Featured Seattle Refined Articles:
I write for a local lifestyle magazine, Seattle Refined, who is an affiliate with KOMO 4 news and broadcasting. My focus for their brand is local stories; who’s who, what’s happening, what’s new, and where to travel. Here is a curated list of the most recent articles with a few other stories to show the breadth of what I cover as a writer. Take a look!
Choo-Choose Amtrak Cascades for your next PNW adventure
‘Be the change’ at the Friday Harbor Film Festival
Review: ‘Come From Away’ at 5th Ave is powerful and personal
Preserving history (and a lighthouse) on Stuart Island
Looking to go to Canada? You will need an app for that.
Vegan and Hungry in Bellingham? Look for Sage Against the Machine
One Man Living His Literal Dream at Deception Pass Tours
7 Northwest Lavender Fields to Visit This Summer
Skagit Valley’s Viva Farms Wants to Create a Strong and Just Food System
International Mermaid Museum Opens in Westport Washington
Temperate Habits: A family-owned brewpub in the heart of Mt. Vernon
Chimpanzee Northwest: A Sanctuary of Hope, A Home of Love
Celebrate the Beauty and Bounty of the Earth at FinnRiver Farms
Alexandra’s Macarons: A French neighborhood bakery, right in Seattle’s Central District
A haunting history at the Palace Hotel in Port Townsend
Edison, WA: Home of the infamous ‘Brewstillery’
Travel Pieces
As a travel writer, I produce written pieces for publications locally, nationally, and internationally including Travel Awaits, Food,Wine,Travel, Well & Good, Seattle Refined, SkagitTalk, Welcome Magazine, 1889, Globetrotters, and Northwest Tasting Room.
With an easy style, I tell the stories of the people we meet, places we visit, and connections made. Sailing and traversing the waters of the Salish Sea is especially rewarding and I hope my stories from aboard Selkie, our 36 foot Canadian Sailcraft, are just as fun and enjoyable!
Here are links to a few favorites.
Travel Awaits:
3 Lesser-Known Islands To Visit In Washington State’s Beautiful San Juan Archipelago
The San Juan Islands may arguably be the most beautiful place on earth. With their rolling fjords and cerulean waters dotting the landscape of the Salish Sea, this ring of 172 islands is situated in the northwest corner of Washington State, not far from the 49th parallel and Canadian border. Three lesser-known islands in the San Juan archipelago are Sucia, Matia, and Patos Islands.
How To Spend A Long Weekend In Beautiful Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia, is located on the craggy southern end of Vancouver Island where it boasts a temperate climate all year long. It holds the seat of government for the British Columbia Province with its parliament building prominently overlooking the comings and goings of Victoria’s charming Inner Harbour.
As a smaller city, many of the main attractions lie within easy walking distance of the city center. This, along with its multiple gardens, picturesque architecture, and nod to old-English charm help make it a very beautiful city, indeed.
5 Fantastic Reasons To Visit The San Juan Islands During Shoulder Season
Go with the slow is a phrase used in the San Juan Islands referring to kicking back, taking the pace of life down a notch, and enjoying what the day brings. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I love everything the San Juan Islands offer outdoor adventurists, history buffs, artists, and wildlife lovers. My partner and I visit these beautiful islands frequently via our sailboat or hopping on our e-bikes and enjoying the ride aboard a Washington State ferry.
Wintertime, when the rush of tourists has vanished, leaving quiet streets to wander, is a wonderful season, also known as the shoulder season, to explore these islands in the upper Northwest corner of Washington State.
Food, Wine, Travel Magazine : IFWTWA
Recharge Your Spirit, Refresh Your Soul in Westport, WA
Ahh, the aroma of that salty sea air hits my nose as we head West out of the metropolis of the city and along Hwy 101 towards the Washington coast. I stick my head out the passenger side window for a moment, like a pooch sniffing the wind. We are on a long-weekend. Destination is the cozy, little beach town of Westport.
Westport is a fishing town, through and through, with a quieter beach area than some of the larger resort towns near by.
On an Incoming Tide, We Arrive In Friday Harbor
Numerous times I traveled to Friday Harbor, an eclectic town located in the middle of San Juan Island, WA, via the hour-long ferry ride from the mainland. But I had never experienced arriving by way of the San Juan Channel.
Our trip began with us hitting some very dense fog as we crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca that morning. But as we entered the San Juan Channel and progressed north, the skies cleared a little. We began to see a shoreline of these rolling fjords making up this archipelago of islands. Treelines became visible and we became aware of the shoal of porpoise following us, just off our port side.
A Couple of Colorful Pieces
A Haunting History at the Palace Hotel in Port Townsend
A Road Trip of a Different Color; An Intro to Our Sailing Trip
Road trips hold a sense of anticipation and excitement for that unknown but soon to be discovered thing. Sometimes they open our eyes to new places and our hearts to newly made friends. If we are very lucky, they open us too, to new possibilities and perhaps to dive within ourselves.
I am embarking on a road trip of a different sort, aboard a sailboat, and I invite you to come along! If road trips are to be like human wings then doing it by sail is the purest form of flying. The wind is literally beneath your wings and sails.
Welcome Magazine
Day Trip Cruising Leads to Fine Dining in these Port Towns
Boat travel is slow travel. By its very essence it requests the traveler to breathe deep and languidly let life sink down a few paces with each bobbing wave. And what better way to experience the Pacific Northwest than through its waterways?
An Island Getaway to Whidbey Island
Medium Articles
As a freelance writer there are many outlets and avenues to share my written work. Medium.com is one such outlet where i write a range of topics from personal essay to memoir to travel.
How a Family Bed Builds Strong Relationships
Or how giving our kids a soft place to land also gives us a chance to listen.
Walking through our small town, I stop in a local thrift store just to browse around, killing time. I push open the front door to be met with that familiar, old musty smell of well-worn objects and old books.
Meandering through thrift stores reminds me of the Island of Misfit Toys, the possessions others discard because they no longer fit into their ever-changing lives. Yet, even though these objects do not “fit” someone else, to another person they become an object of delight, even joy.
I survey the aisles, skimming my hand across a rack of jackets, picking up a dish or picture to put it down again and find my thoughts turning to my son Jace for several reasons.
Massage Therapist in the Time of Covid-19
Here you will find my account of being a massage therapist during this unprecedented time. This has been viewed and shared over 8k times on Medium.com.
LBGTQ
One of the verticals I write in from time to time is the LGBTQ vertical. There are articles shared here from publications such as Well+Good, LGBTQueeries, and a few from my blog on Medium.
Well + Good
Unconditional Love For Parents of Transgender Children
Becoming a parent for the first time filled me with a jumbled array of emotions—excitement, awe, and even a little worry. Would I do this right? Holding my newborn baby and looking into those deep, dark eyes, I simply fell in love. Everything else fell away. Love became the groundwork in which our new relationship would grow.
Most parents hold expectations for their children—at least, I have not met one who does not. Perhaps it is for our child to be successful in a career and financially prosperous. Perhaps the expectation is for them to love and be loved. Or maybe it is purely the hope that they will grow up to be happy.
These article’s are in conjunction with Pride month and takes a look at different issues from the inception of the gay rights movement to today’s LGBTQ+ struggles as well as the pros and cons of corporate sponsorship.
The Day I Picked Up His Banner and Walked with Him
A Mother First, Gay Rights Advocate Second
A Landmark Victory
Six Degrees from Stonewall Riots