Voyage Part 3: Seattle/Tacoma, En Fin

So then it was on to the very beautiful wedding of Eric and Michele right on Lake Washington in Kirkland, which is east of Seattle, so we got to see a wonderful sunset, which served to dramatically back-light the ceremony. I was asked to videotape the bride walking down the aisle and anything else I could get (one of seven cameras, I believe -- can't wait to see that video production!) so I didn't get any photos of the service itself. It was lovely, though. And did I mention how great it was to see some of my favorite people in the world? It was great! Great, I tell you! The next pic is mine, but most of these pics are from Susan, I hope she doesn't mind! Thanks, Suz! :)

we clean up ok, right?

Jess, Suz and Erin. Jess sang a beautiful song during the ceremony!

Lisa as a lovely bridesmaid

Susan and Nik

Johnnie, Ben and me

Jeff, double-fisting it, cuz that's how he rolls.

Both the bride and groom are actors, so the tables were named after plays and each setting had a playbill with bios of all the people at your table -- brilliant! We were at "Into the Woods." (John Rindo's legacy lives on!)

That tiny person in the center of the photo is Eric, the groom. Isn't he tiny? :)

Josh, directing Ben and his speech.

Tiny Ben giving a speech that didn't make us cry. I was a little disappointed, I wanted to see those boys cry!

Michele and Eric cutting their tasty cake.

It was a great party -- thanks Eric and Michele! And Suz, Nik, Ben, Josh, Jeff, Jess, Erin, Josh, Lisa, Noah and everyone else for a great time, let's do it again soon!

After the dust settled from the big party, we were off in our zippy rental car to downtown Seattle to meet Lacey at the Gordon Biersh Brewery for lunch. (warning to the hungry, the rest of this post is mostly focused on food!) The brunch was tempting, but John got the crab cakes (we were in seattle after all) and Lacey and I ended up sharing goat cheese ravioli, which was super yummy! Then we strolled around Seattle a bit and took in the sights and sounds of crazy-busy (it was Sunday, what were we thinking?) Pikes Place Market:

We spent the night and the next day in Tacoma, where I went to college. I wasn't sure I'd remember how to get around, but Lacey happens to still live in the neighborhood where I lived for two years, so I found my way pretty easily. I hadn't been to town in about 3 years, but it still seemed like home. Very comforting. Things have changed a lot, though, and there are condos popping up seemingly everywhere!

Lacey works downtown at the Broadway Center, so we met her for lunch Monday at India Mahal, which was fantastic as ever, and walked around a bit, checking in at one of my favorite Tacoma stores, Watermark. I might have bought some cards, but I promise they're mostly for inspiration purposes. :)

We also sampled the bounty of the location formerly known as Queen Anne Thriftway, but more savvy youngsters now know it as "Metropolitan Market" (yes, that is what the sign says, but I don't think even if I lived there I'd ever call it that). The one thing I wanted to do in Tacoma was to eat the Queen Anne Marionberry Pie, and I did, and it was as amazing as ever. Seriously. If you are ever in Seattle or Tacoma, find some Marionberry Pie! Or Marionberry anything, for that matter...You can't get that around here. (A subtle flavor that is faintly raspberry meets strawberry. yum!)

We also made it to Rock Pasta and sampled their delicious pizzas and posed for some last west coast photos.

Lacey and Matt

we are tired. but very happy. we miss our dog.

An 11:20PM flight got us into Boston around 7:30AM. Vanessa was kind enough to pick us up and take us to Diesel Cafe in Davis Square for some breakfast before she had to head off to work, and we made it home by about 2 or 3 (I might have been looped on Ambien from the plane ride, so I'm not sure). But I am sure we were happy to be home and our dog was happy to see us. So Happy. :)