It is Gaming Time!
I had only ever heard of gaming conventions. The only one I had been to prior to being able to go to PAX West was a Halo Convention and PAX made that look tiny! We had heard that it was going to be a lot smaller in 2021 given everything that happened with the coronavirus, and to be honest, we were okay with that. It never felt overwhelming, and we were able to see and do just about everything we wanted to. We look forward to attending another one in the future!
We decided to make it a getaway so that way we could be able to go to as much as we could. We stayed at the Hyatt at Olive 8, which was only a few blocks away from the main convention area. The hotel was nice and it was a perfect location for what we wanted. This area was also walking distance to Pike Place, so one day, we even walked down there for some lunch.
This convention took place over four days, Friday through Monday. We got there around Friday afternoon, got our vaccination wrist bands, and took a walk around the area. You could tell that it was the beginning as there were not many people there yet. It actually worked to our favor as we were able to skip a lot of the lines and get to see many of the exhibits that would have normally been really busy. There were not many AAA title companies there, but it made it nice to allow the more Indie games to have the center stage. It was fun to see what they had to offer and see some of the demos that the companies had to offer. Throughout the rest of the weekend, we enjoyed a lot of old console gaming, PC gaming and PlayStation 5 gaming as we do not currently own a PS5. We even entered in a couple of tournaments. We may not have gotten very far, but we had a fun time doing them. In our minds, that was all that mattered.
We decided this would also be a perfect time to try out some new restaurants. The first restaurant we went to was Terra Plata. They are a locally sourced restaurant. We decided to have the Burrata for an appetizer, then the Lamb Riblets and Duck for the main course. We ended up sharing everything to have a taste of it all. We finished the meal with the Valrhona Chocolate. It was all very delicious! The presentation was really nice and the atmosphere of the restaurant was nice. Our server, Evan, was also very helpful and kind. It helped make the experience that much better!
The next day, we had lunch at the hotel restaurant, Urbane Restaurant. As it was mid-afternoon, we decided to make it a little on the lighter side. We shared two orders of Happy Hour Tacos, one Carne Asada and the other Chicken. They were both very good “street tacos” as we would have called them. We then ordered the Salted Caramel Hazelnut Mousse for dessert. It was nice and simple and a perfect finisher to the tacos. I will say the atmosphere felt like a hotel restaurant. There is nothing wrong with that, but I was hoping for something a little more. The food was still good and it was convenient being in our hotel.
Later that day, after a long day of gaming and walking, we made our way to Ruth’s Chris Steak House for supper. We were lucky to get a seat, they were so busy. Luckily, we had no problem sitting in the bar area. We decided to go right for the main meal and ordered the Stuffed Chicken Breast and Garlic Crusted Sea Bass with a side of Potatoes Au Gratin. The portions were pretty good size, which after seeing the prices, you would hope you would get a good amount of food. The chicken came with the stuffing on the side and, I will say, it was needed. The chicken was a little dry without the stuffing. Together, however, it was very tasty. The sea bass, according to my husband, was good. Not the best he has ever had, but it was good. The potatoes were a cheesy potato and was pretty good. After all of this, we were too full for dessert, so sadly no dessert to share. It did not feel like it was ever too loud in the restaurant for how busy they were. It was a nice place and was in a nice walking distance to the convention and our hotel.
One of the days, before heading to the convention, we decided to make our way down to Pike Place. We had been there a couple of times before, but it was nice not worrying about parking. We even got there early enough that we were able to miss a couple of the lines. We decided to try out a little place called Turkish Delight. We got there before they were officially ready, but they were very kind and helped us decide what we wanted. We ended up going with two cups of Lentil Soup with rice added in. Then we got an assortment of Turkish Delight and a couple pieces of Baklava. I will say, we will be going back. We took the soup to go as they do not currently have seating inside. It was a really nice day, so eating outside was not a problem. The place even had some really neat Turkish décor. They had some fun cups and other kitchen items shown in the displays up front. It was fun looking at them as we waited for the soup to be done.
Overall, we really enjoyed the convention. We were told by multiple people how disappointed they were in the small size. For us, being our first experience, we actually appreciated the small size. We felt we were able to really experience everything we wanted to. Yes, it would have been fun to see it at its full glory, but it was nice to not worry about long lines or a lot of people. We never had to worry about being safe when it came to the coronavirus. It was nice after such a crazy year to come together with fellow gamers and game lovers. The cosplay was so much fun and trying out new and old games really helped scratch any itches we may have had. Trying out Monkey Ball for the GameCube and Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64 brought back so many memories for the both of us. I even got to show my husband one of my old favorite 64 games, Perfect Dark. It was such a wonderful experience! We look forward to experiencing it again in the future, possibly at its former glory! We are hoping to have a highlight video up on our YouTube channel. Stay tuned!
