How It Started

“People have been trying to leave the East Coast since they found the East Coast,” said CA Boy to DC Girl one summer Saturday afternoon. He was cooking turkey burgers with homemade tzatziki sauce and a tomato cucumber side salad. She had a free moment between billable hours. DC Girl bit into a tomato and pondered.

“What is it you miss the most?” she asked.

CA Boy thought.

“Mountains, fresh vegetables, good food, hiking, camping, real beaches, short shorts, snowboarding, skiing, life that doesn’t revolve around work, good beer, good wine, good fishing, the 49ers, my friends and family …”

His list went on.

“You know,” DC Girl interrupted after a minute, “we have a fair share of those things on the East Coast.”

CA Boy raised a quizzical eyebrow.

“I mean … we have the fall colors, apple picking, home made fish chowder, good food, good wine, good beer, the Red Sox, the Atlantic, interesting work, interesting people, dynamic cities, my friends and family, the mountains…

“I wouldn’t call them mountains.”

“What about the Appalachians?”

“Those aren’t mountains. Those are hills. You can’t even get above the tree line.”

“Okay, hills,” DC Girl admitted, “… but nice hills.”

DC Girl knew that there was going to be trouble the moment she saw CA Boy's apartment, several nights after their first date. Accompanied by several friends on a warm spring night, DC Girl arrived at CA Boy’s Adams Morgan home for a barbecue … and found a crowd of friendly people gathered round a veritable feast. Grilled tuna, lamb sausage, hamburgers and steak for the carnivores; salad, and Israeli couscous tossed with feta and green beans for their vegetarian friends. In CA Boy’s dining room was a table … that he had made. In his kitchen … there was camping gear, fishing rods and real tools (just like the ones she saw on HGTV). In his backyard … she found tomatoes and herbs. Growing.

For his part, CA Boy knew there would be trouble when DC Girl postponed their first date ... for a conference call.

CA Boy and DC Girl’s tale is a familiar one: boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy misses California. But that’s where this story really begins. Faced with the worst economy in a century and numerous circumstances beyond their control … CA Boy has just a few short months to explore all that the East Coast has to offer and, ultimately, decide to return to the work that he knows and the friends that he loves in California or remain on the East Coast, in our nation’s swampy capitol, for unknown professional challenges and a girl he has only recently met. But when life gives you lemons … you make lemonade. Or, in this case, a blog so that your friends and family, near and far, East and West, can partake of the adventure…

Just remember, dear readers, that CA Boy and DC Girl must remain anonymous for the sake of their professional reputations. So post, write, and comment away … but our keep our real identities safe!