I met my first friend on Bainbridge Island a few days after we arrived. We’d taken a break from unpacking to explore the downtown area of Winslow. The woman who rang up our purchases at one of the gift shops had a familiar accent. Sure enough, she grew up in Kentucky, practically down the road from my in-laws in West Virginia. As we chatted, I explained we were brand-new to the island. She told me she and her husband and their kids had visited Seattle and Bainbridge three years earlier and, when they got home, decided they had to live here. Three months later, they packed up their lives and moved.
It’s a common story.
