I can't believe how long it has taken me to write this post! We had a really fun and unique opportunity a couple of weeks ago to go to Seattle to watch David perform a premiere of his own choir/orchestra piece. We knew David had to be there, so we bought him a ticket. The kids and I flew standby. We ended up all on the same flights, which means David could have flown for free as a standby, but it was worth it to not have the stress of worrying about him not making it.
We let the kids miss school Friday, Monday and Tuesday. We got up at about 4:00 a.m. to catch our flight. It was great that we were able to fly out of Columbia and didn't have to drive to Charlotte, Greenville or Charleston. That doesn't happen very often.
The kids and I were lucky and got to sit together. Whenever we fly early or late, they travel in p.j.s. It's way more comfy. Since we knew Seattle would be cold, They wore their fuzzy Christmas jammies. Our kids are great flyers.
We were in the bulkhead seat and consequently had a perfect view of First Class. I used to fly First Class. I miss First Class. I watched as they were given their hot towels, big breakfast and warm rolls while I munched on my cold waffle cookie thing. (Actually the waffle is pretty tasty.)
We spent the first night with my kindred spirit Chari. We first became friends over 30 years ago when we were nannies in Newport, Rhode Island. She went on to be a nanny in Manhattan while I was in Scarsdale, NY, so we spent every weekend together. I tried to find a picture of us together back in the day, but I couldn't find one. She's the kind of friend that even though we only see each other on rare occasions, our friendship picks up right where it left off.
My parents flew in the following day and we all moved to a Fairfield Inn where we could stay in a suite together. I'm so grateful for the support of my parents. t was wonderful having them with us. I love that my kids love my parents.
On Sunday, we went to church with Chari and her family. Chari leads the choir and had David sing with them. Their choir was amazing! Chari is also the organist for the congregation and sings at full volume while playing. I love that!
The trees were beautiful with their colored leaves.
After church and a yummy dinner, we took a ferry to Whidbey Island. The kids loved the ferry ride. The only other ferry they'd ever been on was the little one at Disney World.
Baylie really hit it off with Chari's daughter, Sarah. I loved seeing our two little girls becoming such good friends.
View of Whidbey Island from the ferry.
Me and Chari.
My dad, Steve (Chari's husband), my mom, Chari, Sarah, Baylie and Jalen on the ferry.
I can't remember which mountains these are.
Waiting to disembark.
Admiralty Head Lighthouse at
Fort Casey.
The fort overlooks Puget Sound.
The drop off overlooks a small beach, which was full of driftwood.
Chari and my mom walkng. I loved watching this.
I thought these berries were pretty.
View of some of the fort.
The fortress is barely visible from the water, but shortly after it was built, airplanes started being used for warfare and the fort was very vulnerable One of the coolest things at the fort are these gunnery bunkers.
Pretty sure this wasn't what they were intended to be used for.
View from the bunker.
Another view from the bunker.
The fort is full of stairs and towers. There are rooms everywhere and passages to the sea. It's pretty fascinating.
At the top of a tower.
Guns on a disappearing carriage could be lowered after firing so they wouldn't be hit by return gunfire.
Up for firing.
Down for protection.
There were deer everywhere. (Unfortunately my camera didn't take good pictures at night.)
Church and barracks can now be rented out for things like family reunions.
There was another lighthouse when we got back to the mainland, but it was too dark to take a picture.
The next day - Monday - Chari had a full itinerary for us. We started out at the
Troll Under the Bridge (or the Freemont Troll).; It's smashing a real VW bug.
It's a pretty amazing piece of archetecture.
View from the Troll.
Our next stop was
Theo Chocolate. They process their own organic cocoa beans. The chocolate was amazing, although the kids didn't like it as much because it's all dark chocolate.
Love these two crazy girls.
Chocolate dinosaurs.
Turns out they only sell white chocolate once a year - at Halloween - so that's what I got.
Cool hedges across the street.
Next on our itinerary was
Gas Works Park. I love old buildings and things like that, so I was fascinated by it. From Wikipedia: "Gas Works park contains remnants of the sole remaining coal gasification plant in the United States. The plant operated from 1906 to 1956 and was bought by the City of Seattle for park purposes in 1962."
View from the island.
Canadian Geese
The House from Sleepless in Seattle.
View of the Seattle Skyline.
Skyline with Space Needle.
View from the other side.
Catholic girl's school.
Sarah at the top.
Rolling down the hill.
Remnants from the other side.
Jalen can't contain his excitement.
Family photo on the pipes.
Family photo after a rat ran under our feet.
I loved the colors of the pipes.
Sadly, many homeless people live among the pipes, which means they also live among the rats.
Another family angle. (Christmas card? I should have worn makeup.)
Peek a boo!
Spiderman in Seattle.
At lunchtime we went to
Ivar's Fish Bar, which was amazing. It was decorated with Native American artwork and served fresh sea food - caught daily.
Baylie's class has been studying Native Americans so she wanted a lot of pictures to share with her class. She was able to give a little report when we got back.
A piece of Dale Chihuly art on a balcony next to the restaurant. I first learned of Chihuly because he's a favorite of the kids' art teacher.
While eating, we got to watch a ship come through the drawbridge.
Lunch by the sea.
The other half of the restaurant is sit down and very expensive. Good thing we wanted to be outside anyway.
View across the river.
Great food!
I was stunned to see my mom eat fish because she hates fish. My dad loves it. He was in heaven.
Skyline with space needle.
Feeding a seagull.
Our final stop was
Pike Place Market. I was excited to see the famous Pike Place Fish where they throw the fish.
Other interesting sights at the market.
Bakery.
Fruits and vegetables.
We bought some of these for the kids to try. My parents and I had tasted them before in Costa Rica where they're called Tiger's Eyes.
More fish markets.
Flowers.
Chili pepper hangings.
Pasta.
Honey tasting.
We had planned to ride the Seattle Great Wheel, but we ran out of time. The kids were disappointed, but we needed to get to our new hotel - by the airport - and get ready for the concert.
David got to the concert hall before the rest of us. He took this selfie. It was such an exciting night for him to be able to not only have his music performed by such a talented group, but also to be invited to perform as the soloist. The piece was beautiful and David was amazing. As soon as the YouTube video is ready, we'll post it here.
The concert was at
Benaroya Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony. The lobby features beautiful glasswork by Chihuly.
David sat with us until intermission.
View of the hall before the concert. The group is the
Ensign Symphony and Chorus. They are really amazing. David has interacted with them before because they performed
Crawford Gates' music and David is his copyist and he orchestrated some of
Alex Boyé's music for the group to perform. Chari sings with the choir.
I took lots of pictures, but because it was dark, the shutter was really slow and they all turned out blurry. I'm still figuring out my camera. I was so bummed that so few of these pictures turned out. This is the best one of Chari singing with the choir.
David with the choir/orchestra.
After the concert, we waited for David to sign programs. We took some family pictures, but they didn't turn out either. So disappointing! Baylie and Sara with the Chihuly.
Me and Chari. Chari and her daughters sell LulaRoe and she gave me this beautiful outfit as a gift. It's the prettiest outfit I own.
More blurry pictures.
David with Rob Archibald, conductor of the group.
It was such a fun trip and an amazing experience. We were incredibly blessed to make almost all of our flights. I was the only one that got bumped - on the last leg of the flight home - and I caught the next flight. It was truly a perfect trip.
