Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Secret Service in Kenmore!

Today Mike and I met our friend, Jackie, at Madison Park on Lake Washington for a day in the sun and swimming in the lake. This park is special to me because many years ago, when I worked nights as a bartender, I spent summer after summer after summer at Madison Park with several other restaurant-working sun bums. I have been back many times over the recent years, but this was my first visit since our return from Mexico. And I was not disappointed.



Right off the bat, Casey (one of the sun bums from years ago - smack dab in the middle of the top pic) spotted Jackie and me and he came over to talk. The sun was blazing and we spread out our blankets, towels and chairs for a lazy day. Jackie brought a picnic lunch from a local deli and soon enough we were chowing down.


Yesterday Puget Sound was COLD, but today Lake Washington was not too bad. Mike stayed on shore, but Jackie and I got into the lake and splashed around. It felt so good after sitting in the hot sun.


The floating dock has 2 diving boards..."in the day" I used to jump off both of them...but not today. Oh, and Mr. Bill Gate$' mansion is just to the right of the bridge in the far background...

It wasn’t long after our 2nd swim that we heard a loud BOOM. And then another BOOM. Everyone on the beach was looking around at each other and it was an eerie feeling. Mike and I knew President Obama was visiting Seattle today and we immediately wondered if the booms had something to do with him. I remember looking up in the sky toward downtown, hoping I would not see a plume of smoke originating from that area. Like many Americans, I never really forget about watching the Twin Towers and the billowing smoke on 9/11. However, soon enough the beach activity was back to normal and we didn’t think much more about it.

It wasn’t until we were home and watching the evening news on TV that the boom question was answered. We learned that a pilot in a small Cessna floatplane had inadvertently entered the “no fly zone” that was in place for the day due to Obama’s visit. The floatplane’s activity sent a pair of F-15 Eagle fighter jets from Portland into the air, causing the sonic booms we heard at the lake.

The Cessna landed at our own Kenmore Air marina. And that’s when the Secret Service arrived. They interviewed the pilot and his passenger and determined that it “does not look to be anything sinister at this point” – although the pilot may face sanctions due to his actions.

Wow. Secret Service in Kenmore.

And another wonderful day in paradise. Thank you for lunch Jackie – we had a great time with you!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

you are really making the best of this great weather-good for you. thanks to your post on alki, a friend and i are going to go there next week. i've never been to madison park, so i must check it out as well. you are a wealth of information. thanks for posting about these places.

i heard about the sonic boom on the news. i feel for that pilot and hope he does not have to end up paying a fine.

i'm off to make a flan now. i'm going to cook steve the same cuban dinner i made 2 days after we met almost 33 years ago-black beans and rice, porkchops, fried plantains (tostones) salad and of course, the flan as they say, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. i can hardly believe tomorrow will be 29 years since we got married. for his birthday on thur. i'm going to take him to arnie's in mukilteo. my plans for teatro zinzanni fell through so we will do that another day.

enjoy the rest of the week.

teresa

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

Teresa - Lucky you to go to Alki next week. I hope the weather holds out. The trail is nice and flat - perfect for walking or biking.

We ate lunch at the Bamboo Bar & Grill (right on Alki Ave) and I would recommend it - sorta "Jimmy Buffett-like" in Seattle.

Your dinner sounds wonderful. I hope you have great anniversary and birthday celebrations. Thank goodness for our men!

Anonymous said...

funny you should mention that restaurant because we were wondering what would be a good place to eat over there. thanks for the tip.

going to make steve breakfast and serve it to him in bed. it's been a while since i've done that so what better day than on our anniversary. yes, thank God for our men.

teresa