Columbus Day Weekend in Ohio

Small Family at Fiesta Mexicana
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

While Missy headed to Sun Valley, Idaho to present the latest on healthcare legislation to the Idaho Hospital Association, Jason flew to Ohio to visit his family. His brother, Justin, is the operations manager of a new Candlewood Suites hotel in Polaris (just outside of Columbus). Jason and the rest of the family got the full tour -- including the privileged behind-the-scenes exclusives, such as the pump, fire, and phone switching rooms. Justin exudes pride in the successes he has had in working to launch the new property, despite all the kinks including 120 alarm clocks going off at midnight (two nights in a row), leaky dishwashers, and other hazards associated with a new start. He is clearly on his way to the top -- he secured a substantial increase in reservations the day of the tour (and associated revenue) landing a 20+ room reservation for 30 days while his sales manager and general manager were on leave.

The balance of the weekend was spent viewing dad's latest property acquisitions and renovation projects, lunching at Landoll's Mohican Castle, playing a rousing game of Scrabble, and watching the Washington Redskins embarassing defeat to the NY Giants. We also went to see The Guardian at the Mount Vernon movie theatre (a compeling tale), and wrapped up the visit with lunch at Fiesta Mexicana.

It was nice to get away and spend time with the family again, regaining those Ohio "roots" (Justin bought me an OSU Buckeyes hat and blared the fight song in his truck on the way to the airport), and enjoying time out of the hustle and bustle of our daily life in the nation's capital.