The final prediction from last week was pretty darn close. Only five points off. Just one more field goal and a safety. That’s the only way I can think of getting 5 points. After seeing the final score (23-10) you have to know that the game was a blast for us! We had over twenty people in town for the game, enough Bengals fans to occupy an entire top corner of the stadium. I could have done without the rain. I definitely could have done without a few of the fans in the stadium, but for the most part Chiefs fans are welcoming and kind. We only had one beer bottle thrown at us this year, which was better than the elbow that I received last year. I digress though, the season opening victory was glorious!

We were a little worried in the first quarter of the game, but once the Bengals tied the game at 3 and then went on to an impressive 14 point second quarter, we were loving life. With the score at 17-3 at half we could already begin to taste the victory. Obviously things took a turn when Trent Green went down. I hope he gets back on the field soon, I already have tickets for a Chiefs game later in the season. One thing Kansas City needs to work on is their offensive line. The Bengals had seven sacks yesterday. On the opposite side of the ball, the Bengals all looked pretty good and I don’t really have any complaints about their performance. This was much better than the last time we watched the Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium.

Hear that Bengal growling, mean and angry…

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend, I know I did. Here’s a summary of what we did while in Washington.

We arrived in Seattle pretty late on Wednesday so we found the hotel and rested up for the next day. Thursday started with a trip up Queen Anne Hill for coffee and views of the city. Both the view and the drinks were great. I only hope that my panorama shot turn out as good as this one.

From there we headed down to the Pike Place Market. It was still pretty early in the morning but the market was already fairly crowded. We didn’t want to spend too much time there and couldn’t really buy anything so we just watched the guys throw some fish around for a few minutes. From there we walked down to the water and bought tickets for a Argosy harbor cruise along with the aquarium. I’m really glad we took the cruise. It provided great information and wonderful photo opportunities.

Later in the evening we walked around Seattle Center and before too long called it a night. All the walking we did and the time change got the best of us. We still managed to see pretty much everything I wanted to see and did it all in one day.

Friday morning we left for the Gorge. The drive there was very scenic as we drove through the Cascades. After a couple of hours we arrived at the campsite. Getty’s Cove sits right on the Columbia River and there is even a bridge you can jump off of into the river. It’s a great place to stay when seeing a show at the Gorge. Speaking of the Gorge, it is everything you expect and more! The view from the seats truly is incredible. The shows were amazing and I’m so glad I can finally say that I’ve been there. When can I return?

I finally sorted through my pictures from Wakarusa and put them up on the site. There are some good ones of Virginia Coalition and some other various shots from the weekend. Honestly I should have taken better advantage of the press pass I had to get some killer pictures but often I was too busy drinking the free beer. A better camera probably would have helped as well. I think that’s the second time I’ve used that excuse though. Anyway, check them out here if you have the time. I also added the full list of bands that I saw to my show database.

Speaking of pictures…

If you didn’t already notice, I added pictures for both the wedding in Greensboro and our trip to Minneapolis and St. Paul. Some of the wedding pictures turned out okay, mainly because of where we were sitting in the church, but as you’ll see I still need to work on my low lighting from a distance photography skills. Most of the pictures from Minnesota are outside and thus much cleaner. Maybe one day I’ll upgrade cameras to something a little more powerful…

After working a shortened day on Friday I flew out to Minneapolis and met up with Kim. She was already in town on business and had part of our first night planned. She decided that we should have dinner at Maynard’s on Lake Minnetonka after taking suggestions from the agents she met with. We arrived to find a two hour wait for the outside deck so we opted to eat inside and just have a drink outside while waiting for a table. The lake areas around the twin cities were especially crowded due to the unseasonably warm weather. The food was good but I was especially happy to stumble upon a beer that I loved, Summit Extra Pale Ale. I had quite a few of these throughout the weekend.

After dinner we headed to downtown Minneapolis where the hotel was located. After a quick stop by the room, we headed out to an area just north called Nicollet Mall. My favorite stop of the night was Brit’s Pub. In fact we liked it so much that we went back the next day. They have an incredible rooftop deck that includes a large grassy area where they play lawn bowling. When we arrived on the first night it was too late to see it being played. We went back the next day hoping that we would be able to play, but we were only able to watch since they had reservations already for most of the day.

I’m getting ahead of myself though. Early on Saturday we headed out to the Uptown area and Lake Calhoun, which is not nearly as far out as Lake Minnetonka. We had lunch at Figlio and then spent some time walking around the lake. There were tons of people out walking, running, rollerblading, biking, or just lounging in the sun. I guess Minnesotans really take advantage of the nice weather since they are likely cooped up all winter.

After getting a little too sweaty for vacation we explored some more areas of Minneapolis including the Metrodome, St. Anthony Falls and Heritage Trail, and the Warehouse District. While in the Warehouse District we had a drink at O’Donovan’s Irish Pub, followed by standard bar food from the Imperial Room. Later in the night we checked out the Shout House for an hour or two. The long day caught up with us though and we headed in before closing down the bars like we had done the night before.

Sunday we checked out of Minneapolis and into St. Paul. Before we did that though we headed to Minnehaha Falls for great sights and more trail walking. After feeling our legs burn once again we headed towards St. Paul. Once we were checked in, we finally made our stop at Mickey’s Diner for some good greasy food. From there Kim convinced me to check out Body Worlds with her. After getting over the disgustingness of the exhibit you can actually learn quite a bit about the human body, although I’m not sure I ever got past the almost puking stage. After that I was ready to get back to the normal routine. We made a couple stops for drinks and then had an excellent dinner at the Wild Onion. Once we finished dinner we were pretty worn out once again so we decided to retire for the night.

After checking out yesterday we drove around the Minnesota Capitol building and the Cathedral of St. Paul. Both were incredible sights to see and I hope that my pictures turned out okay. From there we drove back down toward the airport and made a couple of long stops at Ikea and the Mall Of America. This was my first trip to an Ikea store although I’ve heard lots about it in the past. We found all sorts of things that we loved, but unfortunately couldn’t take them back with us on the plane. We almost bought a new coffee table but decided that the extra charges wouldn’t be worth it. The Mall Of America is also an amazing place that words cannot truly describe. It is so large that I think we covered only one fourth of it and we were there for a couple of hours.

Obviously we had a very busy weekend but it was a great one. I really enjoyed spending time in the twin cities, especially in downtown Minneapolis, and hopefully I can do it again sometime soon. I have always counted Minnesota on my states visited list even though I only drove through the southeastern corner. Now I feel that I can truly say that I’ve visited Minnesota.

I’m back from a nice extended weekend in Greensboro for Kim’s cousin Jessica’s wedding. We took the first flight out of MCI at 5:45am Friday morning and after a delayed stop in Atlanta we were arrived in Greensboro. Immediately Kim was busy with a bridal luncheon and then the rehearsal. I spent most of that time lounging around the hotel pool and later met up with her at the rehearsal dinner. After eating a great meal and hearing a few toasts everyone went back to the hotel for a little after party.

Kim disappeared early on Saturday morning to get her hair done and then for pictures. I spent the afternoon at the pool once again. This time Kim’s brothers all joined in on the fun. Later we raced some go-carts and then rushed off to the wedding. I took some pictures from the front row of the church that I’ll have to sort through this week. It was a nice wedding and everyone looked great! The reception was later in the evening and was a lot of fun. Kim’s brother Jason had so much fun that he broke his foot while dancing all night long. Congratulations once again to Jessica and Ryan!

Well the long home buying process is finally over. After signing a bunch of paperwork, we now have the key to the house! We are officially homeowners.

Once the closing was complete we headed over to McCoy’s for a few celebratory pints. Phil and Doni met up with us for dinner there and then we all drove over to the house. Doni took some pictures that I’ve added to the site. We checked everything out once again and gave our first tour.

Now the real fun begins. This weekend is the official cleaning, packing, and moving weekend. Can’t you just feel the excitement?!?!