Seattle / Staycation / 4th of July!

At the end of June, we flew out to Seattle to meet up with the entire Irving/Harris clan for Gregg's cousin AJ's wedding. We stayed in an incredible house in West Seattle with a spectacular view of downtown. It was great to be with the family again, especially little Preston since he'd grown so much in the 6 months since we'd seen him last! We completely lucked out with blue skies and 75 degree weather each day. Seattle sure left a good impression!

Downtown from the Master suite

Morning run down by the water

View from the deck. Downtown on the left, Mt. Rainier on the right

Did a few touristy things like taking a ferry to see the fishmongers at Pike Place and the very first Starbucks

But sightseeing can really take it out of you!

The wedding was in a beautiful repurposed industrial building called The Foundry

Everything was spectacular and we were so happy to be a part of AJ and Emily's unforgettable weekend! 

Even P-Man got in on the dance floor action!

The following weekend we planned a staycation to celebrate our three year anniversary! We had heard about the William Vale hotel through one of Meg's bookclub friends.  It had an awesome view and a big pool! Two things that were a must :)

We checked in early Saturday morning (after Gregg's LAST night of call at the hospital!! And is now officially Chief Resident!!) so we could get some good pool time in.   They had lounge beds on the terrace which we were able to enjoy until our room was available around 2 pm.

We had early reservations at the rooftop bar, Westlight, for a drink before we headed to dinner downstairs, Leuca.  Both were amazing spots and we didn't even have to leave the hotel!

We got back to the room right as the sun was setting in New Jersey but a thunderstorm was soaking Brooklyn. It made for an eerie, apocalyptic scene but soon cleared up and gave way to a beautiful evening.

Downtown and Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges

Midtown. The Empire State Building was bright red.

Vale Park (public but part of the hotel) directly below our balcony

Hanging out at the pool the next morning with Midtown in the background

After lounging at the pool on Sunday, we decided to head to Greenpoint Brewery where Gregg tried out a flight of IPAs.  Although we intended to check out more of Greenpoint, it was about 90 degrees and we had some 4th of July prepping to do.

For the Fourth, we had a few friends from the Bay Area over at our apartment for dinner and firework viewing from the rooftop.  Meg made an awesome spread of "watermelon sparklers", fruit salad, cowboy caviar, and pork tenderloin sliders. Delicious!

Fireworks everywhere!

Listening to Lee Greenwood's "Proud To Be An American"