Weekend Review: good times in the City of Destiny

This is Tacoma, Washington. I love Tacoma.


Friday I woke up at 3:15 in the morning to fly out of Raleigh at 6:30. I arrived at Sea-Tac airport at 11:15am and Andrew picked me up and drove me to Tacoma. We picked up Katie (Andrew's wife, and one of my best friends from college) and went out for fish and chips. After that I was very sleepy, so I took a nap. When I woke up we had tea and played Scrabble (I lost), and then another couple came over and we played Settlers of Catan.


This is Andrew and Katie. They are cute and married. I love them.


Saturday we slept in, then made a nice big breakfast. We drove up to Seattle and after a stop at Crate and Barrel we went to a fun neighborhood called Fremont. We ate lunch at a nice Thai place, then walked around visiting little shops. We also stopped by the organic chocolate factory for free samples. Then we drove over to Capitol Hill (another neighborhood), picked up Katie's sister and her boyfriend, and went to get coffee. Afterwards we dropped those two back off and drove back to Tacoma. Katie made dinner (she cooked a lot, and it was always good), then she and I walked to a fun little bar, where I got a fancy champagne and honey drink.

Sunday we went to church, and it was nice to see a few old friends. We ate lunch at home, then went for a walk down along the waterfront (that picture at the top is a view from our walk). I used to walk down there all the time, and I miss it. Next we went to the Metropolitan Market, a fun fancy grocery store with lots of free samples. In the evening I went over to my old Bible study leader's house for dinner with her and her husband. Later that night Katie and Andrew and I walked to the Parkway, my favorite place in Tacoma for drinks, and had delicious beer. We talked and laughed and had a great bonding time, which we continued back at their apartment until 1:30 in the morning.

Here I am with Katie on our walk.


Monday I stopped by my old workplace and visited with the boss for a few minutes, which was fun. I then went over to UPS to visit two professors. It felt a little funny because I drove straight to the sub parking lot, walked across to Wyatt to see them, then walked straight back and left, just as if it was two and a half years ago and I'd gone to class. I then met back up with Katie for lunch, and we stopped by the UW-Tacoma store downtown so I could get a Tacoma sweatshirt (thanks to my Grandpa who told me to buy a sweatshirt while I was there so I don't forget my heritage). While Katie went back to work I went to a coffee shop to do some history reading. It was fun to still feel slightly connected to Tacoma, because I knew the owner, and I overheard the kids next to me mention my ex-boyfriend. From the coffee shop I walked over to Wright Park to check out a manuscript library museum, but it was closed. I then walked back to Katie's apartment. After Andrew got off work we went out for a happy hour dinner, which was really good. We then drove to Seattle and picked up her sister to take her out for dessert for her birthday. I got the bread pudding. Around 9pm we left Seattle and they dropped me off at the airport for my overnight flight back to Raleigh (via Chicago).

In conclusion, I had a great weekend. I didn't go with big plans or an agenda, I just wanted to hang out with Katie and Andrew and enjoy Tacoma. We had a fun and relaxing time, and the weather was beautiful. I'm already trying to figure out how and when I can get back to the City of Destiny.