Wedding Anniversary

WE debated whether this was our 20th anniversary or not. Riley turned 17 so it turned out to be our 19th. We had Riley just short of two years married. It is a good way to keep track as he always knows how old he is. Tom bought at a charity auction a night in Seattle at a fancy hotel and gift cards to a local bar. There were also baseball game tickets but he gave those away as we had no interest in seeing the game. We saved the hotel stay for use later. Later came in the form of my suggesting we go to Seattle for our anniversary. I don't think we had celebrated our anniversary since the children came into our lives.

WE went golfing in Phoenix on our first anniversary, then we had Riley and I kept forgetting the date when it came round. Tom brought home a cake and flowers one year and I asked whose birthday it was.  

I suggested taking the train for a stress free travel experience. Ever since we did that east coast ride with the boys  in 2010, we have been wanting to do the train again. With the price of gas it is a break even proposition. We wouldn't have to pay for down town parking for the car if we leave it behind. Tom Loved the idea.

We dressed up. I even wore heals and nylons. We packed a small overnight bag. I was a little disappointed when we got on the train. The trains on the west coast are not as spacious with leg room as the east coast seats. But there was a club car serving coffee and I gave Tom one of the books I had chosen for him for Christmas to read on the train. He loved the book. Getting him to put the book down became an issue. I do love when I find  a book that he enjoys. This was Christopher Hatcher, Arguably, a book of essays he wrote during his life. Hatcher died in 2011. I figured at least with essays, Tom would put the book down between chapters. Tom found the author a like minded individual, and a pleasure to read.   

A couple of friends were also available to join us for dinner, in Seattle. These friends were in our wedding. Tom had been with his first wife at their wedding a few years before our wedding. These friends go way back. They know all our secrets and fun times.They can't make it a late night as it is a work night for them and they have a teen out and about that needs pick up around 9:30. We are just happy they could join us for dinner. Besides I have found with age that I don't do late nights that well either. I fade early these days.

Tom and I have hours to kill once we arrive in Seattle, before dinner. He decides the pants he has on are too short. They were too short, bought to be worn with his work boots not his dress shoes. I want to see the Christmas decorations around town, so we go for a walk after dropping our bag off at the hotel.  We swing into Nordstroms, where Tom suffers sticker shock that a pair of Dockers costs $165. I explain that if we go across the street to Macy's the pants will only cost $85. We leave Nordstrom's and walk over to Macy's where the Dockers are on sale for $60.

I tell Tom he needs to clearance his closet so I know that he needs new pants. He must have 15 pair of tan pants alone, but there seems to be a stain or tear in every pair, he tells me, which is how he ended up wearing the pair he chose as the only nice clean pair he could find. He always wears the nice pairs and gets stains on them from work. He forgets to save the nice pairs for nice occassions like today.

We head back to the hotel so he can change into his new pair of pants, stopping along the way to check out the menus of the fancy restaurants to see where we want to have dinner.Tom and I are both hungry so we stop in at Cutters on the water by the Pike Place Market for lunch. WE again get sticker shock at the cost of food in a restaurant in Seattle. Three Jumbo prawns   $22. We must have been paying for the view of the Sound.

We walk back through the market for a bit of local flavor. Tom takes a deep breath and and comments on how good the smell of "ganja" is. We giggle as we pass the grunge dressed young people on the street,.  Not much has changed with regards to those hanging out in the city on street corners in 20 years. I was sad to see how many empty booths there were in the market. There weren't that many tourists either. The economy has impacted everyone.

   The hotel W is centrally located, with many restaurants within a block or two. It is extremely modern in the lobby. Reminds me of the Tree of Life in the Avatar movie, with strands of string hanging from the ceiling and tube lights, lots of reflective surfaces and mirrors. Huge pillars were supposed to represent trees. The hotel restaurant was called Trace, I assume as in leave no trace, which specializes in organic and locally gathered foods.

 The eggs at breakfast the next day tasted different as they were organic. I don't particularly like free range eggs as it reminds me of the time my pet chicken went off and hatched her babies.  Now I can't help thinking that someone killed the poor baby chicks to make my eggs. Give me the standard factory processed white eggs please, with no funky flavor. 

We spend the rest of the late afternoon the first day, in our room, until close to when our friends can meet us after work. We head to the bar for a glass of wine while we wait. Once our friends arrive the restaurant choice is made to go to the Capital Grill, a delightfully decadent steak house. The Steaks are $50 a la cart. We order an incredible bottle of wine, 2007 Feather.  I wont tell you the price. We were celebrating 19 years of marriage and a couple of years together prior to that. We made it through some challenging times.

 Tom took our marriage certificate to work to add me to his plan when we were first married and I never saw it again.  Thus the debate on whether it was 19 or 20 years, 1992 or 1993. Tom's first wedding ring had the date engraved in the band, but that ring had to be replaced after a golf trip. I smiled because I knew he would lose it eventually. He lost the wedding band in his first marriage. I had not spent a lot on that first ring in anticipation of it getting lost, as a result. The replacement ring is much nicer, with real gold nuggets set in the band. He keeps better track of his ring now, but the new one is not engraved with the date.

After a wonderful evening of delicious foods, we leave the restaurant to hit the wine bar across the street. WE still have the gift cards to spend at the wine bar. The waiter from the Capital Grill has called the wine bar to tell them we are coming. He even sends over an after dinner plate of stuffed dates. How he knew I loved  dates I have no idea. I virtually licked my plate clean at dinner the food was so good. He could have sent over anything from that kitchen and I would have melted. WE had lobster mac and cheese and asparagus and steamed spinach as our sides and nothing was left at the end of dinner.

At the wine bar I read the after dinner menu. They have a selection of  Grappa's from Italy. It brings back nostalgic memories of my trip to Europe with my step mom and little sister. My step mom took a year of Italian in preparation for that trip and flirted with all the waiters every night when we ate out. Often the waiters would bring us Grappa at the end of the meal just because we were so much fun to serve. Kind of like the waiter sending us a parting after dinner treat of stuffed dates. He also sent us away with two dessert bags. Tom and I tried ours once we finally made it back to the hotel room, a coffee double chocolate cheesecake that just melted in our mouths.

I saw on the menu that there was a Grappa from Portland,Oregon. I was so surprised to see the location I had to try it. It was smooth, delicious and I could not have improved upon it. A wonderful choice for after dinner drink. Grappa is sipped slowly and savored. I have been reading more and more about little hidden gems of local distilleries. I have now discovered a new one I need to track down, my new favorite drink.  I will remember fondly this anniversary evening.

Our friends had to leave shortly. Tom and I headed back to the hotel after buying one bottle to go in order to use up the gift card completely. A memento of the night. WE stopped at the hotel bar for one last cocktail. Just a Bailey's before heading up to our room. WE crawled into bed and bought the movie Battleship which is a silly action packed alien invasion kind of movie, spin off of Transformers but not. The anniversary ended as we fell asleep.

I called the front desk the next morning to tell them we would be late checking out. Our train did not leave until after 2:00pm. They arranged for a town car to drive us the 15 blocks to the train station. Tom read his book on the ride home. I looked out the window at the views. Our car was still there waiting for us when we got in. I loved the easy stress free fun of this anniversary. I can't wait until it is our 20th.