Happy Birthday Omar!

Yesterday afternoon, on our way to the black tie Seattle Symphony Orchestra black tie Gala, (you can read about that here), Ken and I went to the Mercer Island home of Christine & Omar Lee to celebrate Omar's 60th birthday aboard their new boat, the Aqua Villa.  Since we knew the boat had taken four long years to build, we both looked forward to seeing it.

We were a little overdressed for the occasion and the beautiful 85' cruiser was out on a very long dock, which was problematic for Ken who is still planning his knee replacement surgery and for me as I had on very tall spikey heels which kept going between the slats on the dock, so had to walk on my tiptoes to avoid getting stuck while Ken leaned on me for support.  This is definitely a good exercise to challenge calf muscles!

Cathi, Omar, Randy & Sheila James, Ken

Once at the boat, it required some agility to actually board the boat because the aft step was a substantial step down and distance from the dock.  We decided that this was not a good idea for Ken to attempt to cross this chasm, so a chair was brought out on the dock for him to sit on, where he was served a glass of wine and proceeded to greet guests as they came and went.

Michael Ho, a good friend of the Lees served as a strong arm to assist people on and off the boat, so (sans spikey heels) I had the opportunity to tour the beautiful vessel and see the staterooms, galley and salons.  On the landing at the bottom of the stairs leading to the staterooms was a striking map of the world in intricate stonework on the floor and on the ceiling the celestial skies painted by Omar himself with tiny lights for constellations.

The Aqua Villa

There was a birthday dinner following which Ken and I had to miss this time, but most importantly we were so pleased to have the chance to wish Omar a very happy 60th birthday!