Last night yielded so many great photos I just have to share several of them right here.

I quite literally ran out of things to do at work yesterday and, honestly, I left half an hour early at 4:00 more out of sheer bordeom than anything else. Danielle already got off work at 3:30, drove the 20 minutes to the Tukwila Light Rail Station, and took Light Rail from there to Pioneer Square Station, which is right by the Smith Tower -- quite literally: I had walked down the north entrance to that station after busing down there from Lower Queen Anne, waited through about three Light Rail trains before Danielle's finally arrived at 4:45, and when we walked together out the south entrance of Pioneer Square Station, I looked up and was like, "That's it right there!"

But then I had us cross the street to go stand atop the "sinking ship" parking garage so we could get the above shot, which turned out pretty fantastic if I do say so myself. I love the angle and I love the happy accident of catching the bird flying by.

I can't remember now when exactly I heard they had renovated the Chinese Room on the observatory level of the Smith Tower, which used to be quite empty, albeit still available for renting out for special events (and still is, although I have no clue where in the building that particular photo on the current web page was taken). I want to say I first heard about it last year, maybe a year ago? Turns out it was opened with all the current, comparatively elaborate renovations in August 2016, so, about two and a half years ago.

Having taken Nikki, Becca and Tristen in turn up in 2008, 2011 and 2012, respectively, it had been seven years since I had last gone up -- I didn't even realize that much time had gone by; it seems like I've gone up so many times. (Last night was, by my count through my photo albums, my sixth.) Learning about there now being a bar up there, though, I was all about getting back up there! And, after Laney balked because it's too high for her fear of heights on the 35th floor (even though next month she will go to Happy Hour with me on the top, 16th floor of the newly opened Graduate Hotel in the U District; I don't know why 16 floors up is okay but 35 isn't but whatever), Danielle was the perfect choice.

And, guess what? I didn't even think about what perfect timing it actually was to meet there when we did -- because not only did this turn out to be the first time I was ever up the Smith Tower after dark, but thanks to it also being the first time I've ever gone in winter, we saw the sunset while we were up there! It was truly spectacular. It was full daylight when we arrived; they told us we had to wait to go up with the 5:30 group when we arrived just before 5:00; they called the 5:30 group actually at 5:15.

And we spent well over four hours up there. Somewhat to my surprise, Danielle was especially enamored with the entire experience. A big part of that, I realized later, was that because she was without the kids this weekend, she was glad to have someone to hang out with. She also really enjoyed being able to get some one-on-one time with me, as did I. It was just nice all around. And, Danielle got some great shots herself of the sunset just as the sun was cresting behind the clouds and Olympic Mountains.

The only drawback, which was honestly minor, was realizing when I got home that I did not meet my budget, but had actually gone about $20 over. Oh well! As Danielle was saying just last night, "You only live once!" And she was all about getting the food we had (which was a little expensive, but very good), and the two cocktails each (ditto), all of this on top of the $20 paid for the two of us to go up to the observatory to begin with -- and that with a 2-for-1 Groupon. Turns out I was only saving $4 rather than $10, though; I somehow missed that although regular price for tickets is $20 each, Washington resident price is only $12.

They do also sell an annual pas currently, though, and I am so, sooo tempted to get one. Just like the couple of times over the past two decades they have done this at the Space Needle, it costs about a hundred bucks, but I could so very easily squeeze the greatest value out of it: it provides unlimited access to the pass holder (minus a few blackout dates), and a guest. It doesn't provide free food or drinks in the bar, but it does offer a 20% discount, including on alcohol. With my budgeting otherwise so tight, I resisted the urge, but god damn it, I want that pass. I may revisit the idea again in a couple of months if they are still selling it.

And, check it out, you can actually see the Space Needle straight up Second Avenue from the Smith Tower! (You have to stand right at the northwest corner of the Smith Tower observatory to get the above view of the Space Needle, which means you cannot see all of the Smith Tower from the Space Needle, but if you look closely at the photo of the opposite view, you can find it.)

This is probably the best of the full-skyline view shots I took looking north from the observatory (and you can still see the Space Needle in the distance to the north). I took more after dark but none turned out quite as good as this.

We had such a good time, it was hard to leave, even after being up there for so long. We bundled up and spent some last moments out on the observatory outside after we finished at our table, but not before Danielle caught sight of a digital photo both, which took one of the greatest photos ever taken of Danielle and me together. I just love, love, love this photo:

And holy god damn, is my hair gray or what? I often delude myself into thinking it's actually still blond -- some people even refer to it that way still -- but Danielle's really is blonde (treated, but actual blonde nonetheless) and the contrast when my hair is right next to it is pretty stark. Although I still quite like the look of my hair anyway. So there!

Anyway, I really need to head down to Olympia for Dad and Sherri's 35th anniversary dinner soon -- and I haven't even captioned any of last night's photos yet! They are edited, tagged and uploaded, though, and you can see the entire 69-shot photo album on Flickr here. That's by far the most photos I have taken of just one visit at the Smith Tower, by the way. But, it was also the best visit there I have ever had. Totally recommended!

Danielle was all about keeping the party going, and so we took Light Rail back to my place on Capitol Hill, and she wound up staying overnight in the guest room. We each had two more drinks at home -- I made her two margartias doubles, at her request, but my own Hot Buttered Rums, I deliberately paced myself, only putting one shot in each one. I hope you're proud of me, Shobhit! The two drinks I had at the Smith Tower were actually pretty stiff drinks (I love the phrase our waitress kept using over and over: "spirit-forward"), and they had both used diferent liquors. Actually the second one had rum which was partly why I chose rum drinks at home.

I'm not exactly hung over today, but close -- I don't feel great. I feel progressively better as the day goes on. I don't know if Jennifer will expect us to drink when I stay overnight at her place tonight, but if so, I may have just one light drink at most. I'm not eager to drink much again today, if at all. And I'll definitely be drinking with Jennifer when she comes to stay the night here next weekend.

Anyway. We didn't book anything, but Danielle and I did make some progress on trip planning. She was also kind of demanding of me as a host -- she really wanted a midnight snack, which I don't have much with which to make. She took some veggie corn dogs from my freezer. We hung out a little bit this morning -- last night she was talking about going out for breakfast, and I did not want that added expense right now. I made us scrambled eggs and bread for breakfast and she was actually very pleased with that. She did also want coffee but, as it turns out, we had pretty much none left. There were a few coffee beans that could be ground but Danielle declared it wasn't enough to be worth trying. "I'll live," she said, or something to that effect.

She left once I started getting ready for my day. I already have the guest bed sheets washed and the bed made up again, all ready for Jennifer next weekend.