5 Things I'll Miss About Seattle

No, I'm not leaving Seattle. When we first moved here, people always asked why the move to Seattle from New York. We had free airline tickets; we can always move back to New York if things didn't work out. We were tired of being broke in New York; we could never afford to buy. Jim's brother and wife were moving to Seattle after law school (they ended up moving to Portland instead). For whatever the reasons, Jim and I moved to Seattle and we've now been here for 10+ years.

I'm not prepared to call Seattle my permanent home yet, but there are good reasons to stay.

1. Seafood. I've really come to love eating fish out here. Nothing beats wild salmon. Copper River, Yukon River, King, Chinook... Plus Dungeness crabs. I'm only sadden that I can't find lobster rolls here.

2. Music scene. I enjoy listening to music and seeing bands. There are only a handful of venues and clubs in Seattle, and it's not hard to get tickets for most shows. I'm always amazed that bands are willing to make the trek up to the Pacific Northwest because we're so far from other major cities. If a band plays Seattle, they'll also appear in Portland, OR and Vancouver, BC. Once they leave this area, the closest "big" city is San Francisco or Minneapolis, depending on which direction they're heading. Of course, this is purely selfish reasons. And yes, there are lots of great bands from Seattle and Portland that I like -- Pearl Jam, Shins, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie...

3. Seattle Mariners. I love going to games here in Seattle. We actually started going to Mariners games when they were still playing at the Kingdome. We would trek up those ramps to get to the cheap seats in the upper levels and watch A-Rod, Junion (both pre-steroid) and the Big Unit. Jim used to organize baseball outings for Amazon's customer service, with 30+ people going as a group. The new stadium is great with awesome views of the city and the Puget Sound. We hope Iris grows up to enjoy baseball as much as her parents.

4. Weather. Yes, it rains in Seattle but you get used to it. Umbrellas are mostly useless unless you just want to keep your hair dry. Just pull up your hood and keep your head down. Don't even get me started about how Seattle deals with snow. Those are dark days in the city. But when the sun is out, it really makes you appreciate the beauty of the Seattle. No humidity. No need for air conditioning, unless you're in those new glass box condos downtown. No bugs, unless you're hiking out in the woods.

5. Ballard. It's hard to believe how our neighborhood has grown and matured since we moved there in 2000. We can walk to a movie theatre, cd store, 10 coffee shops, 4 sushi restaurants, 3 music venues, 4 pizza joints, a Puerto Rican restaurant, tapas bar, and an Oaxacan restaurant within 10 minutes of our front door. It's hard to beat that.