Perspectives of a Traveled Canuck

… because I don’t know what else could be making the difference.

Tonight, I went to Vivo, a cool Italian restaurant that leases space from the Hyatt in Cleveland. Earlier, I had met the restaurant manager, who was sorting wines in their back room. He let me browse and we chatted about wines for a while. He suggested that I come back during their happy hour to try some of the wines. When I did, I sat at the bar which happened to be serviced by a cute bartender. As the evening progressed, we chatted and I (somewhat) flirted. I wasn’t certain at this point but I was pretty sure he was gay. When it was time to go (I was expecting JR to call soon), I told him I wished I had met him earlier in the week as I would have totally asked him out and that he should visit me in Vancouver. He smiled and told me he would call me if he decided to go for a drink after work.

What’s wrong with Vancouver? This last couple of weeks in Cleveland and DC given me more dating opportunities than I have had in xxx years in Vancouver… and tomorrow night, I sorta have a date back in DC! I love Vancouver, but seriously!

Well, the past few days have been really great… I mean, REALLY great!

The problem with being on the road working is that you’re out there, by yourself, with few opportunities to socialize with familiar faces. Sometimes, you feel isolated and don’t want to do anything. And then, there are days like this past Sunday and Monday.

I had a day off on Sunday and was scheduled to fly out to Cleveland the next day. I decided to book a room in Washington’s Dupont Circle, at a very nice and affordable hotel called Jury’s Washington. Situated in downtown DC and right in the heart of Washington’s gay district, the hotel was in the perfect location for me to just do nothing. After a little bit of shopping, I had a “local’s day”, one where I did what other locals typically did. The Sun had come back out and it was warm and beautiful. I grabbed my book, got an iced coffee at Starbucks and planted myself in front of the fountain in Dupont and read/people watched. After being there for a couple of hours, a guy by the name of Ken (no, I wasn’t hearing voices) came up and we started chatting. A nice guy. I decided to take him up on his offer to go for a bite later. After a nice dinner with decent conversation, we went to a couple of local bars and met with some other DC locals, all very nice guys. It was a day where I felt I wasn’t so alone and fully enjoyed the opportunity to socialize with some new friends.

The next day, after putting up with an hour delay in my flight’s departure, I arrived in Cleveland. I mean, “what the heck is there to do in Cleveland?” I kept asking myself. Well, as it turns out, the hotel I am working on is right downtown and is very close to some very cool restaurants and bars. I decided to go for a nice dinner and found this new restaurant just down the street called Lola. This is actually a new location of an old restaurant (the old location is now a restaurant called Lolita). As I walked in, I noticed a cute guy sitting at the bar so I decided to have my dinner there. We exchanged hellos and kept making eye contact. Unfortunately (for me), he was with a girl, his fiance. As dinner progressed, the three of us started up a conversation. JR and Danielle are just finishing up business school at the local university and are planning on moving to Orange County next year. I talked about what I was doing in Cleveland, how I was from Vancouver and had lived in Whistler. JR, being a snowboarder, told me that next winter, he was definitely coming to visit me in Vancouver. After sharing some wine and some great conversation, some of JR’s other friends came by and they all invited me to join them at this members’-only bar, where local celebrities, mostly professional athletes, hang out. As it turned out, one of JR’s other friends’ best friend is a Vancouverite who has just returned home after 9 years in Cleveland and is finding the adjustment a bit difficult (she’s lonely). Next thing I knew, I was chatting with Tiffany, a complete stranger, long distance on the phone. It was a little surreal, with me thinking about her back home and she thinking of me hanging out with one of her best friends. I told her to call me in a couple of weeks when I get home and that I would introduce her to some of my friends. Anyway, after a chocolate martini, we headed over to one of their apartments and hung out there for a little while, sipping on margarita mix and listening to music. After spending about 5 hours with my new friends, I headed back to the hotel with a big smile on my face.