seattle

the last few times i was in seattle, the weather was quite fickle. it would rain, be sunny, then rain again and so on. this time, the weather was absolutely perfect. after arriving, burchard and che-hung led us to a sushi restaurant they visited last time the orchestra was here. between 4 and 6 p.m., many places have "happy hour" sushi, making it $1 each piece. so of course, we went nuts.

today, a group of us went to pike place market for breakfast. while eating, we had a beautiful view of the bay, the cascade mountains and mt ranier. afterwards, we walked around the market area. it was fun to see all the fish, flower and fruit vendors, and even the original starbucks.

before leaving for tour, chris deviney organized a softball game against members of the seattle symphony. needless to say, we were victorious. burchard was definitely our mvp after hitting 2 home runs. it was so much fun to get to know our new friends in seattle.

the softball game clearly worked up our appetites so after getting a recommendation, we headed to another sushi restaurant. fortunately, they also had happy hour sushi!

i had been waiting to play in benaroya hall after hearing so much about it. 4 of my wife's cousins as well as several friends were in the sold-out audience. i could not believe this was our final performance before heading back to philadelphia. afterwards, maestro eschenbach hosted a dinner for the musicians, staff and donors back at the hotel. it was a perfect way for the tour to come to a close.

each concert on the tour was great and very well received. i had so much fun and hope those of you who could not be w/ us were able to catch a glimpse through our orchestra's blog. see you all back in philly!