My proposal was nothing short of magical, and although I am not here to brag, I feel like I need to share such a wonderful experience in my life and also open the minds of others to the possibilities that exist in terms of proposals and great gestures of love.. If you want to do something very grand and special for your future fiancé, then I highly suggest doing so. It can be a life-changing experience that stays forever memorable and reminiscent of the love and adoration that you have for each other.
Below is mine and Brooke’s story of how we got engaged. I hope it gets the brain synapses firing and inspires you to follow your heart and know that so many things are possible. I still look back on this proposal as one of the best adventures of my life and it serves as another great reminder of how much she cares about me. ( Picture of us together)
The Beginning of the Journey
Our adventure started on a Saturday when I had thought I would be babysitting for a family in the afternoon around 2 PM. Because of that, I had requested that I only work the earlier shift at the deli I work at.
So, there I was at work making sandwiches and preparing plates. When the time came when I had to clock out and leave for babysitting duty, I received a text from my girlfriend Booke, telling me to call her.
When I called her, I was told that I actually wasn’t babysitting at all for the family that had asked me and that it was just a plan that she had devised with this family to make sure that I had the afternoon free!
I was told to come straight home. I could hear some nervousness and urgency in her voice. I also knew that an adventure was about to begin and I had no clue what it could possibly be. The only thing I could think was that perhaps I was going to be getting engaged soon.
When I got home, I was told to change out of my work clothes. I had no idea what I should wear, but I was told it could be casual, so I put on some jean shorts and a fresh shirt. It was August so it was summer still.
I came downstairs to the dining table of our little condo and saw a treasure chest with a lock on it.
To open it, I needed a key and to get that key I was handed a clue to read. As soon as I read the clue, I knew exactly where the key must be. Brooke had started writing in a journal for me while we were dating. She had written her thoughts and feelings about me and documented things we did together from her perspective so that I could look back on it also and know how much she liked being with me and the feelings she got when she was with me. It’s a very romantic idea and gift that I cherish. If you have recently started dating someone, I would recommend this as an idea as a romantic gesture.
I ran back upstairs, retrieved the journal, and realized that sealed in the back cover of the journal was what felt like a key! I got it out and opened the chest, which revealed my next clue.
The clue was like a riddle, telling me that we were to head to the first place we met. This was a brewery about 20 minutes away. We hopped in her car and she drove me to the first place we met.
Back when we were meeting each other for the first time, I had texted her saying that she should look for the large rock outside the brewery that I had decided to stand and wait by.
The next clue was hidden right by the rock, an envelope containing my next riddle. This clue took me to the place where we went on our first Valentine’s date which also happened to be maybe our 3rd or 4th time meeting up.
Our Valentine’s date had been at a winery on a lake. In February it was much too cold to sit outside, but since it was a bright and sunny warm day, we were able to enjoy our wine slushies on the dock part of the winery. My Next clue had been hidden under the gravel of the spot where I had hoped our first kiss might have been (but it wasn’t.) Inside were scrabble board pieces that I had to rearrange to find out that the next place we were headed was my parents’ house.
I was a little nervous as we got to my parents’ house. I knew that they were not actually there because they were out of state for a wedding.
When we rolled up to their house though, I saw the cars of other members of my family. Inside the house, the kitchen was decorated with a pirate theme, with a treasure map hanging and a pirate tablecloth with cook-out food.
Brooke had set up a small get-together with my family because she knows it means a lot for my family to be together and after covid hit, things never really felt the same for some reason.
My next hint was in the glass dome dish on my mom’s counter where a hook sat. The hook was large and magnetic and I soon realized that the next place we were supposed to be headed was to what my family called “The Property.” The Property was a wooded area of land out in the country that my grandparents had gone in on and put a little house on. There was a pond in their backyard and a river in the woods. It was a great place to visit and fish.
Brooke drove us there and soon I was using a fishing rod with the magnetic hook tied to it to fish out a balloon that was far out in the pond.
Inside the balloon was my next clue. The coordinates of our next destination.
We pulled up to a little cabin in a quiet lakeside community with other little cabins. It was quiet and the sun was almost completely set.
Brooke wanted to get here in time to watch the sun set so we parked the car and hurried to the walkway that led to the rocks on the water.
I won’t list every detail about this wonderful moment, but I still vividly remember to this day how tranquil the water was. It was so still on this side of the lake that it felt like a floor I could step out onto and take a peaceful walk on. That, mixed with the warm orangy reds and soft blues of the sun sinking into the water, made the entire thing look like a romantic painting.
It honestly felt like an amazing proposal spot looking back on it. But, that is not where she proposed at all. Not even close.
When we walked back to the cabin, I noticed that a golden koi fish model, about the size of my forearm, was sitting next to it. It was part of the scavenger hunt I found out and, flipping it upside down, I realized that there was a little latch in the bottom that could be slid open. Inside was my next clue. It had to do with coffee and tea in the morning.
The entire time, I could hardly believe all the steps that Brooke had taken to make this magical day come to life. Now we were in a cute little cabin with the promise of continued adventure to Florida with her parents the next day.
Because we were still on a tight itinerary, we couldn’t stay up too long to enjoy the cabin. We needed our rest so that we could wake up super early to begin the rest of the scavenger hunt and be on our way to our vacation.
The next morning, bright and early, Brooke made me a cup of hot tea with a special mug she had made. It was one of those mugs that look all black, but once, hot liquid is poured inside, an image is revealed. She had gotten this one customized to reveal a picture that would serve as my next clue to the scavenger hunt.
Honestly, at this point, I still could hardly get over how amazing the adventure from the day before had been and how it was still not over yet. It was already a dream come true for me.
The image on the mug were pictures of rock walls and a forest area from a park that we hiked in together a long while back. I recognized the pictures by the unique engravings that were put in the walls there.
I told her which park I believed it was and we were soon packed up and off to the next spot. But first, we needed to stop back at the condo to pick up our suitcases because Brooke’s parents would be picking us up to all head to the airport for Florida. We would stop at the park along the way.
Her parents picked us up and halfway to the airport, we stopped by the park. This park had a large field and across the field were trees with paths inside. And right across the paths were cliffs that overlooked more trees below and offered great views of the sunset.
I was led across the field to these cliffs and as we entered the wooded area, I noticed a site that looked like a dream ahead of me.
On one of the cliffs was a whimsical white teepee with twinkly lights and a white sheet covering the floor.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was magic.
On the teepee were pictures of Booke and I clipped to the cloth. I’ll say it again, it was magic.
A dewy quiet summer morning, when the sun isn’t fully shining yet, and the park is peaceful, and a little whimsical teepee made out of love is sitting in a wooded area overlooking more nature. I couldn’t believe that there was still more, that it was possible to STILL get better.
Brooke had me sit down inside the teepee with her. In the center of the teepee was a little golden treasure chest that looked to be bigger than a ring box, but still sang out, ring box.
I didn’t even know how to feel because I was experiencing such a magical time that my reactions were off, I was just soaking in these magical moments with this amazing person I was ready to be engaged to.
She said some nice things to me, but honestly, it’s a blur to remember. I remember her opening up the treasure chest though and showing me the inside, which was not a ring at all.
It was a ticket.
The ticket was as big as a boarding pass for a plane and it had many things written on it.
I stared at the center of it and carefully read the words Spain, France, and Italy.
It was a Cruise ticket! She had gotten me a cruise abroad to Europe. I had never been to Europe and I had never been on a cruise!
I couldn’t hardly process it. I just remember asking if it was real.
She told me that the ticket she had printed was a mock one, just to have a physical copy of it, but that represented the truth and that we were going to be going on an adventure overseas with Virgin Voyages, a new cruise line that ended up provided the most amazing and adventurous and sexy vacation I had ever experienced.
Not only that, but this cruise was embarking today out of Barcelona.
So, that was the next huge surprise for me. Florida had just been a cover-up. Her parents and my family were all in on the surprise that Brooke was taking me on an adventure of a lifetime and it was only just beginning.
Before I knew it, we were walking back to her parent’s minivan. Their grinning faces, asking me if I was surprised.
Surprised wasn’t even the start of it. I was astonished, flabbergasted, living in a fantasy world.
We were headed to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the next part of our journey would take us to Europe where we would take the most amazing Cruise ever.
In my next post, I will talk about the Virgin Voyages Cruise and my experience with it. It is an absolutely AMAZING adults-only modern cruise line that exceeded any expectations I’ve ever had of an at-sea adventure!
But, I want to leave off by saying thanks for letting me talk about my girlfriend’s amazing idea and I hope this starts to inspire your own thoughts and fantasies of what’s possible for an act of love or an amazing proposal. For the next part of this adventure, click here.
