Skate King
I don’t think I’ve been on roller skates since I was a regular at the Dairy Ashford roller rink in Houston (omg – still in business!) in 5th grade. I don’t know what compelled me to head out to the Skate King in Bellevue with my 4-year old in tow, but I’m glad I did. Skate King “has been serving Puget Sound area skaters since 1974,” and I’m pretty sure that they haven’t updated the decor or the carpet since then. That’s all part of the charm, as plenty of yelpers can attest.
We went for the Saturday morning tiny tots skate for kids 10 and under with parent(s) (10:30 – 12:30, $5 for admission and skate rental). They have a variety of themed skates on their schedule, like Saturday night disco retro from 6-8pm and Thursday “adult night” from 8:30-11pm with “groove oriented dance music.” Great fun with kids, or even better leave the kids at home, round up some friends (a few beers beforehand can’t hurt) and indulge in a little nostalgia.
*Bonus triva bit – According to their about us page, Bill Gates celebrated his 30th birthday at Skate King.
Thursday night adult skate is hilarious, because it’s full of the sort of people that have been rollerskating at the rink at least weekly for their whole lives, all wearing pleated acid washed jeans and doing rollerskate line dances in the middle of the rink.
oh man – I have got to see that.