Enterprise staff
On a recent scuba diving trip with my boyfriend, Therin, we were doing our usual inventory of what the ocean had to offer that day, checking out a particularly large, brilliant sea anemone.
Floating weightlessly, calm and relaxed, I looked over at him through my foggy mask, our eyes met, and we smiled.
With my head squished tightly into the neoprene hood and my cheeks pooched out around the plastic mouthpiece so I resembled a sort of blowfish, I knew the smile was not because I looked cute. And a wet suit, weight belt and air tank is not very flattering to anyone’s figure, if you know what I mean.
The moment, however, was a perfect representation of who we are as individuals and as a couple; outdoorsy, adventurous nature-lovers who love to spend time with each other doing what makes us happy.
And the gentle whap-whap of the current and the bubbles of our regulators made it so we couldn’t say anything. But really, we didn’t have to.
So in my book, the most romantic place is 25 feet underwater, when you realize how lucky you are to have that certain someone in your life, and their eyes tell you, “ditto.” — Shanti Hahler
When it comes to romantic places, of course there’s a lot to be said for a cozy couch, a bottle of wine, maybe a roaring fire and that special someone. Or as comedian Flip Wilson used to say, when it comes to restaurants, “the booth in the back in the corner in the dark.” Really, anyplace can be romantic if the right two people, in the right mood, are together. But for me, the most romantic places have always been outdoors.
Six events/places currently stand out in my mind:
• The grass under a big tree in a quiet park near Puget Sound on a lazy September afternoon.
• A moonlit, rocky promontory in Jamaica.
• Green hillsides and cliffs along the Atlantic Ocean in England on a bright, windy spring day.
• The Glastonbury Tor, a hill in England where you can see for many miles, on another brilliant, windy day.
• Stonehenge.
• A beach on the northern Washington coast with a driftwood fire and spectacular purple-and-orange sunset.— Bill Sheets
My husband Keith and I met and fell in love in Italy over 10 years ago. All of our first experiences together were really over-the-top romance — only things most people get to dream about. We have also traveled much of Europe and parts of the United States together and have been on two cruises as well, all before starting to have children.
But, with all of these special memories and the moments we still create now — what moves to the front of my mind as the most romantic experience happened three times right in Edmonds, at Stevens Hospital.
It’s the first night in the maternity ward after giving birth to our three little girls.
We (I) were very tired, but both of us emotionally filled to the top, I physically hurting, no makeup, no wine, bad food and separate beds that were connected only by the tips of our fingers — trying to catch a little sleep, but too euphoric to do so, before that precious new member of our family needed our attention again.— Shannon Sessions
Sure, there are lots of places that are supposed to be romantic: the beach at sunset, a candlelit dinner with a waiter that doesn’t introduce themself and then run down the daily specials, punting on the Thames ( I’ve seen “Mary Poppins”).
However, I’d say it’s the company, not the place, that sets the stage for romance.
For me, the most romantic moment was amid the cacophany of the midway at the Puyallup Fair. I was with my wife-to-be, although I hadn’t yet popped the question. It had been a warm day but in the afternoon, the skies opened up and it just dumped. We weren’t dressed for rain but we just held hands and continued the date.
I was soaked to the skin, and never felt warmer.
— Jim Hills
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