Traveling, Traveling, Traveling!!!! Whether it’s for work or pleasure, these days it’s a challenge. Flying, security, costs, just to name a few. In my case, I recently started traveling for work again and one of the most important things when I leave town for me, is safety and of course, comfort when I am away from home. Not always an easy task, but over the years I have established some “approaches” to traveling on the road. What type of places to stay at, working out, eating and depending on where I am, fitting a visit with friends who might live close to where I am working. Recently, I needed to visit some accounts in Northern California. I heard about a beautiful Inn central to my needs and decided to give it a try.
What a trip!!! It was filled with appointment lots of driving and when I say driving I mean each account visit was 1 to 2 hours away. I traveled the Golden Gate, the Richmond Bridge, the Antioch Bridge and some other non-descript bridges through farmlands and cities to the state capitol of Sacramento. Needless to say my days were long and exhausting. Given the challenges of this trip, I really wanted use my down time as constructively as possible. I decided to stay out of San Francisco and stay at the Mill Valley Inn in Marin County. If you have never been to this area it is a must!!! I love San Francisco really, don’t get me wrong, but I wanted to be able to relax and get some sleep and not be disrupted by garbage trucks at 3 a.m. and being in cold fog in September.
Marin and The Inn are beautiful. There is a very quaint downtown with restaurants, cafes, shops and Mill Valley Market where you can pick up some water, fruit, and snacks. You can enjoy walking, running on trails through the woods or biking around town. Instead of coffee in the room and calling for your car, I woke up extra early to pull open my curtain, walk out onto the patio and take in a breathe of fresh mountain air. I popped my iPod into the sound system provided with the room and got my morning groove on to The Away Team mix of Shirley Bassey’s (Where do I begin) Love Story. AWESOME MIX!!! Then I went to indulge in a full breakfast spread with one of my all time fav’s of bagels and lox, cappuccino, fresh fruit, pastries and oatmeal. On the one occasion I returned to the Inn before 8 p.m. I enjoyed a wine and cheese reception, which was such a treat. I even met a few friends at a quaint Italian restaurant in town called La Ginestra. My goal was to take a run in the woods which as a New Yorker I did enjoy, but I was a bit paranoid being out there early in the morning alone with the occasional runner in a beanie and scarf that I tended to find suspicious. Seriously… there is no need to feel unsafe that’s just me and all the stories I grew up with about Central Park in NYC. Mill Valley in Marin County is far from NYC in every way. It is a place I would enjoy returning to with my family and have daily excursions to the city, the Muir Woods, Sausalito and Stinson Beach to name a few, all by the way about 1-12 miles away from the Mill Valley Inn.
The Blacony Queen Room
One last thing I really enjoyed was that for an entire $170 a night all the other great things I told you about, were FREE. I love anything that we “Have” to do, when it’s free. Free parking, internet, bike and helmet usage, wine and cheese reception nightly and that lovely breakfast spread. You cannot beat this quaint comfy Inn. I will be back… maybe I’ll see you there.
Get out….wether it’s for fun, or for work, make the most of everyday when you plan.
Travel and Enjoy! Love GG
