Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Bellevue Denizen

Since joining Advaiya, I've been spending a fair amount of time in the Seattle area as I get ramped up with the company. Since they're based in Bellevue, I'm typically camped out somewhere nearby. This gives me a chance to check out how Bellevue has changed since I first came up here in 1989 to bicycle through North Cascades National Park.

Digression: Bellevue isn't in North Cascades National Park. It isn't anywhere near it; NCNP is about 4 1/2 hours north. Bellevue is an "east side" suburb, on the other side of Lake Washington. It's where my friend Craig lived when I first came up here. I introduced him and his friends to blue frozen margaritas. Oh, the stories...

Bellevue has become pretty hoighty-toighty since I was first here. This is synonymous with downtown and West Seattle-ites saying "<sniff> east side". The city bird, I think, has become the tower crane. There's no less than eight of them hovering over its small downtown as office building and (extremely expensive) condominiums are going up all over. Microsoft has a big presence here in a high-rise way; they have an office building whose cafe is on the top floor and commands a stunning view of Lake Washington and downtown.

I've been frequenting a restaurant here named the Tap House Grill, (tagline "Giving Beer The Respect It Deserves") a combination of good food and 150 beers on tap. Now there's a challenge I relish! It's nice to get back to the hotel from work and be able to walk wherever I want to go.

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