Heading Off Island

Fourteen months is a long time to live in an apartment when you’ve left one house and are looking for your next one. That’s how long we lived downtown until we bought our new (and, I hope, our last) house in Bellevue.

We’ve been gone just under a week, but there are things I miss about Mercer Island already. The biggest advantage was being able to walk everywhere. The trade-off for not having a backyard in the Central Business District was being in the thick of things. I loved not having to fire up the car to get groceries or see the chiropractor or grab a burrito. We ran out of milk? Not a huge deal. Out of laundry detergent? I just popped over to .

Ah, Walgreens, the memories. It was ridiculously convenient for late-night runs for ice cream – er, I mean flax seed oil. I was in there so often that I think they might have worried about me if I missed a couple of days.

What has surprised me is that even if we’re only 10 or 15 minutes away from our old home, I feel rather disoriented. On the Island, I knew where to find everything I needed. I was just starting to get the hang of things like registering for fall soccer practically in April. Now, I’m spinning in circles again just trying to find a local pool or a good sandwich shop. Bellevue might be just across the bridge, but sometimes it feels like a world away.

Now that I’m fully immersed over here, I’m realizing that Bellevue is enormous compared to Mercer Island. I could drive for 30 minutes straight and still be within city limits. There are scads of different neighborhoods and communities, all of which have their own identity. What’s special about the Island is that it truly has a small-town ambience, where you’re likely run into someone you know at the post office. I know I’ll miss that. 

Other things I’ll regret leaving behind: Roger’s Books, I mean : there’s no replacing that funky repository of all good things. bagels: why we weren’t eating these every Sunday and Saturday, I have no idea. : it served us well, despite the turf wars at the skate park. The jaw-dropping . The : their staff could not be more helpful. I’ll take the neighborhood shop over Home Depot any day. : come to think of it, it’s probably best to put some distance between us.

Of course we'll miss the people we’ve come to know. We loved having friends just downstairs who could meet us at the hot tub in the building courtyard. I would add Lakeridge to the list, but my daughter is staying in school there. So I’ll be on Island twice a day for drop off and pick up. (The bus. That’s another thing I already miss.)

It’s good to know the Island is only just across the bridge.

(Editor's Note: This week's Welcome to The Rock column is the final installment of the series. Thanks, Michelle, for sharing your thoughts with other Patch readers and being a vibrant part of our community. Be sure to visit us in MI Patchland, and best to you in your new home. We happen to know of a great resource for getting connected there: Bellevue Patch!)