Seeing It in a Different View

Welcome to March, the month of madness, which is exactly how I spent the first weekend of the month. It’s been a minute since I went out of town, but having a little break before the pool season launches I headed up to visit Seattle. This being my seventh time up North, I realized that each time it starts to feel more and more like a home away from home. You can escape from Vegas, but there is a little bit of Vegas in every city, or at least in Bellevue, WA.

I arrived on Friday night ready to get the weekend started. I have yet to experience the “nightclub” scene in Seattle as I have heard I’m not missing anything. But Bellevue seems to be the spot where people go to enjoy nightlife, with Blue Martini just opening up in the Bravern. It offers a different scene for the locals with a stricter dress code and house music, where most nightlife places in the area play hip hop music. It was packed with a line out of the door. Lucky for me, my friend had a VIP pass so we didn’t have to wait in line. Not to sound like a diva, but I don’t like waiting in line anywhere… I guess Vegas has spoiled me. The scene is very much like Vegas, some of the younger crowd, some cougars and the older men looking to let loose on a Friday night. It has the same drink and food menu, staff uniforms and layout but without a patio. My favorite martini is the Cucumber, but with vodka instead of gin. I am very picky on how a bartender makes my drink coming from doing it myself for so long, but impressively the bartender did a better job than some in Vegas. I broke my record with four martinis in one night. A majority of the staff was from Florida, which with six degrees of separations, worked with my old manager from Vegas that now works in Miami. It just shows how small Vegas can be. There is always someone who knows someone that worked with someone else in Vegas… did you follow that?

The next day I woke up feeling pretty decent. They do say cucumbers are good for you, maybe that is what helped balance the vodka. Either way, it allowed us to get out and about for the day. Since the first time I went to Seattle I wanted to go on a ferry ride. I blame it on my years of watching Grey’s Anatomy, so Saturday I got to cross that off my bucket list. We hopped a ferry over to Bainbridge Island for lunch, a place that is definitely not like Las Vegas. The ferry ride is only 30 minutes, arriving into a little town with cute shops and restaurants along the marina. We ate at Doc’s Marina Grill with a great view of the water and delicious eats. The Lobster Mac and Cheese was amazing and highly recommended. It’s a little higher priced for the portions but that was expected since I am assuming it is a tourist draw. The beautiful weather was a helpful addition to the experience

We returned to Bellevue, freshened up and went to check out the new restaurant, Koral Bar & Kitchen, inside the Hyatt. It was the grand opening this weekend with the same owners of Pearl Bar & Dining. We went during dinner hour, but I can’t say I was that impressed. The set-up is a little awkward and the scene was very quiet. I hate to judge a place when it first opens because it usually takes about a few months to test things out and find what works best. I would give them bonus points for having Wisconsin Fried Cheese Curds… one of the best bar foods from back home, but they came with a mayo based dip and experts should know the best way to serve them is with marinara or ranch. I’m sure eventually this will develop a little scene once everything gets worked out. We didn’t stay long so I’m not sure how the scene is for late night.

After dinner it was time for the pre-party of the night. I met a new group of people that reminded me a lot of my own Vegas family. It can always be intimidating having to socialize with a new clique and make sure you can keep up. I was grateful that everyone was nice and a lot of fun. We headed out to Blue Martini again; bypassing the line, rolling deep with an entourage and staking claim on the dance floor. It was busier than the night before, which was to be expected.

As I returned to Vegas yesterday, I was satisfied with the weekend. As I’ve always said, “it’s not about where you are, but who you are with to have a good time”. Granted, Vegas may have more options on where to go, but to find fun and good people isn’t an easy thing and that is what can make a night… unforgettable.