Quarter of a Century

Robb and I took this past weekend to ensure that my 25th birthday was an extravaganza of local activity. I normally don't make a big deal out of my birthdays, but I feel turning a quarter of a century old warrents a weekend full of birthday fun.

Friday night we headed to Pike Place Market to eat dinner at The Pink Door, which I heard good things about for months. This Italian restaurant had some pretty good food. I ate gnocchi with yellow bell pepper sauce and Robb had wild boar. Mmm. Dessert was a phenomenal chocolate martini. After The Pink Door we headed to Unexpected Comedy, a comedy club also in the Pike Place Market neighborhood. We went to an improv show called Theatersports. It was a blast! And, they take audience suggestions and I won a prize (tickets to come back, a book of fake tattoos, and a mini-rubber chicken) for the suggestion that led to the best sketch of the night!

Saturday was a Federal Way day. We saw two movies at the $2.00 theater, one right after the other. (Enchanted was fun and pretty darn good. National Treasure 2 is exactly what you think it's going to be like.) We also enjoyed my delicious German chocolate cake from Metropolitan Market.

Sunday was gorgeous, so we headed to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma. This zoo is in a beautiful setting, in the middle of Point Defiance Park, overlooking Puget Sound. It was a beautiful layout and really neat to see aquarium animals and zoo animals at the same time. Beluga whales, super-cute sea otters, tigers, gibbons, reindeer, elephants, etc. were all represented. It seemed like a small zoo, but we were able to go around to the exhibits and catch presentations by the employees. We learned a lot about belugas, tigers, and elephants.

After the zoo, we drove around Point Defiance Park. There is a five mile drive around the park through beautiful trees and along gorgeous cliffs. Hiking trails were everywhere. We hope to go back soon to try the hiking trails. We like hiking in the summer, but sometimes Mt. Rainier is just too far to drive. So now we have good hiking a little closer to home.