Bill Gates spent his childhood summers here

I once heard a psychologist say that where you spend your childhood summers could have a significant impact on your adult life. I don’t necessarily agree with these words fully but I find them curious and they really made me think where did all the great minds spend their childhood summers.

Around the time we learnt that we were relocating to Seattle in the fall of 2021, a new Netflix docu-series called “Inside Bill’s Brain” premiered. Oh, I’m going to watch it, I thought. Because to say that Bill Gates has completely changed the world as we know it is an absolute understatement.

I binged it while packing up our Michigan home, and I vividly remember one part of the series taking place in Hood Canal, Washington, where Bill Gates spent his childhood summers with his family and still frequents often to this day. That psychologist’s quote came back to my mind, and I thought to myself—I’m now interested in this place and I am going to plan a visit when I move up there. I want to see what’s so special about it. I quickly checked out the distance between Hood Canal and Seattle on Google map, and it’s only about an hour and half drive, which makes the destination even more enticing.

When we finally made our way here in late September 2023 to celebrate our anniversary weekend, we stayed at the famous Alderbrook Resort and Spa in a town called Union, Washington—the resort is a true Pacific Northwest classic, with its private deck, trails, and farm to table foods. If you want to learn more about the place, there are a handful of articles covering it on different travel magazines. From my personal experience, I highly recommend it for a weekend getaway.

Exotic nature can make you feel calm and creative all at the same time—I think that’s what Hood Canal did to Bill and all the people including myself who has ever visited here. Contrary to its name, Hood Canal is a salt water fjord that constitutes the Salish Sea. I’m always the salt water over fresh water any day type of person, and to witness a body of the sea so calm and tranquil was absolutely dreamy. I will always remember Hood Canal as a place where Freddy kayaked with us for the first time—we saw so many seals and seagulls playing hide and seek as we paddled towards the majestic Olympic Mountains. We also completed a short morning hike as the fog rolling out of the canal like a beautiful bride taking off her veil. Hood canal is also known for its fresh oysters along with other delicious shellfish, so you can play well, rest well, and eat well in this place so I don’t know what else you can ask for.

I left Hood Canal more curious about it than before I came to visit. I can see how this place can forge such magnificent mind, because it truly is extraordinary itself.