Our Seattle Trip

Towards the end of September (which feels like approximately ten years ago), Jeremy and I took a trip to Seattle to celebrate our tenth anniversary (celebrated in November) and Jeremy's 40th birthday. Why Seattle, you may ask? Honestly, no idea what really moved us to choose it, but we had a wonderful time! 

Here we are at the airport waiting for our plane. (These were brave smiles - poor Luke had thrown up in bed before we left, and he was diagnosed with strep throat a couple of days later. Poor buddy!)

A bottle of champagne was waiting for us in our hotel room! Happy Anniversary, indeed!

We arrived on Saturday night, and thanks to a post-flight migraine for me, we took things pretty easy. After a nap (a nap! Because we could take a nap because our children were thousands of miles away in my parents' caring and awesome hands!), we walked around. This is the view outside of our hotel - perfect place to stay if you're leaving Seattle for an Alaskan cruise! 

Though I am still kicking myself for not taking a picture, we did see Jim Nantz and Phil Sims as we drank a beer outside their downtown hotel. 

On Sunday, we had one major thing planned: going to the Seahawks-Broncos game! A few insights/observations: 

• We Dallas-ites can dog-pile on Laura Miller again for not going for a Cowboys stadium downtown. While AT&T Stadium in Arlington is nice, Seattle's downtown stadium is just so awesome - the whole town was out, celebrating* and ready for a great game. 
• Many Aggies get growly about the whole 12th Man thing with the Seahawks. This Aggie's take: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The crowd at this professional football game reminded me of college crowds - very active, loud, etc. 
• On *celebrating: contrary to popular belief and what I even expected a little bit, Seattle, in our experience, wasn't a cloud of marijuana smoke, in case you were wondering.

I thought this was neat: each Washington state high school's football helmet is replicated and on display in the stadium. 

I also thought this was neat: signs like this all over the stadium. As a result, I didn't see any crappy, mean behavior towards the many Broncos fans in attendance... and that's a good thing, because it was an emotional game! Peyton Manning had some heroic moments, but ultimately, the Seahawks won! 

I am a nerd who kept checking Twitter to see what people were saying about the game. Jason Terry was there, so I tweeted him. He didn't reply**, but he favorited it, so I'd say that's cool at least. :)

**And his loss, by the way... I'll try not to get too bogged down about the time we didn't celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary in Seattle with the Jet. ;) 

I will spare you a moment-by-moment account and let pictures do the talking...

Of course we went to see the Space Needle. 

We also visited the EMP Museum - I cannot recommend this place enough! Fantastic exhibits on Jimi Hendrix, the history of music video, Nirvana and Kurt Cobain... lots of really cool stuff. Check it out if you're in Seattle! 

Here we are atop the Space Needle. Shortly after this picture, we got some wine, because it is rare air up there, folks!

We had what may very well be the best meal (and certainly the most expensive) of our lives at Aqua. Incredible view, amazing food... just unbelievable! 

We spent one day touring several Washington wineries: the Chateau St. Michelle, Efeste, and... well, I forgot the name of the other one. This is why you should write your blog posts immediately after experiencing the events you write about instead of waiting almost four months.

(Case in point: I can only vaguely remember why I took a picture of this map of Washington that hung in the CSM vineyard. I think it's highlighting the very unique topography and weather of the state, which is why it makes so much wine...? Sure, that sounds reasonable enough. :)

Here we are again, this time on a harbor cruise. We did this on our last day. It is worth mentioning that the weather was really pretty fantastic - not much rain at all, and when it did rain, it did so only briefly.

Another must-see: the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. Incredible exhibit - I've never seen anything like it! 

Apparently I took zero pictures of the Pike Place Market, which we visited several times. :)

A final cultural observation: Seattle is serious about its efforts to be green. Receptacles like this were everywhere, so every time I had to throw something away, I seriously entered a minor panic mode about doing the right thing.  

What a wonderful trip to celebrate ten years of marriage. TEN YEARS! It's hard to believe it's been that long, yet it doesn't seem like all that long ago that we were two Accenture employees that liked each other but were trying to keep it quiet. :) We had a wonderful time - but we were also very happy to get home to our babies, who were pretty happy to see us, too! 

I cannot thank Honey and Grand enough for taking such good care of Luke and Kate so that Jeremy and I could have this precious, special time together... because it could very well be another decade before we can do so again! :)