Meet me on Cole Street: couple gets engaged on Enumclaw’s main thoroughfare

Cole Street is the heart of Enumclaw — and, as fate would have it, where two hearts began a whirlwind romance and became engaged, all in the span of a year.

It was a starless, soggy night when Jorge Espinosa and Andrea Abbott were ditched by their friend group at Cole Street Brewery last mid-winter, meaning the two were left alone to reconnect after years of being on each other’s social periphery.

“We knew each other through middle school, high school, went our separate ways in college, but would occasionally see each other through… friends,” Abbott, 23, said in a recent interview about their betrothal.

“She’s two years younger than I am, so we always kind of knew of each other, but we weren’t super close,” Espinosa, 25, continued, adding that he’s always found his fiancée “really cute”, but never worked up the nerve to ask her out on a date in high school.

Despite going to separate colleges — him to the University of Washington, her to Northwest University — Abbott and Espinosa continued to run into each other around the greater Seattle area and, at one time, during Spokane’s annual Hoopfest event.

Both eventually returned to Enumclaw on their own schedules, but it wasn’t long before they started spotting each other again; Espinosa recalled seeing Abbott singing at Grace Point Northwest Church as part of the worship team and saying to himself, “‘Oh, wow, there she is again.’”

Then, on Feb. 27, 2021, their friend group had made plans to meet up at the Cole Street Brewery and enjoy a night out in a town that worked hard to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We kept waiting for these people to show up, but we were just there by ourselves,” Abbott said. “Next thing we knew, it was 1 a.m., and we were the only ones out there in the freezing rain — it was so cold. We didn’t even notice the time go by.”

For those that haven’t patronized Cole Street during weekend evenings these last two years, portions of the road close off to traffic so chairs and propane fire pits can be set up in the thoroughfare, allowing folks to enjoy food and drink in the fresh air (so long as the weather holds). However, once businesses close for the night, the fire pits are doused and the chairs put up — at least, that’s what usually happens.

“Sean was really awesome, because that night on Cole Street… he did a really awesome move and just left [a] fire pit out for us,” Espinosa said, referring to Sean McDonald, owner of the Cole Street Brewery. “He didn’t say anything — I think he kind of knew what was happening… later I asked him, and he said he totally did it on purpose, which was really cool.”

It was the following week that Espinosa said he “proclaimed ‘my love for her’” and, after some more thought on her part, Abbott made clear her requital.

Since then, Espinosa and Abbott have been caught in a whirlwind romance, and, looking to keep up the momentum, Espinosa soon began thinking of proposing.

“Cole Street was a big, instrumental night for us, so when I was thinking about proposing, I wanted to do something that was special for us,” he said — which meant, of course, planning another magical night out on the town.

All Abbott knew was that her friend group was desperate to head over to Bordeaux Wine Bar the night of Dec. 19, 2021 — a Sunday, which meant she was planning on having a long work day at her Auburn-based naturopathic clinic the following day.

“Honestly, I didn’t want to go out at all,” she admitted.

But her friends eventually wore her down and, after having a drink or two, decided to herd her over to Cole Street proper, where Espinosa had arranged for the mobile stage (after securing permission from Amy Lundeen of The Local) to be spectacularly lit (thanks again to McDonald, who provided the electricity) so he could propose. His family and friends watched with rapt attention from the inside of Cole Street Brewery, and afterward, the group went to celebrate at The Mint.

Abbott was “totally stunned,” she said. “I was not expecting it at all.”

The couple now have a wedding to plan — and not a lot of time to plan it, as they hope to tie the knot by this spring.

“We were thinking of having it local, but in the springtime, that’s iffy,” Abbott said; Espinosa added this likely means they’ll have a destination wedding, though even the broadest of details have yet to be set.

Afterwards, Espinosa said they hope to find a home in Enumclaw to settle down in and enjoy their time together before starting to raise a family.