Ahhhh, Seattle. I think I’m in love.
I’ve wanted to go to Seattle for the longest time. I’m not exactly sure when my desire to visit started. Possibly when I feel in love with Pearl Jam. Or maybe when I turned into a coffee junkie and discovered Starbucks. Or perhaps it was when I discovered there was more to music than top 40 and that much of this music came out or, or can be seen in, Seattle. Regardless, I’ve been dreaming of Seattle for a long time. And it did not disappoint.
Most of our trip was centered around music and food. We traveled by foot almost every where we went, and I think that burned off all of the extra food (and wine) that we ate, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. We saw [amazonify]B001VG177M::text::::The Soft Pack[/amazonify] (punkish and fun) and [amazonify]B002ON1DNY::text::::One Eskimo[/amazonify] (low key, but great music for a Sunday night) at The Crocodile. [amazonify]B002NT1DAM::text::::Manic Street Preachers[/amazonify] (disappointingly mainstream) with a surprising and quirky opening rock band (warning, music plays when you visit their site), [amazonify]B001QPA02G::text::::Nico Vega,[/amazonify] at Nuemos.
We ate at some amazing resturants, including Serious Pie, The Honey Hole and The Pink Door. We visited Pike Place Market. We roamed the city and walked much more than any normal person should when they are on vacation. And we fell in love. Especially with Fremont. I may have even turned to Dad-oo after we made the LONG trek from the Space Needle to Fremont, yes on foot, and said ”I feel like this is home”. If we didn’t have any any ties to Centra WI, I would move there in a heart beat. But if we ever tried to pull away from our family, I’m pretty sure that at least one Grandma would kidnap Eli and forbid us from moving. So for now, we’re stuck.
Enough about what we did. I know everyone is dying to know how Momma did apart from Eli for 5 WHOLE DAYS. And of course what Eli did with Grandma and Grandpa (coming in a later blog, there’s just too much to write in one post!). And the answer is, I did pretty good. There were some teary moments the night before, and the morning we left, since I may have woken Eli up before we leave at the early hour of 6 a.m. (sorry Grandma!) And it’s true that Eli was on my mind most of the time, and every kiddo that we passed on the street I turned to follow watch. I missed him terribly. But I also really enjoyed my time away. It was so great to just have time to do whatever. We didn’t have to worry about when Eli needed to eat lunch or take a nap. We didn’t have to be back to the hotel early for bed time. I didn’t have to lug around a diaper bag all day long. We could do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. And it was fantastic.
Dad-oo and I had a chance to reconnect and rediscover why we love each other. I can’t stress how important that was, it’s easy to to lose site of those things after you had a kiddo. We had a chance to enjoy being together, just the two of us. No agenda, nothing to get done. No projects or lists. No facebook or Twitter. No working. No blogging. Just the two of us. I don’t regret for one minute taking the time away from Eli. I know that it strengthened my relationship with Dad-oo, which in turn strengthens Eli’s family foundation.
So, we’re back. Almost, we still have another day with grandma and grandpa-in-law before heading back home for some much needed unpacking and laundry. I’m so tired of living out of a suitcase. But a little piece of me, and I think Dad-oo too, was left behind in Seattle. But we’re planning on going back every 5 years celebrate our anniversary, find some good music eat some fantastic food and dream about moving there someday. Yup, dream only. All of our friends and family can breath easy, we’re too tied down to move so far away.
I’ll try to steal some photos from the g-parnets-in-law before we take off to share with everyone. They had a jam packed 5 days. In fact, the first thing Grandma said when we walked in the door, before she even said hello, was, “My only request for next time is that you are gone for a whole week.” Good to see you too Grandma! 
