It is going to take me a while to parse through, and digest the months leading up to my recent nuptials with the most beautiful woman in the world, to say nothing of the actual wedding day, and the ritual that we participated in and created together.
Quite frankly, it was a work of art that is going to take a while for me to unpack. To say that the day was meaningful is pretty much the understatement of the decade.
There were aspects, signs, and portents that were literally generations in the making. I think it is going to be excellent fodder for future topics to write and share about.
Regardless, time marches on! We are currently in Seattle, and have just gotten back to our B&B from Pike Market, and the downtown area.
We had an absolute ball, walking the piers, seeing all the people, tasting the feeling of this city. I will say it is tremendously gorgeous. It has some old-world flavor to it, at least to my palate. The streets are winding, narrow, and dense with life.
The foot traffic, (especially in the neighborhood we are staying) is robust, and I have had some lovely conversations with folks.
The highlight of the day so far has been the clam chowder. (Yes, every old Campaigner focuses on food and sanitation.) We went to Pike Place Clam Chowder for lunch. I took a native new englander (my new wife) to have a proper judge of the product with a more experienced clam-chowder aficionado to pass judgment.
Me being a midwesterner, I actually enjoy even Campbells clam chowder, so the taste of this was fairly revelatory to me. It was really tremendous!
We strode down the boardwalks, and explored several fun shops. We purchased the necessary fridge magnet to put on our progress fridge at home at a lovely, and wacky curiosity shop, which had, not one mummy, but THREE mummies on display.
It reminded me a lot of turn-of-the-century sideshow schlock, which has a direct appeal to me lately, as I have been researching Circus and sideshow material for a writing project I have embarked upon, so the feeling was spot-on!
After that, we wandered back to the parking deck where we had stashed our vehicle, and proceeded to drive down to pier 91, where our cruise ship will be embarking from.
Neither of us have any experience with cruise ships, so we wanted to scope out the approach, and how the Pier worked. It proved to be a good idea, as it was a bit confusing. Driving through and seeing where we will need to be in two days was good to alleviate both of our concerns regarding the unknown.
Now, I am sitting in the shade on a perfect afternoon on the porch where we are staying. The sky is a perfect blue, and the quality of light is certainly different than I am used to in Chicago. I can smell the sea air, even from here.
My beautiful Lady Wife is ensconced in our rooms, taking a wonderful nap, and later we will be walking down into the village center to enjoy some sushi. (I had observed the restaurant earlier this morning when I walked to the bakery to procure breakfast, which is one of my absolute favorite things to do on adventures.)
Tomorrow, we are still debating on how to expend the last of our buffer days before embarking on our ship bound for the great white north. We are considering taking the rental car for a couple hour’s drive to Mt. Rainier, but according to the website, it is still pretty bound up in ice and snow.
We shall see where impulse and serendipity leads us! But for now, I am content to write these words, and work a little on the workflow I want to use for this blog/effort.
Onward to adventure!
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