This is how it works - we pick a location we haven't visited together and alternate between international and national locations. It could be close or it could be far, as long as we were together and away from our city of residence, all would be well. Our wonderful three years together have found us at:
- Honeymoon - Greece
- First Year - sipping wine & bourbon in the Lexington, KY area
- Second Anniversary - Kansas City to see two of our closest friends get married
- Third Anniversary - Seattle and Vancouver!
We began our trip just north of the city and visited my father-in-law, his girlfriend, and their two adorable dogs. The landscape was beautiful to see as I ran in the morning and just as enjoyable sitting outside watching my FIL work the grill. We walked through the woods and took in all the sights - it was so relaxing.
We picked blackberries among the spikes, spiders, and slugs (the three s') for a dessert that my FIL made - blackberry and rhubarb torte. I had no idea what an amazing cook he was, but the grilled prime rib, cake, corn, egg scrambles, fresh sourdough bread, homemade jam - you name it, all the meals were fantastic and showed what a great cook he truly is!
We made an attempt to visit the San Juan islands, but fog got us down on the one rainy/foggy day that we had. Yes, we only had one rainy day in the Seattle area - and it wasn't even that bad of rain! Instead, we took a drive to Deception Park to see Deception Pass - this high bridge over a river - though once again, that fog...
During our time north of the city, we also made the quick trip to Canada to visit Vancouver - a city we fell in love with on tv during the Olympics. An interesting city with Eastern European influence and Western flair, we saw so much culture through the food, sights and people of the city. Granville Island was a district where we sipped some beer (more to come on that) and did a little walking in their public market.
On our actual anniversary (September 29th in case you are wondering!) we made it onto the ferry to Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands. The ride was breathtaking - Mt. Rainer was gorgeous as was the weather on the sunny day. We walked around the town, ate a fresh seafood lunch, sipped wine at a local vineyard, petted a camel (not many islands can say they have a friendly camel, more on that later...) and finished off the day with some ice cream from an adorable quaint harbor spot that had 72 flavors - it was the hardest decision I made all day...a scoop each of snickers and butterfinger won. Hubby got two scoops of coconut cream (I think I won the selection.)
After the ferry - we found our way to a small harbor town called LaConner, where we accidentally (but happily) pulled directly in front of the brewery where we sipped some local beer. We then relaxed on a bench, a fish bench to be exact, overlooking the harbor. Relaxing on that bench was maybe one of the best parts - just hanging with the hubs in a perfect landscape. We grabbed some dinner at a Guy Fieri recommended Triple D spot (if you recall - I enjoy finding these when we travel) and then got to bed as we anticipated some great days ahead in the city that we've been talking about for years...Seattle!
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| Happy Anniversary Hubby - I adore you! |