Cruisin’…..

On a Friday afternoon!

We had reasonably uneventful flights on Friday; we did have to get up at the crack of dawn to get to the airport for our flight out of Raleigh; we had good flights, though, and no trouble making connections. We finally got to Seattle around 1:30, and were at our hotel and checked in by 2:30 or so.

Once we checked in, we got a quick bite to eat at an Italian place recommended by the concierge; GREAT gnocchi that Peter and I split, Kathy got a really nice Bolognese sauce with fettucine, Grace got minestrone, and Dad and Adrianne got salads. We also got free bruschetta because we were from out of town! It was all really tasty.

After lunch, we walked from the hotel to the Space Needle. I love tower thingies, and try to go in them whenever I can. I even got my agoraphobic siblings to go up in the Stratosphere in Vegas! The Space Needle was fun; there were no rides on the top the way there are at the Strastosphere, but in my mind that simply shows good sense!

After that we went back to the hotel, then met up with Dick and Trina for dinner; tapas in the restaurant at our hotel. We then went upstairs to Kathy and Adrianne’s room, where they surprised us with matching shirts for the first day of the cruise! Yes, we’ve become one of “those” families!!!!

Today we were up reasonably early, had the world’s slowest breakfast at the hotel, but made it to the pier by 11. We got checked in, and were able to board by about 11:30 am; we stowed our luggage and went to the buffet on the Lido Deck (isn’t that just SO LoveBoat?) for lunch. We were able to check into our stateroom by about 1:30, and have spent the rest of the day exploring the ship, scheduling massages, and watching the water go by.

And so begins the grand Craddock-Cohen-Patnaude-Chow vacation of 2008