Happy New Year, everyone. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. The weekend of New Year’s, my husband, son, and I flew to the Bay Area spontaneously for a long weekend. We needed a family getaway before my husband left for a business trip, and we had some friends down there with a standing invitation to visit. After purchasing our tickets on Friday night, we left the next afternoon for a really special three-night visit.
Our hosts live about 25 miles outside of San Francisco, and visiting the city with my good friend who had grown up in that area reminded me of the hometown syndrome. As we crossed the Bay Bridge and looked upon Alcatraz, she pointed out that she had never actually been there. As one of the city’s major landmarks and tourist destinations, it was interesting to hear that my friend had had opportunities to visit and yet never did. That’s the same case with me and Seattle. Having grown up here, there are things that I just don’t do, places that I just don’t visit. They’re always here and always available for visiting–I suppose that’s the rationale. Or perhaps it’s that I just don’t think about them. Take Pike Place Market, for example. It’s one of our city’s big draws, and yet I haven’t been there in years. I think about it sometimes, but the logistics of getting there and parking usually squash my great idea for the day and I file it away into the “later” file in my brain.
When I started writing for The Flying Salmon early in 2012, I was excited about having an excuse to get out there and explore my home. Having readers who want to follow along and learn more about the Pacific Northwest through my experience is a great incentive to get out there and see the sites and experience all that this great little corner of the world has to offer. So, as I make my 2013 goals and resolutions, one of them is to grab my camera and get out the door as often as I can and truly experience the Pacific Northwest. I hope you’ll follow along!