Mount Vernon: The Break Up

in Mount Vernon, Washington

Mount Vernon is the county seat of Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,743 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. Downtown Mount Vernon is known for its annual Tulip Festival Street Fair, which is part of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The climate of Skagit County is similar to that of Northern France, with millions of tulips grown in the Skagit Valley. In 1998, Mount Vernon was rated the #1 “Best Small City in America” by the New Rating Guide to Life in America’s Small Cities.

Mount Vernon is the guy who’d do you no wrong. He won’t stray. He won’t cheat. He’s the kinda guy who makes you grilled cheese and tomato soup when you are sick. He wears khaki pants and sensible shoes. He is steady; he lives down the street from the house where he grew up. He is dependable. He is always there. 

And we to be swept off our feet. Mount Vernon not only won’t sweep us off our feet, Mount Vernon thinks that such displays of affection are frivolous. 

And with that revelation…

We hot-tailed out of Mount Vernon for Seattle. A mere 60 miles and, yet, a world away.  We traded tulips for tech. We upgraded from valley to lake- and ocean-side. We swapped sleepy for caffeine-fueled.  

And we couldn’t be happier. 

Mount Vernon gave us some wondrous gifts as any khaki-wearing, steady boyfriend would. We loved being situated in the lush, verdant valley where 1500 species (I counted) of squash and even more species of berry were at our fingertips. We loved, loved, the co-op and how they accepted our membership to our New Mexico co-op!  We adored the co-op restaurant that sits aside the grocery store and its list of twenty, that’s right, twenty local purveyors of all things delicious. We enthusiastically participated in the Farm to Pint passport and ale-trail that took us to twelve breweries in the valley and squealed when they featured us on their Insta (we are HUGE in the Skagit Valley!). 

Ultimately, we want to be in a bigger city. We did rural America in New Mexico and even though Mount Vernon was a bit bigger and had more to it (hello! A brewery for one!), we want more. More action. More restaurants. More people. More diversity. In fact, we found ourselves making the drive to Seattle so often that we knew we couldn’t be so close yet so far away. 

So, now, we are on to Seattle. And we are thinking of staying awhile, as long as she’ll have us. 

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