Scott has a goal to run a marathon in all 50 states (there’s even a club for people dedicated to this!). He added Utah to the list this past January, and most recently Wisconsin this past August. Wisconsin was an opportunistic add-on to a trip we were already making to Ohio. Our youngest goes to college near Columbus, and we were dropping her off for her senior year!
18 States on this multi-state road trip
Traveling from Florida to Ohio, we hit:
- Florida
- Georgia
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Kentucky
- West Virginia
- Pennsylvania
- Ohio
With the marathon leg, we added:
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Wisconsin
On the way back, we opted to stay over in Kansas City for some barbecue. This added:
- Missouri
- Kansas
- Arkansas
- Mississippi
- Alabama
That’s 18 states total!
Birthday celebration in Pittsburgh
Our youngest turned 21 during the trip, so we added a stopover in Pittsburgh. She wanted to spend her big day in a big city, she happens to have a college friend there and Pittsburgh is just a few hours from Columbus, where we needed to drop her off anyway. Scott and I have done quick trips to Pittsburgh previously, and we have always loved the city. This trip didn’t disappoint.
The three rivers of Pittsburgh (the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela) are interwoven with the downtown, making Pittsburgh simultaneously picturesque and lively. We stayed at the Westin and luckily snagged a high floor room with a view.
After a quick overnight in Pittsburgh and the drop-off near Columbus, Scott and I continued to the marathon.
Travel spreadsheet to the rescue
Whenever we go on a road trip, we like to sample independent places or regional franchises that we don’t typically frequent. On an earlier trip through the Midwest, we stopped at a restaurant with an amazing cinnamon roll. The “roll” was actually a full loaf of bread, served piping hot and dripping with cinnamon.
We couldn’t remember the name of the place, but we keep an Excel spreadsheet of our travels. Since 2015, we track hotel stays, meals, excursions and what we spend. With the spreadsheet’s help, we rediscovered the Machine Shed and had a comfort food feast of barbecue (brisket, chicken breast, pork ribs) and the pork sampler (bacon-wrapped pork loin, stuffed pork chop, breaded cutlet). No cinnamon roll only because we happened to be in the area for dinner, not breakfast. Oh well!
Wausau is an idyllic small town
For our four nights in Wasau, WI, we opted for an AirBNB. We happened to have a bonus with one of our travel credit cards. We also wanted the extra space given how long we were staying and how were planning to work part of the time. As an amazing bonus, we were able to secure a place just a couple of blocks from Marathon Park, where Scott’s marathon would start and finish.
Sidenote – Wausau is located in Marathon County, thus the name of the park is Marathon Park, what a perfect place for the start and finish of a marathon!
Our AirBNB was a cute 2-bed, 1-bath bottom half of a duplex. In addition to being steps from the park hosting the marathon, it was also just under a mile to the town center, which had another park, concert hall and multiple shops and restaurants. There is ample parking (free for 2 hours!) but it’s also a lovely walk, over a small bridge across the Wisconsin River.
Wausau is a charming place. There is enough variety of outdoor spaces, shops to browse and places to dine that we can easily occupy our half-week here. Our very first meal was at The Mint Café, a 134-year old restaurant with an excellent pecan roll.
We also carbed up pre-race day at the Back When Café, an Italian farm-to-table restaurant run by husband-and-wife transplants from Northern California. Post-race, we hit Limericks Public House, an Irish pub with excellent pretzel sticks and all the Irish favorites I had the pot roast). Of course, we tried two dessert places – ice cream at Sweets on 3rd (so many flavors that we each got a 3-scoop sample) and pastries at Sweet Lola’s Cupcakery.
We liked Wausau so much that we checked out some real estate while we were there. We wanted to see a 2-1 duplex similar to the one where we were staying, but it went under contract before we could get an appointment – list price just under $112,000! We looked at a Victorian 4-bed listed for just under $100,000 but it needed too much work. We also looked at a triplex listed for $87,500 but it needed a gut renovation. Still, it was nice to see firsthand that there is decently price real estate available in a high quality-of-life town. When our youngest graduates, she wants to stay in the Midwest, and Wausau should be a contender – you could buy a duplex or triplex, to live in one and live off the others.
Marathon day
Scott did so well in the marathon that the town named a street after him!
Actually there already happened to be a Scott Street, and it’s a main one that goes into the nice town center area, but Scott did well enough to notch another marathon state on his belt – his 19th. We drove the course the day before so he could get a sense of the terrain. There were fun signs set up all along the course – Run Like Someone Called You A Jogger or Your Gym Teacher Would Be So Proud or This Hill Is Your B**ch.
On race day, they had a nice set-up, and it was a very convenient bonus that our AirBNB was steps away. Scott didn’t have to worry about driving to the race, looking for parking or getting up that much earlier to account for a commute. After the race, finishers were greeted with the usual Gatorade, water, bananas and apples, but also bratwurst and beer!
Return trip with a stop for barbecue and the “BEST DONUTS EVER”
On a previous road trip, we discovered Burnt Ends, a delicious fast casual barbecue chain in Kansas City, so Scott arranged the drive back to make a stop in Kansas City and more specifically Burnt Ends!
Kansas City has a beautiful downtown skyline and is a vibrant city. We almost invested in real estate there several years ago, but ultimately picked Indianapolis (though we have since sold of our Indy portfolio).
In addition to a detour for barbecue, we made sure that our drive back included a stop at The Doughnut King in Eufaula, Alabama.
We discovered The Doughnut King when we were driving back from Utah this past February (another marathon road trip). We were researching places to stop for lunch, and a review title of “BEST DONUTS EVER” (yes, All CAPS) caught our attention. The Doughnut King did not disappoint. The glazed donuts and holes melt in your mouth. The chocolate frosting is rich but not too sweet. The filled donuts are almost too full, so you definitely get enough vanilla cream, Bavarian cream or jelly (they also have other fillings that we didn’t try). My favorite are the Long Johns. They have the melt-in-your-mouth soft pastry of the donuts but extra thick and big. I’m gaining more weight just typing this.
After 4179 miles away it’s good to be home
We were gone almost two weeks and one of the first things we did when we returned was walk along our favorite beach. We had a fun trip to places we would be excited to revisit, but the 40 miles of coastline along Jacksonville, FL is a great place to call home.
We are Scott and Caroline, 50-somethings who spent the first 20+ years of our adult lives in New York City, working traditional careers and raising 2 kids. We left full-time work in our mid-40’s for location-independent, part-time consulting projects and real estate investing, in order to create a more flexible and travel-centric lifestyle. 
Financial independence and early retirement is not something we originally focused on, but over time realized it was possible. Our free report, 
