enjoyed the experience and after a short night on the town, turned in to rest for the Warrior Dash, Alabama event on November 2, 2013.

Each room had hairdryers, microwaves and ironing boards. If you need to wash clothes, they have a laundry area and provide valet services. The breakfast was complete with continental style goodies to include waffles, eggs and trimmings, pastries, fruit, cereal and oatmeal.

Though not directly in Tuscaloosa center, the Hampton Inn is definitely close to everything. The Tuscaloosa Mall and the across the street large outdoor shopping complex is a five minute drive. High end shopping and eating is available and the University of Alabama is just around the corner.

While there, we visited the  Alcove Tavern, http://www.alcovetavern.com/. The place served no food, but had a decent beer selection on tap and bottled from around the world. Next, we went to Wilhagan's of Tuscaloosa, an excellent place for Cajun and Creole food and pool. I recommend the pork and beef brisket, a great way to unwind before a race.

Going on a long trip? You can still exercise

A sure fire way to get a good workout, travel style... 

Walk/run between terminals 
Curl your bags 

For an extra challenge, try this: 
 Arrive at airport 1 hour before flight. Carry all bags, don’t roll them. 
Make sure connection flights are within 45 minutes of each other 

Once you get to the hotel:
100 push ups 

Find more great travel exercises

120 sit ups 
50 burpees 
150 air squats 
50 lunges each leg Swim.

Doubletree By Hilton Newark Airport

The Doubletree By Hilton Newark Airport is fine if you are just stopping over from the airport. The shuttle runs every 20 minutes, the staff is courteous and helpful and the hotel is in great shape; very nice to look at. The rooms are comfortable and utilitarian. However, that's about it. If you plan on flying in and flying out, this is a great hotel. If you don't plan on leaving the premises, or cruising the internet, great. 

If you are planning on sightseeing, getting around, spending time on the internet or cleaning your cloths, avoid.

The location is terrible and is subject to Newark, New Jersey traffic. We drove here and though we were the only car traveling to the hotel, we had to endure a long wait to get to the exit. Terrible traffic pattern. 

Once at the Doubletree, there are no restaurants to walk to (other than the excellent in house restaurant) so you need to  drive or a catch a ride to get to one (great food in nearby Newark if you can get there). The hotel is located in an industrial area near the airport, cargo staging, etc. 

The rooms have a TV, bed, coffee maker and bathroom. However, there are no microwaves or refrigerators; just the basics.

The internet connections are sloooow. I was looking forward to renting a movie on YouTube and settling in to enjoy it. However, I couldn't play the movie. It was so frustrating that  I logged in to my blog to write this post, but alas, took a while to get here. 

There is no laundry facility to wash clothes, but they do have dry cleaning for those who stay long enough to turn in by 6 am and pick up after 5 pm.

The food is great in the hotel restaurant. I had the Salmon with broccoli and mashed potatoes. Very delicious.

So, just stopping over for the night; stay here. Want to get around and see things or export more comforts? Find another hotel.

Want to start your own blog or write a book? 

Hilton Garden Inn Rockaway, NJ

This Hilton Garden Inn  Rockaway, NJ is right next to the Rockaway Townsquare Mall and the AMC theater. Just across the street is a busy Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant with a happy crowd. The inn has a lap swimming pool and small workout room with some weights, an elliptical machine and tread mill. 

If you work out, consider running the loop around the mall. It is a 1.5 mile circle of busy shopping traffic, but very accessible in the early mornings. The lap pool is large enough to provide a challenging swimming event.

It is close to the Quietman Irish Pub at http://www.quietmanpub.com/Quiet_Man_Pub/Welcome.html. This restaurant has steaks, seafood and vegetarian meals. The carrot cake is not to be missed.

Hilton Garden Inn, Annapolis

Twice in one week? Can it be? Yes, hopped to another hotel to earn those Hilton Points. Just down the road from the DoubleTree, the Hitlon Garden Inn Annapolis is in a very good location with great rooms and wonderful service.

The rooms are spacious and feature WIFI, remote printing, 32 inch flatscreen TV with DVD player, coffeemaker, refrigerator and microwave.

The Hilton Garden Inn is just 20 minutes from the Annopolis City Dock and the Naval Academy. Beautiful city worth checking out. I recommend the Federal House Bar and Grill for their great food and drink selection and friendly staff. I was in a light food mood and got the Crab Mango Salad, AWESOME! This meal consisted of fresh white crab meat, chunks of delicious mango, strawberry, greens and dressing.

DoubleTree Annapolis

The Doubletree Annapolis hotel is just 3 short miles from Naval Academy, state capital, and historic waterfront. The drive from Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) is not very long unless you arrive during high traffic times. It's centrally located in Annapolis, MD, between Washington DC and Baltimore and very close to major corporations and a shopping mall.

I chose to eat at nearby at Union Jack's British Pub. Monday nights feature the popular trivia game where the whole crew can get involved. The questions are tough and the fun is easy. If you go there, be sure to have the 1/2 price burgers during happy hour. The One Eye Jack on an english muffin or the regular hamburger on Challah bread are both filling and AWESOME.

The hotel has a large swimming pool for lap swimming and spacious rooms for relaxing. Since the area is well developed there are sidewalks for those fitness walks or jogs. The area is safe and easy to get around in. Again, most places are within walking distance, or you can take the courtesy shuttle operated by friendly drivers. A tip of a couple of bucks should cover a night out.

Homewood Suites by Hilton, Tukwila, Washington

Homewood Suites by Hilton is an excellent hotel in a very nice Tukwila location. It is nestled almost in the bend of the green river, next to small businesses and a fitness trail.

A very friendly staff welcomed us, but our rooms were not yet ready as we arrived just before check-in time. They offered to care for our baggage while we went sight seeing. That night they hosted a social with free dinner and drinks.

However, I chose to go out for dinner and drove to the neary by Stellar Pizza  in Georgetown neighborhood of South Seattle. This was described to me by a local as a "biker chick" place. The ambiance was very nice and the service warm. The wait staff and cooks really knew what they were doing. I enjoyed the chili and antipasta served with Italian bread and sweet cornbread.

I had time for a good workout outside as the very small fitness center was completely packed with three people. The fitness center did have two treadmills and an elliptical machine. Though there were no weights, they did have several medicin balls.

Staying in a hotel doesn't mean you can't exercise. Just make sure you prepare with the proper clothing before you travel.

Bring moisture wicking clothing...it dries faster

Hang them up on clothes hangers in the show...they will dry even faster

Spread a towel on the floor so you don't get hotel germs

Take advantage of local trails, but be careful while running in traffic

Get the weather forecast

Don't get lost

Watch your intake. Even healthy food in restaurants is saturated in fat stuff to make it taste better

When all else fails, take advantage of the hotel fitness centers.

Here's a good workout:

Stretch

20 push-ups

20 sit-ups

Run 3-5 miles

10 Jeffreys (burpees with 2 push-ups)

10 burpees with 1 push-up

10 burpees with 1 push-up

Plank for 2 minutes

Side plank for 2 minutes on each side

Stretch