Visiting Garfield

Michael and I flew to Seattle a few days early for our Alaska cruise (posts coming soon, I promise) so we could spend some time with his good friend Garfield and family. Garfield was Michael's teacher at TJ (history, I believe) and they have kept in touch. They even went to Jamaica (Garfield's home) together with a few other former students once! We had a blast with Garfield, Eddie and their adorable children: Montrey and Sanaa. Activities included attending the local Duck Daze parade, riding to the top of the Space Needle and learning how to play Carcassonne. It was great to meet them and to have a few days to adjust to Pacific time before hopping on the cruise!

Ah, this brings back memories!

They stopped and did a routine right in front of us . . . so fun!

Proof that Michael occasionally get behind the camera

Sanaa, Garfield, Eddie, and Montrey

Yep, we're going to the top of that!

Nice view of Mount Rainier and the city

Ah, the beautiful site of industry

Somewhere down there is Melissa's favorite Chinese place

Is that our cruise ship? May be!

Proof we really went to the top . . .

And to Pike Place Market!

Another Rainier shot . . . this time from a moving vehicle

Opal Wedding

For Memorial Day, Michael and I took a mini-vacation to Nebraska. Now, if you are not a Nebraskan, this may seem like an odd destination . . . unless you happen to be a huge Taylor Swift fan and wanted to be there for the first North American concert of her world tour, held in Omaha! Woohoo!! Oh wait, we aren’t Taylor Swift fans and we weren’t there for her concert and we did have to deal with hordes of jay-walking teenage (pre-teen? They all looked young to me.) girls wearing ridiculous jean skirts and cowboy boots. Plus jacked up parking prices. Despite the takeover, we really liked Omaha . . . especially the steak. But I’m getting ahead of myself! Let’s start over . . . 

For Memorial Day, Michael and I traveled to Nebraska for the wedding of our dear friends, Deanna Sandman and Frank Opal. The wedding was held on Sunday in Lincoln, but because we were flying into Omaha, we stayed there at a hotel near the airport. Not only did we get to see Frank and Deanna tie the knot, we also got to catch up with good friends. Saturday, we were able to spend time with Justin Rucker (who recently moved to Arizona) and with Kelly Shepherd and Melanie Spradling (who is slumming in DC). Really, though, the highlight of Saturday was making the requisite visit to an Omaha chophouse. Yummy! Although, expensive! But, it was good steak!

Sunday, we woke early to go to the first service at Trinity Cathedral, so we could get to Lincoln early to spend more time with Mel and Kelly before the wedding. They ended up helping Dee get ready, though, so weren’t available as soon as we got there. Making lemonade out of lemons (or rather, wine out of grapes) we took the opportunity to visit a local winery. After the tour (well, really, just a tasting), there was just enough time to grab lunch with Mel and Kelly and head to the wedding. The ceremony was beautiful, the reception a blast and the attempts to blow up water balloons to decorate their honeymoon suite a truly dizzying experience. But enough of me jabbering . . . let’s get to the good stuff!

Hanging out at the Gene Leahy Mall in Omaha on Saturday.

Beautiful bride . . . guess the groom 'tain't bad neither!

Here's a PSA: water balloons are not designed to be blown up by air!

Houston Art Car Parade

Last weekend we went to Houston to celebrate the wedding of our across-the-street neighbors. Theme (bride) is Chinese and Kil (groom) is Korean. The wedding was held at a Chinese restaurant in west Houston. This area could be considered the Chinatown of Houston, so this was not an Americanized restaurant, but had authentic Chinese food . . . or, at least, there wasn't anything I recognized! Suffice to stay, I'll probably not be switching our diet to all-Chinese, all-the-time anytime soon, but we had a lovely time. Plus, the traditional dress was amazing! Theme was so beautiful. Don't have any great photos, but this is probably the best . . .


Since the wedding was Saturday evening, we decided to stay in Houston that night and go to the Houston Art Car Parade. the following day. Sunday morning, though, we decided to try out a new church. We have been less than thrilled with Christ Church Cathedral (beautiful, but heterodox) so we visited St. Martin's, just north of the Galleria. The church was large, beautiful (see below), and seemed orthodox. Added bonus: George Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury delivered the homily. Ahh, British accents!


After church, it was time to head to the Art Car Parade. This is something I've wanted to go to since I read about it several years ago. You can check out the link above for more info, but basically, anyone in Houston is welcome to decorate their car and enter it in the parade. There were lots of crazy entries, but here are a few that a) interested me or (more likely) b) I got a decent photo of:

Festival Time

Saturday was festival day in Beaumont. There are, oh, about 2 community events we like to attend every year and they were both on the same day this year! It made for one hectic, but fun day. Hopefully that'll be enough to tide us over until next year!

First up was the Mediterranean Festival, as hosted by St. Michael's, the local Eastern Orthodox church. While I generally think of Greek Orthodox, or Russian Orthodox, this church is of Syrian extraction. The food, as always, was delicious! We met up with some friends and enjoyed the outdoor dancing while trying to keep cool . . . a difficult proposition when the temperature was 84°F! (The worst part is that I know this isn't even near as hot as it will get!) When it finally was just too hot to stand (or sit), we went in the church for what was billed as a "church tour." However, much like the Greek festival I attended in Houston, it was more about proselytizing that history. And while I can't begrudge the church their opportunity to witness, I do wish there had also been some information regarding the church and building history thrown in.

Here are some pictures from the Mediterranean fun:

The always adorable Lininger family.

Audra is less than sure about this whole sunscreen thing!

Christina and Janel

Those dancers had to be roasting! 

Next up was the 4th Annual Beaumont Blues and Jazz Fest. The 2^nd Annual Beaumont Blues and Jazz Fest was one of our first dates (followed by a lovely late night sack at Easy's, RIP) and we have been coming ever since. We showed up a little late, due to the Mediterranean fest and were worried that we might have missed our favorite act. Fortunately, Jimmy Simmons had not played yet, so we were able to enjoy his band's musical stylings as well as several others. Although, here's a tip for next year's organizers: sporting dreadlocks, hailing from Austin and playing subpar rock music does not a jazz or blues musician make! Oh, and here's our vote for Howard and the White Boys. 

This was our view for a good majority of the afternoon . . . can't blame them though, that sun was hot! 

Fortunately, the umbrellas went down as the sun went down. 

 Which is better: smiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . or kissing? I know what my vote is! ;-P

The Liningers met us here too . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . clearly sans kids! 

As the jazz fest wound down, we all (including Elijah, who had joined us) headed over to New York Pasta and Pizza for a little sustenance and more great conversation. Overall, a very enjoyable day!