TRAVELING

Accidental Tourist Bought Two Books

Village Bookstore in Fairhaven, Bellingham was a magical place.

Fairhaven is an old part of Bellingham City, Washington State. It takes only two hours by car from Seattle, but I had never been there until this weekend.

The historic district of Fairhaven stretches no more than several blocks. After having lunch at the hotel restaurant overlooking Bellingham Bay and Lummi Island, my husband and I parked our car on 11th street and began meandering. Getting lost was our main purpose for this weekend’s getaway.

“I’m cold. I want a cup of coffee.” “Oh, it says there is a coffee shop upstairs. Let’s go in.”

We didn’t even know that the building was a bookstore. We got in the elevator and went up to the second floor. There on the left-hand side was a display of a huge chocolate cake and the counter for ordering drinks, and on the right-hand side were shelves and shelves of books.

While I was waiting to order our coffee, my husband went ahead to find a table for us. He got a small table by the window. Next to our table was a larger table with nobody sitting. Why not enjoy the larger space?

I walked up to the table and found the sign. It said, “ THIS SPACE RESERVED for writing workshop tonight from 5:45–7:30. “

Beyond the large table was a counter also overlooking the window. It was “Writer’s Corner.”

Just because I’ve been writing on Medium for just over 70 days, I felt as if I’m entitled to be called a writer and that this coffee shop was MY place!

I also remembered somebody wrote on Medium that you have to read twenty times as much as you write. OK, it’s a sign. I have to buy books here!

I have never been an avid reader of English literature. It still takes me twice as long to read in English compared to reading in Japanese. Fictions have never been my cup of tea. But my compulsive reaction was to purchase two classics by Mark Twain.

The magic of Village Bookstore in Fairhaven.

I’m encouraged to travel more, thanks to Destiny S. Harris’ article.

Originally published at https://akemisagawa.com on December 19, 2022.