Sweet Home Alabama

Well, I've been home for over twenty four hours, but my body is still on Pacific time! Hopefully, I'll get accustomed to Central Time again soon.

Seattle was a great experience. In addition to the places I've already shared, we also took a ferry to Bainbridge Island where we ate (of course) and shopped. It is a beautiful little island and I wish we'd had more time there. We also worshipped on Friday night at Temple B'nai Torah where a friend of Jeffrey Ballon's is the rabbi. They had a lovely "contemporary" service. They were celebrating the Sabbath, a Bar Mitzvah and a baby naming.

Our final evening in Seattle we met with the leaders of the Northwest Interfaith Community Organization (NICO). They have a radio program on talk radio about interfaith issues.

Our flight home was uneventful (yeah!) and now I'm simply glad to be home!

The Ultimate Seattle Experience?

What do you think would be the ultimate Seattle experience -- Drinking Starbucks on top of the Space Needle while looking at Mount Rainier? Eating King Salmon on the waterfront? Or listening to indie rock at the Crocodile Cafe? Whichever it is, I've now experienced it!

Last night, we closed the Crocodile Cafe after listening to two really good independent bands: What Made Milwaukee Famous and Aqueduct. And the best thing about music in Seattle is that the clubs are non-smoking! Jim, Alice, Robin and I rocked out until 1 a.m. this morning--which at our age we think is pretty darn cool! The Crocodile Cafe is owned by a member of REM and has a reputation for featuring future famous acts.

This afternoon, we visited the top of the Space Needle. The day was beautiful. I understand you can only see Mount Rainier from here 50 days out of each year and we've been able to see it for two days straight. The spot in this picture that looks somewhat like a triangular shaped cloud is actually the snow top covered peak of Mount Rainier, a volcano located over 50 miles from Seattle. It was beautiful. And yes I had a skinny latte from the Starbucks on top of the Space Needle.

Then tonight, we had dinner on the waterfront and I had wonderful Salmon (thanks to Joe Estes who told me I had to try Salmon on the West Coast)!


When I spoke to Craig today, he wanted to know if we were doing anything theological. And I assure all of you that we are doing something more than eating and listening to good music. Last night, we worshipped with the community at the Church of the Apostles in Fremont. The average age for this congregation is 27! And they are doing some very innovative things in worship and community building. This picture shows their worship space, which for the Easter season is divided into family rooms. They had great music (in fact their worship leader is the one who recommended the Crocodile Cafe to us), icons, candles, Eucharist, and instead of a sermon they had discussions of scripture in the family groups. Then we had dinner with the community and visited with their pastor/abbess, Karen Ward.


This morning, we worshipped with the Interfaith Community Church. They meet in the oldest continually worshipping church in Seattle. The group is a very big mix of just about every faith tradition imaginable. We also had a meal with them and visited for quite some time with them.

Needless to say, I'm very tired and on my way to bed!