The 2nd Fittest City in America

I recently came across an article talking about America's fittest cities. This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting #2 on the list....Washington D.C. Fortunately this is where my dad and stepmom have chosen to "retire" and they have "officially" moved for the last time...we'll see how long that lasts...yes Dad...I know you will be reading this! ;) Anyways, I have determined that it truly is an inspiring place to be even though I don't think I'll be moving there anytime soon, if ever. Along the Potomac River near George Washington Parkway, from basically downtown DC to Mount Vernon and possibly beyond, there is a fitness path. For those of you in the Western Suburbs, this is no prairie path or western trail. It is paved with strength training stops along the way and there are always, and I mean ALWAYS, people at every level running, walking, biking, etc...down this trail. There are drink stops and you can pretty much see the river along a majority of the path. Just driving past it a good number of times was inspiring much less seeing the fact that the people on the trail ranged from fit to, well, unfit. There are plenty of places to walk...all through downtown DC would be plenty. If you've visited, you know what I mean. Then you have the trail and you have the water sports along the river and nearby. Now I know that we have Navy Pier here in Chicago but that requires a much more significant drive than does this wonderful trail. It is literally across the street from thousands of homes over its 14+ mile length.

One time I visited, my dad and I paddled around between the Washington Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. Here is a picture from that event circa 2008 or so:

This time we went canoeing...we don't have a picture because let's just say that three people in a canoe is far too many...at least when they are all adults. We did do plenty of other things like walking around downtown, eating out at restaurants...since the kitchen in their newly renovated home is not in complete working order quite yet. One of our frequent stops was breakfast at Breugger's Bagels...

They used to have some here in the western suburbs but I am not sure many exist with the proliferation of Einstein's and Panera as well as the few remaining Great American Bagels.

Anyways, gettting away always provides a fresh and new perspective on life and this trip could not have come at a better time as I had really been struggling through some things since my job ended earlier this month. I can't believe that July is almost here and I will certainly be better at posting in the coming weeks and months.

Hope you are able to get away and get a new and fresh perspective and can come back and be absolutely inspired to do what you need to do and want to do.

Happy End of June and "official" beginning to summer (a few days late)!