Welcome to the July 2026 edition of the Ultimate Coffee Date link up Deborah and I host the first Friday of every month so we can catch up on all the things we would discuss if we were having coffee. I bet most of us are celebrating 🇺🇸 July 4th 🇺🇸 this weekend, but no matter what you are celebrating, we want to hear about it!
You know how this works—grab the badge, link your post, and comment on the other blogs in the link-up.
Celebrating at the July 2026 Coffee Date
If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I am exhausted after three back-to-back trips and was celebrating a July at home until I remembered I have one more trip this week—an overnight to SFO because I just can’t do red-eyes.
It will be my third trip out of Dulles, and while it’s a bit further from home than National Airport, there’s at least one store where I can get my sparkling water.
If we were having coffee, I would ask if you’ve ever stayed at a hotel with a dress code. The Detroit Athletic Club has a strict “no denim” policy—including no denim jackets, no denim skirts, no denim anywhere—and gives out this card with your room key. 🙄
Thank goodness I never had to be escorted through the back corridors!
If we were having coffee, I would ask if you’ve ever had a shower in the middle of your hotel room? The San Diego Pendry is a very nice hotel, so this shower was out of place in many ways.
You need to draw the curtain to have any privacy in the shower!
Does it save that much space to not have a wall between the shower and the rest of the room?
If we were having coffee, I would ask if you’ve ever been victimized by Uber surge pricing? My flight to Detroit was delayed for nine hours after a ground stop there due to storms. I guess other flights also got in late, because the Uber trip into the city that cost my colleague $40 at 3 pm was more than three times that much at 11 pm.
Luckily it was a work trip!
Celebrating My Father-In-Law
If we were having coffee I would tell you more about my trip to Florida. After visiting my daughter we drove down to Sarasota to lay my father-in-law to rest as part of an Eternal Reef. They cast “reef balls” with an “egg” that holds cremated remains, and you can decorate the top with mementos. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law did that on Friday, and we went to see it and make rubbings of the plaque on Sunday.
On Monday, we joined 6 other families and took a boat a few miles out into the Gulf of Mexico, where another vessel was waiting.
My daughter with the flower arrangement she made on board.
They called each family to the bow one-by-one to say their last farewells as their loved one’s reef ball was lowered into the water. They are going to send us the GPS coordinates, and my daughter is already planning a dive trip to go see it.
It was very fitting for my father-in-law, who had done volunteer marine rescue (mostly turtles and manatees) in his retirement. ❤️🩹
Celebrating My Hip Diagnosis—Maybe
If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I am almost celebrating after my orthopedist appointment. She doesn’t think I have a labral tear, just soft tissue damage in a place that takes a while to heal. I’m signed up for PT and shockwave therapy to hopefully move the process along, but can’t start that until July 20.🤞
What are you celebrating?
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No denim, but athletic wear is allowed? That genuinely confuses me! 😄 A nice pair of jeans with a white blouse can look perfectly smart, while a jogging outfit looks like you’ve just rolled out of bed. Or, as Karl Lagerfeld famously said: “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life, so you bought some sweatpants.” 😂
And yay for finally getting an answer about your hip! I hope you’re back to running before too long!
Well it is an “athletic” club — locals join it to have a place to workout, play squash, take a sauna, and then have cocktails in the plush bar. 😉
Oh I see! So it’s a proper “athletic” club to work out! So the athletic wear makes sense, but the “no denim” dress code is even weirder! 😂
That’s a beautiful ceremony of lowering the remains into the sea, and perfect for an ex-marine rescuer.
Like Catrina, I’m also confused about the dress code – what do they really want? Casual or not? There’s nothing wrong with denim. And I think it’s actually offensive to paying guests to not want them in the usual entrances. Then they should instead have the special events somewhere else in my opinion!
Good for you to get some clue about the hip and I hope the shockwave etc helps!
That’s great that you have a diagnosis for your hip. I hope PT helps and gets you pain-free quickly!
I would be so out of luck staying at the Detroit Athletic Club because I often travel with a denim jacket for cool evenings…
What a nice ceremony for your father-in-law and so appropriate considering his passion for the area during his retirement.
I hope I can ^start^ PT soon — at least I know what to do at home.
Ha, no I’ve never stayed in a hotel with a dress code! I don’t think I would want to.
I’ve never heard of the “eternal reef” but I love it! Very cool that- if one is a diver- you can visit it. It sounds like a lovely ceremony overall.
Yay for the hip diagnosis, although yes, some of these soft tissue injuries can take a while. Shockwave should help! We’ll all be sending healing vibes your way.
Happy 4th!
I think a hotel with a dress code is a first for me!
What a lovely ceremony in honor of your father-in-law – very fitting.
Great news about your hip! I hope the combination of PT and Shockwave helps!
Have a great 4th!
I’ve never seen that way to memorialize a loved one but seems fitting and a nice way to pay tribute. I’ve been to restaurants with a dress code and hotels that ask you not to go through the lobby in pool attire etc. I guess they have had some crazy clothing show up there! LOL. I have also never been to Detroit (not sure i am missing anything there!) 🙂 Stay cool this weekend
I think they are trying to maintain a “refined” atmosphere despite the world going casual. Detroit has a nice river walk, but I’m only there for meetings and dinner at the “Club”. 😉
My friend is a member at NYAC and they have rules for the club space and I imagine if you are staying there, but I have never encountered that in a hotel.
Glad you got a “good” diagnosis – hope it heals quickly.
That’s a very cool memorial idea. We are doing something sort of similar for my husband’s stepmom in Los Angeles in August.
What? No denim. Did you know that in advance?
What a lovely idea to remember someone who has been cremates.
Good news. It’s so hurt to wait for an appointment. I know!
The first time we stayed there the admin team who made our reservations sent us many, many emails about it!
What a beautiful way to be laid to rest. Sending peace and love to you all.
I haven’t had a shower in the middle of the room, but I have had a bathtub. Always unique.
And how odd about the dress code? That’s kind of wild!
Fingers crossed about the hip!
That was a beautiful memorialization for your father-in-law. Very fitting! That “no-denim” dress code is interesting…probably tough to enforce these days…
That seems like an oddly strict policy against denim?!
I’ve been seeing that shower/hotel design more lately and I can’t imagine who thought that would be a good idea..
I’ve never heard of the Eternal Reef, but I really love that concept + the fact that you can visit it as a diver is really neat. That does sound like a very fitting tribute for your father-in-law though! Sending you and your family lots of love. <3
No denim allowed in a hotel??? that. is. WEIRD. honestly.
and the bathroom in the middle of the hotel room – odd but yes definitely experienced this and weirder things, like see through glass doors (um, I love my husband but he doesn’t need to see me using the toilet!!!). I think hotels just think it’s fun and quirky when it’s just odd hahaha!
what a beautiful and different way to honor a loved one. I still have my dad’s ashes in a box, I can’t even look at them right now, but Ron has been trying to find a nice urn or something special to honor my dad. I know it’s been more that a year but I just can’t deal with that last part of it.
Uber surge pricing is insane. I had it once when there was a total breakdown of the trains and I was stuck in Amsterdam after a concert. Luckily I could claim the cost to the railway company and was reimbursed but man will they take advantage of people if they can!!
Great article! This really got me thinking about new possibilities. I’ve been exploring similar topics and found some fascinating resources. Thanks for sharing these insights.
What’s the sparkling water back story?
So love the reef idea.
Never hit by the denim, but it’s the same polict at NYAC so I think within the brand.