This past week Matt and I traveled with the United States Naval Academy's Men's Glee Club on their fall tour to Seattle. It was a trip jam packed with concerts, school visits, and fun! The trip started with a 6am flight (and a 3:30am bus ride) from
BWI to Seattle (via Houston). Saturday night the
mids sang at a Catholic mass at a beautiful cathedral in downtown Seattle. This is a photo of the
mids warming up before the mass. They received a standing ovation at a mass!!!! After church, we went out to eat with the
Boones....a couple who had a son who attended the Academy and graduated in 2008. Their son was also in the Glee Club and they actually attended every single concert the club did from 2004 to 2008 when their son was in the club...each and every one...Mr Boone is a retired airline
pilot which makes it a little easier to jet off all over the world! They treated us to an amazing dinner at
Elliots - a famous seafood restaurant in Seattle on the water. I had
dungeonous crab cakes. I didn't think I could like anything better than blue crab (Maryland style) crab cakes....but these were rivaled them!
On Sunday the club sang the National Anthem at the Seattle
Seahawks game. It was military appreciation day, and there was a color guard, a giant American flag, and a
helicopter fly over. This was the first time I have ever been on the field for a professional football game...the grass is way different than I thought it would be. We were able to be on the field early and saw all the players warming up too....very cool! There is A LOT of stuff going on at the beginning of football games....mascots, cheerleaders,
referees, players, photographers, camera men....everyone milling around....crazy, but exciting!
After the Anthem, we went up into the stands and watched the game. I thought this was a beautiful picture of the scoreboard against the skyline. On the other side of the stadium there was an amazing view of the water.
After the game, we did some touristy stuff. We went down to the Public Market and walked around. They have the most amazing fish and produce stands at this market....I would kill to have markets like that around here. We even tried salmon jerky and kiwi berries (looks like a grape, tastes like a kiwi).
We had lunch/dinner at a cheese shop named
Beechers. They make the cheese fresh at the shop. This was probably the most delicious meal I have ever
eaten - that's why I took a picture! It is a
panini filled with two types of fresh cheese, basil and tomato, fresh, homemade mac and cheese and a local
rootbeer.
After lunch/dinner we had to stop next door at the FIRST Starbucks! It was established in the market in 1971...and started it all. It's a cool place - you order at one counter, they write your order on a cup, and throw the cup across the whole store to the other counter where the
baristas are...too fun! Of course I had to take my picture with the plaque!
The sign outside the first Starbucks store. Notice her "special" areas are not covered by her hair in this picture like they are in every other Starbucks logo....funny! Guess they had to make some changes when they went national - and international!
After our market excursion, we met up with Ken and Angel - our friends from Charleston - who now live in the Seattle area. We shared a beer, some crazy stories, and a great time. Miss those guys! It was great to see them!
Our last stop in the market was the Pike Place Fish Market. This is the one that is always on TV. One of the guys stands out front and helps customers with fish. Once the customer decides on a fish, the guy throws it to a guy behind the counter to wrap up. The guy behind the counter is "supposed" to catch the fish in butcher paper. I think it normally happens....but the fish, being thrown at FULL SPEED.....sometimes miss!
On Monday, the club did a high school visit in the morning and a big concert that evening. The concert was held at an Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Seattle. It was a packed house!
After the concert on Monday, we went out for some drinks and some fun with Aaron (the director), Amy (his wife),
Garrettson (the other O-rep) and Becky (his wife). Some of the
firsties joined us halfway through the night. We shut down the bar after a few great games of pool and many more drinks!
On Tuesday the guys did 2 high school visits and then wrapped up the tour at the Boeing Museum of Flight. We started the evening with a tour of the Museum. Aaron, Amy,
Garrettson and Becky were on the exhibit of Air Force One with Matt and I....as we walked out the door of the plane, this is what we see! Some of the
mids waited for us (in the pouring rain) and gave us "sidebars" as we exited the plane. The one and only time this will happen for all of us, I'm sure....I gotta say, exiting Air Force One with 9 military members
saluting us is really really cool. Those guys are so awesome and you can tell they really love Aaron, Matt and
Garrettson! The only thing missing was Hail to the Chief playing in the background.
After the tour we had a delicious meal catered by McCormick &
Shmick. The guys did one last concert for the parents club and some potential candidates after dinner. Then it was back to the hotel to pack and get a little sleep before another 3:30am bus ride to the airport. It was a great trip. Those guys are so fun and I never get tired of the concerts, even after hearing the songs 100 times....the guys are just that good! Can't wait for San Francisco this spring!!!
Well, we are in NYC today and tomorrow hanging out with Daddy while he speaks at the Merchant Marine Academy to do some SWO - Nuke recruiting. (Thanks Derek for choosing Matt to go to NYC!) We hardly ever get to NYC during the week, so while we were here I decided we just HAD to go down to the Today Show and see it live. For those of you who know me, you know I absolutely LOVE the Today Show and watch it every single morning! Here is a pic of Jack and Daddy at Rockefeller Plaza. Right before this photo Lenny (for those of you who aren't loyal Today Show watchers, he's a guy who is in the crowd every single day...holidays, fowl weather, everyday!) said hi to Jack and asked how old he is!
Well, it really paid off that Matt wore his uniform down to the plaza today! We got pulled out of the crowd by a security guard and he basically stayed with us all morning and gave us a personalized tour of the entire set! We got to stand right where the anchors go in and out of the building and BE ON TV!!!!! We met EVERYONE!!!! 
Meredith Vieira was the first one to come meet us. She thanked Matt for his service and talked to Jack for a minute - telling him how cute he is! Props to Grandma Ballengee who knitted Jack's hat....everyone said "what a cute hat!" After our photo with Meredith, we were escorted inside, onto the set and we were able to stay on the set while they had a live segment on - about Michael Jackson's stuff that was going to be auctioned off. Meredith came over and talked with Jack (and us of course) for like 5 minutes. She grabbed his feet and made him smile and laugh! And if you watched the Today Show this morning, during that segment...and heard a little baby squealing, that was Jack! We quickly left when he got vocal! While we were watching that segment, we met two Biggest Loser contestants. Then we went down to the Green Room to see where everyone gets primped and beautiful and met Jillian Michaels from the Biggest Loser and Sandra Bullock! As Sandra Bullock walked by us she looked at Jack and said "Oh, what a cute baby! I love that hat!". Then we walked over to the control room and saw the craziness that happens in there (we were inside, so cool!) during the live show. 
After our venture inside, we went back outside and were able to watch a few more outside segments and get our picture taken with Al Roker.
And another picture with Ann Curry. Ann shook our hands and gave me a hug!!!!!!!!!! She is absolutely the NICEST person! Ann and Meredith are nicer than I could have ever imagined. Meredith talked with us and played with Jack for the longest time. And, after this photo, Ann (who, by the way, is still in the middle of taping a LIVE show) took us inside again with her, took us back to the Green Room, sat us down, showed us where to get a coffee and a bagel and made sure we were comfortable and told us to sit in there and watch the show where it was warm. I was totally blown away at how incredibly sweet everyone on the cast and crew were! The security guards asked all the stars to come over and take photos with us and put us in situations where we had the experience of our lives! Almost all of the people on the crew had been in the military at one time or another and we got to learn all about their time (or their kids') in the service. Everyone thanked Matt for what he does...really sincerely too. The security guard we were with, Phil Hughes, was a retired police officer. He has been with the Today Show for two years and said it's the best job he could ever have - except for getting up early and being a little cold in the winter! He told us to come back any time we are in the city...and I think we will!
While we were meeting with Meredith, Jack grabbed her script from her and started playing with it. I managed to wrestle it away from him after a few minutes and handed back to Phil, the security guard, thinking Meredith might need it back. After a couple minutes, Phil came back over to us and handed me back the script....Meredith wrote Jack a personalized note on her script. Hopefully this picture is clear enough to read. I can't even begin to tell you what an amazing morning we had....a chance of a lifetime! Really! Even if I wasn't a faithfull Today Show watchers already, I would be now. Everyone was SO NICE! They definitely didn't have to treat us the way they did....especially being so busy....but everyone (and I mean everyone) on the set took time to say hi to us, pose for photos, and give us an amazing NYC trip! No wonder they are the #1 morning show...they are just as sweet in person as they are on TV! As soon as we got back to the room (after a Starbucks run of course), Jack immediately fell asleep....I mean, who can blame him....nothing can top this day...might as well go to sleep now!
In case this isn't clear, it reads " To Jack - Matt Lauer better watch out! Jack is a real pro. Actually the two have something in common. Matt wears diapers too, and cries when he's sleepy. All the best, baby xoxoxo Meredith Vieira"
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