Washington State

Finally!  Something fun and interesting to blog about.  It's not to say that the month since I last blogged has been dull, exactly, but for whatever reason not enough to motivate me to write anything. 

But we just recently returned from an amazing trip to Washington (State).  We were in Seattle for 3 days and George, Washington for another 3 (Funny, huh? George, Washington?) attending none other than the Dave Matthews Band Caravan at The Gorge.  Words may not do the trip justice, but I'll try, since I want to remember it.

Thanks to the two-hour time difference, we arrived in Seattle at 8:30am last Thursday, checked into our hotel, and off we went to see the city.  And see it did we ever!  It was a bright sunny day and so great to be outdoors, and we had a long list of things to do.  First and foremost - a trip to the original first Starbucks!  It didn't taste any different, but I did feel more cool drinking it from there.  ;) 

We wandered around Pike Place Market for quite a while, visited the vendors, and watched them throw fish like I've seen in movies.  Everything was gigantic - sealife is apparently well fed out there! 

We wandered along the waterfront, checking out the piers and shops, holding hands, reminiscing on a pretty fabulous first year of marriage and enjoying the sun.  It was lovely.

We took a boat tour of the harbor and learned a ton about the city.  Did you know that in a 5 mile radius in Seattle there are 107 Starbucks locations and each of those stores does $1 million in annual revenue?  That's a whole lotta coffee, people.  The funny thing is, we had multiple locals tell us that the best coffee can be found in the non-Starbucks coffee houses.  And did you know that working the graveyard shift was coined from construction workers in Seattle that needed to move a hidden graveyard out of a renovated neighborhood during the night so that potential buyers wouldn't know it had existed there?  I love this random stuff.

By the afternoon, we were exhausted, so we stopped at the cutest little Mexican restaurant for Coronas and chips and guac - what else?  It just so happened that this restaurant was about half way up the longest flight of stairs I've ever seen, from the waterfront to downtown.  Convenience - love it.  We definitely got some great exercise walking around that town.

But, no rest for the weary when you're on vacation with me - we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Space Needle enjoying gorgeous views of the city and Mount Rainier, and at the Museum of Music, where they actually let you play and learn all sorts of instruments.  I can now rock the guitar to Louie Louie, thank you very much. 

The views were amazing.  Check out Mount Rainier in the background on the right!

Friday morning it was time to head out to The Gorge!  We picked up the rental car and off we went, on a beautiful drive down I-90 through mountains.  We got there around 1pm, just in time for the doors to open.  It was so beautiful - words really don't do it justice.  The amphitheater is incredible, with an endless lawn and the stage set right in front of the gorge/river.  At the top of the amphitheater, you can see miles of the Colombia River, bluffs, mountains...so picturesque.  I took over 400 photos on this trip, many of which were here.  Ridiculous?  Maybe.

So we enjoyed a lot of really great music those 3 days - mostly from Dave Matthews Band.  The Roots were there, as well as the John Butler Trio, and whole bunch of other bands I haven't heard of but appeared to be popular to the crowd.  We were able to get as close as 6 rows back from the stage, which is always a fun way to watch DMB.  They are incredible musicians and have so much fun on stage, so there's never a dull moment.  This was my 10th, 11th, and 12th show, believe it or not!  For anyone that thinks that is crazy, we hung out with a guy from Michigan who has been to 246 shows since 1998.  Now that's crazy.  Out of the 20,000 people there, 12 shows is nothing.  There is clearly a good reason they have so many avid fans!

Sunday morning, we decided to check out the winery next door to the amphitheater for a tasting before the last show.  Drinking before noon on Sunday?  It was noon somewhere.  This was my first trip to a vineyard, and along the gorge it couldn't have been more beautiful.  I love how this photo turned out:

By Monday morning, I was exhausted from the late nights, the singing and dancing, the climbing up and down that massive hill, and the sun, but so happy we went.  I know it was something Jon has wanted to do for a long time now, so I was happy to help make that a reality.  On our way back to Seattle, we stopped for some more breath-taking photos of the Colombia River and the gorge.

We then spent the rest of the day and Tuesday in Seattle, being tourists again.  This time it was the Museum of Flight, seeing the aircraft that was Air Force One to JFK, a tour of the underground city that Seattle is built on, and the Science Center.  There was so much to see there, but I feel like we had the perfect amount of time to do so. 

All in all, it was a wonderful getaway.  Jon and I were able to spend some quality time together, away from the mundane and sometimes stressful parts of life, and have a really great time! Love this guy.

Now I get to look forward to visiting the other Washington (DC, that is) for my little sister's upcoming wedding.  Woot woot!