Rather than leave for the honeymoon right away, we stayed in downtown Seattle on the first night at the Inn at Harbor Steps. The room was spacious and luxurious, complete with a teddy bear on the bed! The bathroom was also well decorated and featured a 2-person Jacuzzi jet tub. The building that housed the inn joined a few other high rises in surrounding a lush garden courtyard area. Just below our window was a bench, designed to look like a toppled Roman arch. We ordered pizza for dinner because our caterers failed to follow through with their promise to send us off with some food from the reception. That night we also jacked into the hotel wired Internet so we could update Myspace and Facebook accounts to list us each as “married” :)
The next day we explored the Harbor Steps and had lunch at a Brazilian place named Ipanema. Their serving style was unique in that they cooked a variety of steak, chicken and pork and would keep bringing us samples until we turned over a paper coaster on our table, signaling that we have had enough. Delicious lunch though!
Seattle Aquarium and Moving in Together
After lunch we visited the Seattle Aquarium, conveniently located within walking distance from our hotel. I’ve always enjoyed aquariums so this was quite a treat. My favorite exhibit was the Lionfish, which I prefer to call the “pimpfish” for obvious reasons. The aquarium also featured a walkway with an acrylic ceiling and hundreds o fish swimming above. Theresa and I often look for photographic opportunities that feature “hearts in nature,” such as a heart-shaped knot in a tree or a heart-shaped stone, for example. We found heart shaped sea anemones here!
That evening, we headed back to our condo and spent the next three days opening wedding presents, putting up shelves, and hanging pictures frames that we’ll soon fill with our photography. Both Theresa and I decided that the most important married advice we can give an engaged couple is: don’t rent a Uhaul truck and move just days before your wedding date. Granted, it’s possible – just not very fun. Before we left for our honeymoon, we finished our bathroom, hanging a medicine cabinet (see the picture), two shelves for towels, and a series of glass shelves next to the sink. I replaced the pull-knob on the cabinet with one of our wedding presents, an Italian ceramic “Vario” from Deruta, Italy.
Seaside, Oregon – Flower Photography
The first stop on our honeymoon was Seaside, Oregon where Theresa’s family has a beach house. I remember this little town when I visited as a boy but didn’t realize it until we came upon the statue of Lewis and Clark after strolling the promenade. What I don’t remember was how nice the Seaside beach was! (Perfect for kite flying, which we did later). We will definitely be coming back here in the near future. Tourist towns are always picturesque and feature homes with neatly groomed flower gardens. This town was no exception and I had some great subject matter for my new lens. We used wedding money to finally buy a 50mm f1.4 prime lens since the picture quality is unbeatable. After borrowing one from my buddy Adam, I’ve been waiting until I could buy my own. My first run with the lens: flower photography in Seaside.
Seaside, Oregon – Strolling the Prom
The beach was amazing… and crowded, unfortunately. There was a big beach volleyball tournament going on the week we were there so the beaches and town were unusually full. After the weekend, the herds moved on and the beaches returned to what Theresa remembered from her childhood. Take a look at this amazing vista. The beach (upper left picture), and the beach & promenade (lower left picture). We also had waves of pelicans flying by in formation. They fly in a wedge shape so that the birds in the back need only exert half the effort of those leading in the front. Even in nature, teamwork results in collective laziness.
Seaside, Oregon – Posing by the Beach
The stunning setting of Seaside’s beach and my beautiful wife made me want to take some posed photographs of her. She wanted a few of me too.
Seaside, Oregon – Flying Kites
We played on the beach most of our first day there. Seaside is all about the beach and we were also a short drive from Astoria and Cannon Beach so we had plenty to see and explore. Theresa’s father loaned us a box full of kites and we put them all to good use. The beach had ample wind and plenty of space for maneuvering 2-string directional kites. We bought our own acrobatic kite from the local kite shop and took it out to the beach on our second day there. Here are some shots from both days:
Our Wedding Rings
We both love our rings. My wife’s ring was made in Italy and sold to my grandfather at the Rialto Bridge in Venice. It was a birthday present for my grandmother who wore it proudly for many years. Theresa loves the history of her ring and the fact that it is a family heirloom. Mine, on the other hand, was made more recently by a metal smith and artist in Bellingham, Washington. James Binnion is a master of the ancient art form called mokume-gane. The mokume technique was a natural evolution of the sword making process used by Japanese blade smiths. Katanas (samurai swords) were forged by layering steel, often called pattern welding, creating blades that were both strong and flexible. Mokume-gane rings feature layers as well, with striking wood-grain patterns of precious metal. We had James make my ring out of sterling silver and palladium white gold. The silver was necessary to have my ring etched, bringing out the texture in interwoven metal. Mokume-gane rings can be made with many different metal combinations, but I specifically chose a two-tone ring because of the symbolism of two lives being woven into one. The sun started to set as we took pictures of our rings. Just after we finished I was fortunate to get a nice shot of the sun beginning its descent behind the ocean grass.
Leaving Seaside
We had a wonderful three days in Seaside, but eventually moved on. We spent Monday driving along the Columbia River Gorge, stopping occasionally for photographs at vista points and waterfalls as we traveled from beach to mountains.
The Mountain Cabin
Our destination was the mountain cabin, mostly built by Theresa’s grandfather. The A-frame cabin is nestled at the base of Mt. Hood, just a two-minute walk from the Sandy River. I told my Dad about this place and we both have plans to fly fish the river – probably full of steelhead and salmon. The pine forest is thick and full of narrow trails leading along the river. This would have been a great place to photograph wildlife but we didn’t have that much time. Arriving after dark, we only had that night and the following morning.
The sky was clear that evening and the Perseid Meteor Shower turned the night sky into a van Gogh canvas. We took a warm blanket down to the river and star gazed for at least an hour while shooting stars streaked above the treetops. The warm cabin provided a cozy welcome as we returned from the riverbank. The furniture is all wood and the top part of the A-frame structure features a loft. There is even a cozy wood-burning stove – perfect for warming our feet! The next day, before we left, we set up the tripod and remote and took these shots in front of the cabin.
Washington’s Stonehenge
Leaving the cabin, we headed north into Washington toward our next waypoint, the Stonehenge Monument. The trip was full of irresistibly breathtaking views, and because of this we slowly worked our way toward our destination after countless stops for photography. In fact we took so much time to reach the monument that it was well after dark when we arrived! It was a beautiful night and the monument was empty until a gothic-looking Wiccan couple arrived, not too excited about our presence. Our guess is they were waiting for us to leave so they could “pray” to the goddess… so we took our time.
The Washington Stonehenge was not, in fact, built for Wiccan fornication. The design originated with Sam Hill, a local road builder who mistakenly associated the original Stonehenge with human sacrifice. He designed this monument to memorialize local fallen soldiers from Klickitat County, Washington who died in the trenches of World War I. The monument was supposed to draw a parallel between the human sacrifice of the past and modern warfare as a form of recurring human sacrifice to the god of war.
We knew our camera flash wouldn’t do much to light up the monument, so Theresa reminded me that the word “photography” comes from two Greek words meaning to “write with light” and suggested we do exactly that. Using the flashlight in my jeep, Theresa moved the beam back and forth across the structure to paint it with light while I held the camera shutter open for a minute or two at a time, experimenting with different exposures. As you can see from the final product, the monument is clearly visible and the stars and background are not washed out. (as they would’ve been if we’d simply used a very long exposure). Pleased with our long day full of photography, we promised ourselves one last time that we’d made our final photo stop before our destination. This time, we didn’t break our promise and drove a couple more uninterrupted hours until we arrived in Leavenworth.
Leavenworth – Washington’s Bavarian Village
The biggest different between Leavenworth in the winter (when we got engaged) and the summer (when we honeymooned) is the abundance of flowers instead of snow. The shops were all the same, so we didn’t do much shopping. We did return to a rock and gem shop we’d both enjoyed previously, and chose another ornament from the Christmas shop. We stopped in at a goldsmith and had Theresa’s ring cleaned. As the technician looked at it through the loupe, she could tell right away it was handcrafted in an antique style of workmanship. We bought several Christmas presents for family members, and strolled through some galleries and shops admiring hand carved wood and other handiwork. We also spent some time in the Cheesemonger’s Shop tasting cheeses and summer sausages, selecting bread, crackers, and spreads to prepare ourselves a summer feast. We intended to find a nice scenic place to stroll hand in hand and then have a picnic as we watched the sun set, but we changed our plans when we saw the mead…
Leavenworth – Our Room at the Pension Anna
The Cheesemonger’s shop also sold wine, including an uncommon type of wine called mead, which is made with honey. From my travels in Europe I learned about the ancient tradition of newly married couples consuming honey wine together (part of the origins of the term “honeymoon”) so I figured we should continue the tradition. Rather than watch the sun set over the beautiful alpine scenery, we returned to the Hotel Pension Anna to drink our mead, feast upon delectable crackers and chese and soak in our soothing Jacuzzi tub.
Each night we were in Leavenworth, we stayed in a building that had previously been a Catholic church. The town had outgrown their church and instead of remodeling, they chose to construct a whole new building. The old building was moved next to the Pension Anna, and converted into two guest suites. We stayed in the smaller of the two, the Pfaffenwinkl (Parish Nook) for the first three nights, and spent two nights in the larger one, called the Alte Kapelle (Old Chapel Suite). We were impressed with the Pfaffenwinkl, a large room with beautiful arched windows. But we were AMAZED at the Alte Kapelle. The first level of the suite featured a bedroom, bathroom, entrance area, and living room plus a wood burning stove and Jacuzzi. The second level housed a spacious choir loft with two twin beds and a sink.
While staying in the Alte Kapelle Suite over the weekend, we had “visitors” looking for Mass times, surprised to find a newlywed couple on their honeymoon trying to explain that the church had moved. We sent them to the office to get directions to the new Catholic parish, laughing at the fact that this must be a frequent event!
Leavenworth – The Sound of Music
Theresa had won a pair of Leavenworth Summer Theater tickets in an auction, and we were pleased to be able to use them while they were running The Sound of Music. After visiting Salzburg, the home of the original story, I was excited to share the experience with T in an authentic outdoor setting. In the opening scene, the audience turns around to see Maria frolicking and singing on the grassy hill above the amphitheater. Much of the story took place on the stage, with some clever set design, and in the wedding scene the audience played the part of wedding guests at the church, with Maria and the Captain walking up the aisle together as we clapped for the newlyweds. We were also the audience toward the end when the Von Trapp Family Singers had their farewell performance, and we were invited to sing along to “Edelweiss” when the Captain’s voice broke with emotion. Just as in the movie, the Von Trapp family escaped at nighttime. The stars were out and crickets were chirping as we watched them fleeing to the Bavarian Alps to escape the Nazis in the final scene.
The stars were shining during intermission too. Just before the sun had fully set, we noticed a bright light zooming across the sky. I immediately realized it must have been the International Space Station, but Theresa remained skeptical until we returned to our hotel room so I could log in to the NASA website to confirm my theory. NASA’s tracking data confirmed my guess when it showed the ISS trajectory passing right over us during the time of the intermission. My wife says I never cease to amaze her ;-)
Our Trip Home
Just like the first couple legs of our honeymoon roadtrip, the final leg was full of stops for photography. We spent some time climbing on boulders, passing the tripod back and forth as we found our footing, and grabbing some shots of each other and of the scenery. Our longest stop involved me wading into the middle of a stream to get a good angle, and experiment with different exposures and time lapse settings. It was freezing cold, but I’m so pleased with the images that I’d do it again in a heartbeat. While I was shooting the stream Theresa entertained herself by singing songs, skipping rocks, and watching frogs jump along the shore. When we got back in the car, she soon noticed the “odd pattern” on the odometer and took the picture you see here. It was a great honeymoon and we’ll be heading back to Leavenworth next winter.
