Four casinos and a wedding

Ok ok so I'm playing with the title....it really is, by sequence, a wedding, crossover, and four casinos. More than a week ago I made a quick trip down to California to attend the wedding of an old friend of mine. It was a private ceremony so we really didnt get to see the bride and groom until the reception, which was done in a beautiful private residence in Atherton CA.

A few days after, my mom, dad, and brother paid me a visit. This was my mom and dad's first time in the Pacific Northwest. We made the standard Seattle stops on day 1 with the Space Needle and Pike Place Market. I sadly made the wrong estimation of not making any arrangements with the rotating restaurant, so we just went straight to Pike Place Market and then just had a late lunch at a Mongolian restaurant near my place. Before night's end, we travelled to Anacortes WA to get close to the ferry terminal.

The following day we got on the ferry and spent a day in Victoria, Canada....visiting primarily Butchart Gardens and downtown. My mom loves gardens so this was a real treat for her. We had a few hours before the return trip so we went to downtown Victoria and just walked around the wharf. The ferry ride back had a stop at San Juan Island and this reminded me of another return trip from BC that was at Lopez Island. It was that stop that planted a vision of the island in my head and not too long after that I was back at Lopez for my first kayak lesson.

Back in Seattle, the next day, we drove to Tacoma to the Museum of Glass. It had been just my second trip to Tacoma (the first was at Point Defiance) and first time at the museum. The highlight of the place was the Hot Room where there is a demonstration of glass making. This must be really popular in the winter time with all those furnaces!

On the last day, we had breakfast at Anthony's Homeport in Kirkland, then went to the Museum of Flight, where my mom and dad got to read up on a lot of history of not only Boeing, but aviation in general. Notable discoveries: a Corsair (from Blacksheep fame), an SR-71, Air Force One (the old one), and the Concorde.

Oh....and yes.....just in case you were wondering about the casinos. My mom loves playing the slots.....so even though it wasn't planned, we went to a different casino every night (midnight to two is what my mom considers the "magic hours"). We visited Tulalip (near Marysville), Angel of the Winds (near Arlington), Emerald Queen (Tacoma), and Snoqualmie (North Bend).