Welcome to Seattle

  1. The Angelis go to Alaska!
  2. Welcome to Seattle
  3. Day one, Embarkation
It seemed like we were in the air forever!

We hit the road to the airport on the 5th in order to catch our flight to the other coast for our cruise. Traveling through Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) is an experience and they’ve made a bunch of improvements recently. The flight west went without a bump and 5 long hours later we landed in Seattle.

We hadn’t made any plans on how to get from Sea-Tac to our hotel by the Space Needle and the price for an Uber for the 5 of us was a little higher than we wanted, so after a good walk to the light rail station we hopped on the train for the ride in to the city. It turned out to be a pretty decent way to see the city and some of the sights that it has to offer. We did have to transfer to the Monorail in order to get to the space needle though, but it was much easier to do than we had thought.

Bad Decisions Make Good Stories

Once we made it to the needle, we had a 5 minute walk to our hotel where we checked in and asked for some recommendations for a late night bite to eat. We ended up at 5 Point Cafe (which is open 24 hours a day and has a good menu and beer list). The girls didn’t really enjoy the atmosphere, but I thought it was great (and the portions were generous as well). Pretty wiped, we headed back to the hotel for the night.

Friday morning we had some time before we made our way to the port in order to catch our cruise, so we wandered around the Space Needle area and we caught a sight seeing tour on the Ducks of Seattle. This was a pretty neat way to see Seattle and the downtown area as well as the waterfront and some of the other areas of Seattle. Our tour guide was pretty good and knowledgeable about Seattle. We saw several famous sights such as Pike Place Market, the Gas Works park and the house from the movie “Sleepless in Seattle”. Perhaps the coolest part was when the Duck made its way from land to water. 

If it quacks like a duck…

After the Ducks, we had a bit of time to explore a bit more of the area around the needle and pick up some lunch before we made our way to the port for the start of our main adventure!

The Angelis go to Alaska!

  1. The Angelis go to Alaska!
  2. Welcome to Seattle
  3. Day one, Embarkation

This year was a big year for me (Mark) as it is my 40th birthday. I was content to spend it at home with Amy and the girls with a simple day off (maybe a trip to WhiteWater) and a small celebration with a couple of friends, however, Amy had other ideas.

She had apparently been planning a surprise cruise to Alaska since last November. As a travel agent, she’s usually on top of some of the best travel deals and had found an amazing deal for an Alaskan Inside Passage cruise and booked it without telling anyone.

Amy had to let Grace in on the secret in February so that Grace wouldn’t be upset when she wasn’t signed up for an orchestra camp she usually attends in the summer, and the two of them enjoyed planning the trip and keeping the secret from the rest of us.

Working like thieves in the night, Amy and Grace put together an album as a present for me. This album includes photos from our 20 years together and all the trips we’ve taken as well as other highlights of the past. The final pages were how they announced that we were going on a bucket list trip to Alaska for my birthday.

Look out Alaska, here we come!

Now that the rest of us were let in on the secret, we were able to plan and finalize our trip. 

We’d head from our home on the 5th of July to Seattle, WA, where we’d board the RCCL Explorer of the Seas for our cruise to the untamed frontier, exploring glaciers, the Klondike and some of the best that Canada and the Pacific North West have to offer.