After almost a year of staying at home, one of my new year’s goals called for a trip.
As I told you the other day, I had three goals for the new year and one of them was to run/walk more and maybe participate in an organized race event. I honestly planned to “train” until the summer and then sign up for something, but about 5 weeks ago I read an article in Country Living magazine about Macon, Georgia’s cherry blossom festival.
Something about the idea of 360,000 blooming cherry trees and a weekend of events including this fun run/walk sounded like the perfect thing to work towards. The fact that it was gloomy and I had cabin fever the day I read the article helped to push me to research further.
I signed up for the race immediately- after all, the money went to the Ronald McDonald house in Macon so even if I flaked out, the money would be put to good use. Tim agreed to the trip- my very rare cabin fever moment was nothing compared to Tim’s need to get out of the house!!
After 5 weeks of building up my speed and my stamina, the weekend finally arrived. The drive to Macon isn’t too bad except for the area right around Atlanta, on a Friday afternoon, right at spring break. Even then, we still arrived about when we anticipated.
In looking for accommodations, I had seen economical chains by the interstate and bed and breakfast type, mom and pop places in town. I really wanted to be in town and I knew a bed and breakfast wouldn’t suit Tim at all. (One day I’ll tell you guys his feelings about those!!)
I found a larger Inn (bed and breakfast) with 19 rooms that I thought might be a compromise and Tim agreed to try it.
The 1842 Inn is a huge 10 bedroom home built in 1842. At some point a 1900 Victorian house was cut in half and moved onto the property which added the other 9 rooms. Between the two buildings is a pretty courtyard with tables, chairs and a firepit. The decor is pretty and the hospitality is great. Breakfast is included and can be delivered to your room or eaten in one of the pretty sitting areas in the main house.
After checking into the Sidney Lanier room, which is located in the Victorian house added later- not the main house, we headed to the Ronald McDonald house to get my run packet and then back to the hotel to change for dinner. The neighborhoods around the Inn and going towards the downtown area are full of beautiful old houses, many restored (and some not.) Everywhere we looked were gorgeous old homes.
The cherry blossom festival had a pasta dinner that night that you could attend, which they had moved outside due to COVID. I had not signed up, but the brewery I had picked for our dinner was just down the block from the dinner in the street.
We could hear the live music, see the decorations for the event and see all of the people gathered for dinner. It was a little too cold for me to want to eat outside and the crowd seemed large and dense to me, so I was glad we had the plan that we did.
The Ocmulgee Brewery was bright, following rules and I felt perfectly comfortable there. The beer I had was delicious (Citrus Soul) and the turkey burger was even better. I enjoyed people watching from our safe distance and I felt happy and ready for Saturday morning by the time we left.
Overnight I realized that I had been training in fairly warm weather and the clothes I had brought to wear reflected that . The forecast called for the weather to be just under 40 degrees at the start of the race. The race organizers asked that we wear pink. I am not a “pink” kind of gal, so I had brought the few things I had that fit the bill. Laying there in the middle of the night, I realized that I was going to freeze.
I am not a crowd person, I am not a get out in the cold kind of person and I am definitely not a morning person. After just losing an hour of sleep to Daylight Saving time last weekend and another hour to the time zone change, I also realized as I lay in bed that I did not really think this whole thing through!
Before the alarm went off, I was up and putting on basically everything in my suitcase. I had layer upon layer of a hodge podge of things that included among a ton of layers some maroon leggings (is that close enough to pink??) a chiffon tank with pink in the pattern, two mismatched, super thin sweaters, the top one of which was a very pale pink. I had thought to bring a head wrap for my ears which tend to hurt when they get cold, which had a sunflower pattern on it. I definitely had a strange look/ vibe going but honestly, at this point I did not care.
The 10K people started first and then the 5K lined up. I stayed to the back, not wanting to get in the way of any real runners. When almost everyone had funneled past me, I started my Apple watch and ran through the timing line.
I ran for a bit, not as long as I would have liked because a) my hands were freezing and b) every cold breath I took hurt my chest. I started walking so as to get my breathing under better control and not take in those painfully cold deep breaths. Once I got to the halfway point I had a good stride going, the weather had warmed up and my hands had thawed. At this point I went back to running.
I ran and walked back and forth a couple of times and then when I could see the waiting crowd and finish line way up ahead, I finished with my last spurt of running. I finished with a time of 43:55 (I had been doing right at 48 minutes when I did a comparable distance at home so I felt good about that) with a pace of 14:08. I came in 187 out of 370 people and and 6th in my age group. I do not feel bad about any of that!!
Back at the Inn, I showered and dressed before heading out to the Mercer University bookstore to add to my collection of odd college swag and then to the Macon Visitors’ Center to check out their event information and souvenirs.
After driving the Cherry Blossom trail while eating a grilled chicken and broccoli slaw roll up and grapes (yes, I have my treats and you can have yours!) we checked out a really cute store (7th Street Salvage) with all sorts of local crafts and gifts. Two full stories of candles and art and soap and crafts and homemade dog biscuits and lotions and on and on, each item more intriguing than the next. I did a really good job of controlling myself in there!!
When we saw the store, we decided to stop and check it out, just as a young couple and their tiny dachshund came out of the store. Tim walked up to them and asked if their cute dog had been in the Weiner Dog race downtown earlier. We had not attended that because it was suggested you watch on line due to COVID restrictions, but Tim was very disappointed not to be able to attend in person.
The young couple lit up and said that not only had their little dog been in the race, he had come in SECOND! They seemed so excited to share the news with someone. Later, Tim wished he had asked to get his picture with the pup!
We rode around Carolyn Crayton Park where they had a carnival going on. Tons of families were out riding tilt-a-whirls and Ferris wheels, eating junk food and enjoying the day, but we decided to leave them to it and head back to the Inn to watch Alabama beat Iona in the NCAA March Madness tournament.
Once again, changing clothes, we headed downtown to the restaurant I had found when I put in “Nicest, most romantic restaurant in Macon” in my computer. The Dovetail restaurant did not disappoint- isn’t Google an amazing thing?!!
With an extensive wine list, handcrafted cocktails, a farm to table changing menu and some of the friendliest wait staff we’ve ever met, the whole experience was great. We sat by a window so we could see the never ending line of cars on the street below as well as the occasional pink dog walking down the street with their equally “pinked out” masters.
Pink is definitely the theme for this cherry blossom festival. And pink poodles seemed to also be part of the theme, though I could never really get the connection there. While riding around looking at the blossoms, many people had pink bows in their trees, pink wreaths on their doors and cut outs of pink poodles decorating their lawns.
I will say that the trees could have used another week to be in full bloom. They were pretty and some were definitely at their peak, but you could tell that only about half of the trees were fully in bloom. I can imagine that next weekend will be spectacular.
After dinner we went back to the Inn and got a good night’s sleep. On Sunday morning we were treated to a wonderful breakfast in our room. Pecan scones, French toast and an egg soufflé were all very tasty and the luxury of having it brought upstairs to us was a real treat. We had missed out on the breakfast on Saturday since we had to leave for the race before they started service and came back long after they had stopped. It was definitely worth the wait!
When we had arrived, there had been lots of people in the lobby/ foyer that blocked my view of the downstairs part of the house and my mind had been on getting checked in efficiently and back out to get my run registration. When I went to check out, one man stood at the desk talking to the lady on duty and I had the chance to wander through the house while he checked out.
An inviting fire drew me in to a room that included a comfortable sitting area and several small tables, where people had obviously enjoyed their breakfast. Beside it was a room set up to be the bar, although it was very homey and included cushy furniture and lovely art. Across the foyer another sitting room led to the dining room. Back by the desk was a grand staircase that led to the guest rooms above.
After a quick chat with the man checking out and a slightly longer chat with the lady working the desk, I was checked out and ready to hit the road home.
Sometimes everything falls into place and you find the combination of fun, beauty, good food, nice people and a weekend you will always remember. I also had a new experience while getting some exercise. You really can’t beat that! I will always have my Macon memories and I wouldn’t mind going back someday.
As for running another race- the verdict is still out on that!
