The beginning of reconnecting.

I deleted my (personal) Facebook. My first step to freeing myself from social media and coming back together with reality.  It’s something my wife and I had talked about for days and months. And for days and months we made convenient excuses; “How will we stay in touch with our friends? How will we know about social events? How will we stay up to date with what’s going on out there?” Maybe I knew it all along, and maybe it’s just coming to realization as I’m writing this, but “what’s going on out there” isn’t what is happening in your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter feeds.

Over these past few years, most notably the past year around the election and post election, I’d really started noticing the amount of decisive division on my feed of my fellow Americans.  I’ve always prided myself of trying to be as moderate and in the middle as possible with my views and opinions, politically and socially. I never wanted to conform to the “cliques” in high school. I went to my alternative high school for my final two years, because of the clicks.  Here we are in my adult life, furthering the “cliques” we thought we’d grown out of.  It disgusting, and still disgusts me, to see the amount of division in our country today.  It’s not just one side; liberal or conservative.  It’s coming from every side.  Yet, people can’t take the blinders off to even notice the amount of skewed views they’re being pumped full of.

Sometimes all you need is a little push.

Whether it be internal or external, sometimes all you need is a little push, a little inspiration. My wife and I decided part way into December after a very stressful few weeks already, that we were going to need a little break after Christmas. With us having a plethora of options living fairly central in the Puget Sound area of Washington, I proposed going somewhere we both hadn’t been. I suggested somewhere in the San Juan Islands since my wife had never been.  We decided upon San Juan island itself, as I had been to Orcas but never any of the other islands.  I’ve always felt a special connection to the San Juan’s.  I can remember camping as a little kid on Orcas with my family. I can remember going back and camping there as a young adult with my family and friends.  It has such a serene feeling for me, being on a remote island, that is far from what most people imagine when they hear “remote island.”  The San Juan’s are very much Pacific Northwest islands. They are rocky, mossy, with heavy treed and rocky beaches; nature galore. It’s inhabitants are nothing short of being Pacific Northwest islanders.  Some may say quirky, odd or reserved. Maybe it’s true. Either way, I consider them my people, even if I’m too attached to the city and being close to it.

Only a ferry ride away.

We arrived on the island midday, ran out to our little resort (Lakedale Resort) which is quite the impressive resort, with Yurts, cabins, glamping options and a lodge, which we stayed in.  We were pleased to hear when we arrived that we’d have the entire place to ourselves that night, seeing as it was a Thursday, right after Christmas.  They had a wonderful little package set up for the winter season, complete with some bubbly, local chocolates and fruit, and a nice bath package. We began our search of some food to eat for dinner, and much to our pleasure we found San Juan was chock full of very good looking restaurants. Unfortunately with it being winter time, many businesses on the islands cut back or close up for a little bit to get some much needed R&R after their busy summer months. We decided on Mike’s Cafe and Wine Bar, and let’s be honest, I saw wine bar and just said yes.  Much to my surprise when we got there I quickly saw everything was vegan. If you don’t know me, I’m very much a full blown meat eater, not that I have anything against Veganism or Vegetariansm, I just really LOVE meat.  Hungry and happy to have some wine after a bit of a long travel day, I plunged into the menu and decided on the Amatriciana Fra Diavlo, a penne pasta dish with some fake sausage. I quickly started piling the dish in my mouth upon arrival. Man oh man. I never thought I’d have a complete vegan dish with fake cheese and fake sausage, and man did it blow my expectations out of the water. The marinara was perfectly spicy. I didn’t even mind the mushrooms in it, and I’m not a big mushroom fan. After our bellies were full, another person stopped by the table to ask us how the meal was. I, of course in my typical outgoing, cheesy, Dad-jokescqe style, asked if he was THE Mike, and of course it was. I continued to praise the meal we’d just had and how wonderfully surprised I was by his Vegan meals. It’s the moments like this that I really cherish when traveling, whether it’s local or out of the country. Connecting with the small businesses and the people of the community of where you are, for me, it’s half the fun of traveling.

With the island being not quite at full operation and a few businesses being closed for the holiday or the winter time, we got out and explored a little bit of the other things the island had to offer. Driving around the island brought you a better glimpse of the history of the island, and the beautifully varying rocky, hilly, mossy and various species of trees that it’s nature presented.  We stomped around the shores of Lime Kiln Park and took in the beautiful scenery it had to offer (many of the pictures in this post are from there). We stumbled upon the American Camp, from when the island was inhabited by both British and American troops after the Oregon Treaty was enacted in 1846 and a boundary dispute still persisted. We read of The Pig War, that really was barely a war as it ended a bloodless war if you don’t count the pig that was shot, of 1859.

We managed to find plenty of things to fill the time and our bellies. We ran to the north end of the island to get massages at Afterglow Spa in Roche Harbor, a cute, quaint town on the island. They, just like our resort, were running a winter special as well and we got a very good and relaxing couples massage and tub soak for a very reasonable rate. We walked Friday Harbor, the main town on the island, and explored the few businesses that were open. Although the main winery on the island was closed the few days we were there, we did find the Island Wine Company, which sold wine from the region and world, but also bottled some of their own wine under their San Juan Cellars label. We continued to explore the culinary offerings throughout the 3 day excursion, finding a wonderful, fresh sushi place called Tops’l, a good little comforting lunch with a great view of the harbor at Blue Water Bar and Grill, and an amazing dinner at Downriggers in their newly rebuilt (2016) modern space since a fire in 2013 destroyed the original building.

We made a stop at the local bookstore in Friday Harbor called Griffin Bay Bookstore. It’s everything you would imagine it could be on San Juan – a little peculiar and a little eccentric. For a not so large sized store front, Griffin Bay offered plenty of variety and fantastic looking titles, and even managed to fit a small little barista stand in the back of the store. We walked out with 4 books, definitely the most I’d bought in my adult life, one of which being Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts RIGHT NOW, by Jaron Lanier.  Have I cracked that one? Of course not. But, I did crack The Year of Living Danishly, by Helen Russell. Although I haven’t read as much as I would have hoped since purchasing these couple books, it was the little push I needed. It motivated me to start writing again and to start this blog.

The beginning of reconnecting.

This has been a long time coming.  I’ve always had an attachment to writing since my early school years. English and creative writing were something I always looked forward to, but I’d never been really a good enough student nor a dedicated reader to really pursue any of it. And so it begins. My outlet and my hope that I can make a positive impact and change on the American society we’re living in that just doesn’t seem to value the right things anymore. And no, I’m not talking about your typical “American Values.” I’m talking about valuing our free time, our vacation time, to decompress from the amount of time we spend working.

Welcome to Redefining American Living. I hope this blog inspires you. Changes you. All for the better.