The tale of a castle, a ghost, and a murder…

I spent the past week at an offsite soirée in the tiny Olympic Peninsula town of Port Townsend. The meeting was part work, part team building…but 100% fun. This has to be the most creative team I’ve ever had the privilege to be part of…and they knew just how to occupy easily distracted minds like mine: play dough, a slinky, and (my favorite) orange sparkle pens 🙂

The team chose the historic (aka, quirky) Manresa Castle…built in 1878. (It was built as a grand residence at first, but also served as a “vacation place for nuns” and a “training college for Jesuit priests”.) The hotel is supposedly home to a ghost or two…at least that’s the story the bartender told us. I remain a skeptic. Nevertheless, the quiet location, cool evening breezes, and full-moon views of the shimmering Puget Sound made for deep sleeping.

The highlight of the week was the team’s murder mystery dinner on Thursday night. I had the good fortune to play a former high school jock, who married a popular cheerleader. Talk about fantastic typecasting 🙂 I wasn’t killed, and I wasn’t the murderer, but I did have a BLAST.

Here is a shot from the end of the evening. I’m pretty sure the team would agree this isn’t our most flattering pose…but definitley reflects the crazy side of the week. Unfortunately, the kind -but-impatient hotel staffer who took this for us shook the camera in every shot. Trust me…this is the best shot!!

(Thanks for a fantastic week.)

Let me wrap up a long week with a few shots on the ferry ride across the Sound.