Bellingham

I am going to be honest with you, readers, Bellingham has been on our short list since the very beginning. Why, you ask? It scores well in terms of livability, walkability, and has a definite left-leaning mentality that suits us just fine!

We drove up from Mt. Vernon for our first taste of Bellingham and ended the day with a walk through of an open house and a thorough search of Zillow.com for rentals! Let’s just say that she made an impression on us. 

We started by taking the scenic route and traveling along the Chuckanut Drive scenic byway. Even with the day that was quite overcast in the morning (we’ve GOT to find those raincoats!), we could appreciate the tremendous views of the ocean, waterways, and all that green! It felt like a red carpet was rolled out for us! Except it was a highway. And it was mostly green. But you get what I mean. 

We took the Chuckanut Drive up to the Boulevard Park. There aren’t too many parks that beat this one. You know how they say that realtors can tell if you are going to buy the house if you start talking about where your furniture will go? I did that a little bit with Boulevard Park. Immediately talking about morning runs and sunset walks that can start at the Woods Coffee Shop and ending at the Village Books. Yep. I pictured how our entire day was going to unfold. 

Village Books, Fairhaven

Let’s talk about Village Books for a sec. Ok. First. They have two bookshelves that I want to tell you about. The first is a bookshelf that has their best sellers. We had Where the Crawdads sing and Becoming, as, afterall, this is the summer of 2019 and that is what everyone seems to be reading. But, in the mix were three books about combating racism, books about places outside of the US, and a book about community building. The second shelf featured the books for FOURTEEN local book clubs!!! If I were the type to jump to assumptions about this town, as I am prone to do, I would guess that the town, based on the books it is reading, is a self-aware town that is trying to do right by the people who live here. What would you guess? I will bolster my proof by telling you that one of their book clubs is called Engaged Citizens. 

Of course, this hippie day wouldn’t be complete without a swing by the Bellingham Farmers Market. On this very day, we went to browse and research. See, a good farmer’s market is something I’d like in the next place I live. I love good quality food and I don’t care what you say, eggs from a local farm taste better than those at the grocery store. They have 100+ vendors and are open two days a week most of the year. The Farmer’s Market also participates in Fresh Bucks. Do you know about Fresh Bucks/Double Up Bucks? We all know that fruits and veggies can be expensive when on a limited budget. The program allows a customer to literally double their SNAP money to spend at Farmers Markets. Pretty cool. Tell the others. 

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