Frankie's Pizza

After arriving back in Seattle we went through the normal motions of cleaning the boat and getting her ready for our departure while Jason went to the office. We hit our favorite spots in the city with the added twist and addition of Pokémon Go to our lives. The boys were fascinated by finding poké-stops and Pokémon as we walked through the city.

When we were in Seattle at the start of the trip we had learned that our all-time favorite family-run pizza place in Redmond was scheduled to close in October. A developer bought the block and is leveling it to put in apartments. Frankie's Pizza is the quintessential family-run restaurant. We have been regulars there since 1998 and many of the employees from that time still work there. They are a tight-knit group of people who have become family through the years. We frequented there when the boys were just a glimmer in our eyes. The employees there watched, as first Isaac, and then Aaron grew in my belly. They watched as my sweet tiny babies grew into toddlers. At this point we moved to Montana but we had frequent trips back so they all continued to watch as my toddlers grew into bubbling boys and now finally young bearded men. Every time we come back to Seattle we go there for a visit and every time they welcome us back as old friends. Even the new employees have heard stories about the family who moved to Montana but still comes back to visit.

We are so sad they are closing so, of course, we had to go for one last pizza and visit. We made sure to go in on a day that Frankie would be working so we could say good-bye. When the boys were tiny he would bring them balls of dough to play with so the boys made a request for one last ball of dough. Much giggling ensued as they sculpted faces and tossed mini pizzas into the air.

After savoring our last Frankie's pizza washed down with a glass of wine, we took a round of photos with Frankie before saying our farewells. As we walked away it felt like a major chapter of our history had closed. Sigh. Thank you to everyone at Frankie's for so many happy memories, delicious pizza and making us feel like family.