82 » OpenRoad Driver
The downtown shopping district in Kirkland
brims with cool, one-of-a-kind stores,
perfect for indulgent window shopping.
the shopping district before careening off on Lake Washington
Boulevard. It was late afternoon and the setting sun cast a glowing
light on Lake Washington, an expanse of water so large you could
easily be forgiven for thinking you were staring out at the ocean.
We paused at the Marina Park, an arc-shaped refuge on the cusp of
downtown with an amphitheatre, grassy areas for picnics, a sandy
beach and a pier delivering views of some enviable luxury vessels.
Window shopping is a favourite activity and a great way to take
the pulse of a town centre. Kirkland’s shopping district, just a few
easily walkable blocks in size, is brimming with cool, one-of-a-kind
stores. At Sur La Table we explored a culinary heaven of gadgets,
gizmos and food-related tools, while at Lady Yum, we sampled
toasted coconut macarons and ogled at the raspberry chardonnay,
espresso fudge, and honey lavender varieties. We tried a flight of
wine at the Maison DeLille Wine Lounge on Lake Street, feeling
like sophisticates as we sipped on reds that artfully combined
merlots with cabernets, rich and fruity on the palate. To cap it all off,
we dined on butter-soft steak and sablefish at Hearth, the popular
eatery back at the Heathman Hotel.
D AY T W O - R E D M O N D
We were back on those bikes first thing the next morning, this
time on the Cross-Kirkland Corridor, a four-mile trail that weaves
through the cities. While a better ride is to be had on the Burke-
Gilman Trail, a 43-kilometre route that circles parts of Lake
Washington, we were determined to explore Redmond, so we
wrapped up our ride and drove ten minutes east.
Best known for its Microsoft presence, the city of Redmond feels
decidedly new in every aspect. Walk around its downtown outdoor
mall and it’s as if the heart of the city opened just yesterday, with
trendy, festive restaurants like Woodblock rubbing shoulders with
expensive boutiques. Redmond’s logging and agricultural past, which
dates back to the 1870s, has been long overshadowed by technology,
particularly since Microsoft moved its corporate campus here in
1986. The 500-acre campus has 125 buildings where some 47,000
employees work. With this number of techies on the ground, it’s no
surprise the city has become a playground for high-achieving, smart,
young people from all over the world.
We visited the Microsoft Visitor Center, a fun venue with
information on the company’s early days, images of its founders then
and now, and interactive exhibits. Large computer monitors invite
you to enjoy a game, focusing on the faces of visitors and revealing
the age that matches their visage, or the dog species most closely
associated with them. Kids sat at a row of computers playing Xbox
games and a long line in front of the Forza simulator, a simulated
racing video game, suggested it was the centre’s most popular
attraction. It’s gratifying to learn about Microsoft’s commitment to
giving back by matching its employees’ donations of time, money
and skills to various charities. In 2017 this amounted to $156
million raised for 19,550 non-profits and schools the world over.