Falling In Love

I was always a bit boy crazy, and if you read through the journals of my youth, most of my journal can be split into sections of which boy I had a crush on. I fell quickly and easily. Earlier this month, I experienced that falling again, but this time with a city.

I've been fortunate enough in my life to do a fair amount of travel, making it as far East as Egypt, but never very far West. For work, I was finally able to head to the West coast and spend five days in Seattle.

To start, I'm not a city person, this is not new information. Being downtown in cities makes me feel anxious and overwhelmed, and I can only handle city life for a few hours at a time. But Seattle? There's just something different.

Inside the city, I could still see greenery, everywhere. There were vines growing on the buildings, gardens and green spaces, I could see the water, and beyond the water I could see the mountains. Nature is my calm, it is one of the best ways I have to relax and it naturally reminds me to take deep breaths.

Then there was the walkability factor. My hotel was right downtown, and so of the 5 days I was there (not counting to and from the airport), I took a cab once. Just one time. Otherwise, I was able to walk everywhere I needed to go and everywhere I wanted to explore. There's something about the vibe of the city that just says, "Walk around and explore me!"

Day one was my first day at Pike Place Market, which I could compare to Westside Market here in Cleveland, but it's more like Westside Market on steroids. It's huge, bustling, delicious, breathtaking, and I ended up there four days because there was always something new to see, to taste, to try. Pike Place Market was my second favorite thing in Seattle, and iconic for a reason.

The fresh seafood was absolutely to die for. Both states I've lived in have been landlocked, and being able to eat seafood caught that morning is a special little slice of heaven.

I didn't get to experience all the nature that the surrounding area had to offer (since I was sent for a conference for work, I was actually expected to attend the conference. Weird, right?). But I did get to spend one glorious afternoon out on Puget Sound whale watching. And it was, by far, the most exhilarating part of my trip.

Pictures don't do justice to the beauty of that place, and I could easily have spent hours more out on the water.

When I arrived home, I actually felt homesick for Seattle, I felt so seamlessly connected to that place.

Seattle, I adore you, and I cannot wait to return.