Alaska {Ketchikan}

Monday morning, we woke up in beautiful Ketchikan, Alaska

we immediately headed off the boat to find the Ketchikan Duck Tour, which took us around the harbor

 we saw so many fishing boats - many from home!

 smiles!

 our tour guide told us all about the town of ketchikan

 we saw a pretty rainbow....

 ....and were dive bombed every few minutes by seaplanes!

 there's something about beat up boats that I find quite photogenic

 later, we walked around creek street, to the famous dolly's house {an old brothel}

 we found houses on stilts everywhere

 which i also found quite interesting to photograph

 after that, shaun, sara, and i hired someone to take us out of town to see bears!

 while we failed at that mission, we did see many bald eagles soaring through the skies......

....a sea otter chasing fish....

....a pretty waterfall on the side of the road.....

.....and baby eagles high up in the trees.

we ended our first real day in Alaska with dinner and drinks on the boat, and a private karaoke room where i belted out several tunes, much to the dismay of my singing-mates :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Alaska {Setting Sail}

I have so much to share with you about our amazing trip to Alaska, so I'm gonna break it up so you can really share in the awesomeness of the trip :)  First up - leaving Seattle and hanging out on the boat!

gramps planned a pretty amazing trip for us - one of his many talents

 it was so perfect being able to board the boat just 10 minutes from my house!

 we explored and took in the views of the city.....

 .....and right away took advantage of the ultimate beverage package

 buh bye Seattle!!

 pre-dinner cocktails on the deck

 my new motto

 after several many drinks,we tore it up on the dance floor in Spinnaker, where we quickly became the only ones dancing {i wonder why....}

 everyday {weather permitting} there was a barbecue by the pool!  and they would lure us in with "we are having a barbecue by the pool" to the tune of "yellow submarine" - catchy :)

 so pretty out on the open water

 sunday afternoon, we headed up to the front of the boat, where we watched whales jumping and took naps in the sun

 i call this my cruisin' outfit :)

 after dinner sunday night, we hung out in Spinnaker drinking and dancing.  and kalliu bought us all tequila shots.  ouch.

while chillin' by the windows in the comfiest chairs, we watched more whales {that you can semi-see here} and made new friends

More tomorrow!

 

xoxo,

stephanie marie

Alaska

If this photo is any indication of the fun we had on our family cruise to Alaska, then you know you're in for a real treat this week :)  The fam and I just got back from a pretty amazing week cruising around up north, and I cannot wait to share with you all the details.  We saw some gorgeous sites, met some awesome people, and celebrated Grandpa in a way that I'm pretty sure made him very happy.  Hope you all had a great week!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Bon Voyage!

And we're off!  The family and I are heading up north to the great state of Alaska on the Norwegian Jewel for a 7 day adventure to celebrate our dear grandpa's retirement.  I'm hoping to see a bear and a whale, and I definitely cannot wait to sit back, relax, and read a few books while sitting on my balcony enjoying the gorgeous view.  It's going to be awesome :)

See ya in a week!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Elliott Bay Sailing

A few Thursdays ago, I got to do one of my most favorite Summer activities - sailing.  Autumn & Ryan invited me out on the boat for a Thursday night race at Elliott Bay - and it also just happened to be their anniversary!  It was a perfect Seattle night on the water - it was about 90 degrees in town, but the bay had an amazingly warm breeze that kept us flying across the water {and tilted a little more to the side than I'm comfortable with :)}.  I did my part by sliding from one side of the boat to the other when told and passing beers around to everyone on board :)  While I can't take credit for these pics {I stole them from Ash}, it really was just one of the most beautiful nights.  Being on the water in the summer is the absolute best place to be.  Thanks for the invite, Hellings!  Can't wait to go out again!!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

4th of July {Part 3}

And now - fireworks!  While the pre-show was a little anxiety inducing {so many huge fireworks way too close for comfort}, the main attraction was completely spectacular.  Norm really outdid himself this year - they took their whole dock and turned it into a barge full of fireworks that they floated out onto the bay.  The show lasted 14 minutes nonstop and once it got started, all eyes on the island were on that barge.  We're lucky enough to have it right out in front of us - there's no where else you can get this close to a show like that.  Pretty amazing :)

the barge on the way out

xoxo,
stephanie marie