Our Super Anniversary Date

The weekend has come and gone, and I have to say up front that the best part of the trip was coming home, and seeing the kids run toward us with their arms outstretched yelling, "Mamin! Daddy! Mamin! Daddy!" They were so excited to see us and we were so glad to see them having missed them so much. They had such huge smiles and hugs that it was just the best part of being away for so long, seeing that indeed, they kinda need us.

The date itself was fun. We didn't head out till later, but somehow still managed to get to Pioneer Square for the 11am tour. It was nice to hear the whole story again, having heard it almost 16 years ago when I first went on the tour and forgetting everything I've heard. Everything seemed hunky-dory until the guide told us to watch out for uneven steps and rats. That got my wife worried for the rest of the tour. But it was interesting to hear about the Seattle that existed before. It was sorta like Deadwood - lowlifes, brothels, city expansion... Interesting birth of a city.




After that, we had pizza at some pizza place, and then we walked around, carrying... nothing. Almost nothing, we had an umbrella, but that was about it. Now if you're a parent of a toddler, you'll know the odd feeling because you're not weighed down by a tired kid, or a kid who wants to run around, playing Daddy tetherball with your arms. And there's not a bag full of diapers on your back. Nope, we were roaming the streets free of stuff. Of course, in our newfound freedom, we were in a toy store, looking for stuff for our kids.

An unplanned stop at the renovated Seattle Library really impressed us, especially my wife. This is some architectural feat, with glass and metal, plastic and fabric, wood and synthetic materials, all coming together to make a pretty awesome looking library. We could totally spend the whole day there, just in absolute awe. They even had workstations with wireless connectivity for those who had laptops. Simply amazing, as you can see.







We wandered around downtown for a little bit, then headed to the Jazz club. We were actually heading to the University Theater instead, about one stop ahead of our schedule, so we had to head back into Seattle. We were still early nonetheless, but Dimitriou's Jazz Alley was really something else. A coat check later (we didn't, because my Old Navy jacket felt inferior to the other coats and I didn't want it to feel bad), we knew we were hanging out amongst a higher tax bracket crowd. Nobody was dressed up, really - but there were quite a few sport coats and well-to-do types. We didn't really belong, but we were digging it. It was being royalty for a night.



We watched the Stanley Clarke Trio perform, and it was a kick watching them enjoy themselves so much. The pianist and drummer probably had a combined age that still fell short of Clarke himself, but they were talented as hell, and Stanley was a joy to watch. This was a man who clearly enjoyed music and did it well. We ordered some pricey entrees, a few drinks and dessert. And I made away with some video on my digital camera. When the bill came, I got some serious sticker shock. The tickets to the show, along with dinner and tip, came to a heft $150.01. The penny is due to my bad math. Nonetheless, it was a pretty amazing experience. Even my wife, who pretty much went to it because I like jazz, really enjoyed herself.

We made our way to the U district, and the improv show, in short, was just kinda okay. I was hoping to see professional improv done by comedians, but it was just college kids doing some improv. They weren't necessarily bad, but they needed work.

Our next day, we went past Seattle to Alderwood mall, where we ate lunch, and sat around after lunch. We ate at a leisurely pace, without having to raise our voices once. It was sublime.

We later caught "Inside Man" at the theater, after rejecting two other theaters for their bad, bad selections of movies. And then we went home.

It was just great to finally spend some time with my sweetie, though. That was the biggest thing, just to be with her, with no distractions and worries about things like weddings, or jobs, or what the kids need to do. We just had time to talk about stuff, and be sweeties again. We were missing each other a lot today too. This weekend was just a nice reminder why we married each other.