Big Day with Kalakala

I was in Florida on a business trip several years ago when a wedding reception was held at the hotel where I was staying. Unfortunately, the happy couple apparently didn't realize that a science fiction convention was also taking place there that day. It probably wouldn't have been a big deal if not for the band of Klingon warriors, in full regalia, who insisted on presenting themselves as an honor guard when the wedding photos were taken.

The bride was not pleased, to put it very mildly.

Having unwanted guests on the Big Day can be quite distressing -- as some local brides have learned during the past year when they booked the ferry Skansonia for nuptials. The Skansonia is moored on Lake Union right next to the historic, but decrepit, Kalakala. That vessel's departure for Neah Bay -- already postponed from last Sunday -- couldn't come soon enough for the Skansonia's operators, P-I reporter Carol Smith reports today:

It's every bride's nightmare -- the uninvited guest lurking, like someone's Weird Uncle Al, in the corner of every photograph.

The profile is unmistakable -- the Neanderthal slope of its foredeck, the beady window eyes, the rust collected like cigar spittle along the seams of its face.

For brides getting married on the Skansonia ferry, moored next door on Lake Union, the hulking wreck of the Kalakala managed to put the proverbial rabbit ears over an otherwise postcard-perfect Seattle skyline backdrop for their weddings.

Get the whole story in Kalakala: The unwanted guest that won't leave.