The future of Drink the Link has always been in danger. An expanding rail system and aging participants make for a bad combination. Last year it was necessary to split Drink the Link into two days, and even that was a lot to handle. In addition, the anticipated opening of the 2-Line would add an element of uncertainty. What should Drink the Link mean if the Link is made up of two overlapping lines?
Then, Drink the Link was saved by badly poured concrete. With the opening of the cross-lake portion of the 2-Line pushed off (until 2025 it looks like), Sound Transit elected to open eight stops on the eastside as a sort of starter line. At that point, there was only one real choice. Drink the Link is going east to commemorate the opening of this weird stub of a line that was never intended to exist in this form.
Drink the Link celebrates two of my favorite things: day drinking and public transportation. Though the venues are all different, the main, stupid idea remains the same. Enjoy a drink at a watering hole near each station. Join in when you want, and leave whenever. Drink what you like, alcoholic or not. I just want to ride trains with my friends, and your friends, and their friends. I hope you'll join in.
| Arrival Time | Station | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 11:00 | "Redmond Technology Station" | Shultzy's |
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There are no bars, or dining establishments of any sort, open on weekends anywhere near this station. Time to give up on Drink the Link? Luckily, there's convenient bus service from the U District on the 542. I guess we'll just have to start at Shultzy's, take the bus over, and wait at the station. It's bending the rules, but it counts. The suburbs are some shit. |
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| 13:00 | Overlake Village | Damans |
| I'm not sure exactly what this station is intending to serve, but nearby it looks like there's a townie sports bar in a strip mall. Well I'm excited because townie bars in strip malls are perhaps the only redeeming part of the suburbs. I also respect the shit out of a place that's open until 2 AM every day of the week. Take note, Seattle bars. | ||
| 14:00 | Bel-Red | Mox Boarding House |
| This station is named after a road, and it looks like it's in an industrial park. Also we're drinking in a board game store. What is happening? | ||
| 15:00 | Spring District | Bellevue Brewing Company |
| I think the Spring District is what happens when people with a lot of money have some idea of what the good parts of cities are (mixed use!), but cram it into an old Safeway distribution center bounded by really wide roads because they can't imagine the not owning a car part. I've been to Bellevue Brewing. It's exactly what you think it would be. | ||
| 16:00 | Wilburton | Pumphouse |
| I'm not sure what a Link station is doing amidst two car dealerships and the back of a Whole Foods, but this little townie sports bar sort of place is right nearby and looks perfectly nice. | ||
| 17:00 | Downtown Bellevue | Sam's Tavern |
| I'll tell anyone who will listen that Bellevue is the Disneyland version of Seattle. That's not a compliment, by the way. No one should live in Disneyland. Continuing the metaphor, Sam's is the Capitol Hill ride. | ||
| 18:00 | East Main | Solarium |
| The idea behind this station seems to be to serve a district made up entirely of hotels. Why are there all these hotels in this random-ass corner of Bellevue? Is it because of the highway? Anyway, we're going to go into a 4-star hotel and see if we can drink at their bar. | ||
| 20:00 | "South Bellevue" | Fort St. George |
| Let us leave this cursed place and never return. There is nothing around this station but parking. Nowhere to eat or drink for miles. Route 550 will return us to a civilized place, where a person can walk to a bar from a train station as God intended. | ||