My trip to the suburbs

To celebrate the birthday of my dear friend Tara, on Friday night I trekked up to La Palmera in Mill Creek for dinner and drinks. Now, I admit to being fairly snobby about leaving the general downtown Seattle vicinity for a weekend night out, but birthdays are definitely an exception. And WOW... this time, I was in for a treat.

I've been to Mill Creek a couple of times during the day before, but I had no idea it had any kind of night life. However, our directions led us to an adorable little town center area jam packed with shops, restaurants and bars. La Palmera was located smack dab in the center, and Tara had reserved enough tables for about 20 people to sit in the bar.

It seemed as though every resident of Mill Creek had decided to hit up the La Palmera bar that evening. It was, apparently, a "fight night" of some sort -- a boxing match followed by ultimate fighting was on every TV in eyesight. Yummy food, music, sports, chatting and lots of laughing filled the next couple of hours. Then things started to get interesting.

Apparently one guy had taken "fight night" a little too seriously and let testosterone get the better of him. We were suddenly alerted to two huge security guards dragging a kicking and screaming mid-20s male down the stairs and out the door of the restaurant.

From our prime viewpoint out the windows of the upstairs bar, we watched as Crazy Guy attempted to walk back into the restaurant several times. Innocent bystanders went in and out around him, and he tried to pick a fight with each one of them. After about the fourth time, one bouncer knocked him in the side of the head. This caused Crazy Guy to march through the doors once again. Bouncer had had enough by this time. He shoved hard with both hands, and Crazy Guy went flying backward, landing squarely on his ass. Of course this pissed him right off. He jumped up and lunged for the bouncer, who was easily twice his size. But before he had a chance to make contact, a bystander came out of nowhere and seemed to toss Crazy Guy in the air... who then went tumbling down a set of stone steps and landed, not moving, on the sidewalk. Talk about a sucker punch.

Wow. I felt like I had gotten lost and ended up in Pioneer Square. I had no idea shenanigans like this went on in the Mill Creek suburbs. Drama, drama, drama. I think next time I'll stay safely in downtown Seattle. In case you are concerned about Crazy Guy's fate, the police arrived shortly afterward and hauled him off. He was walking and seemed to be doing fine, although I bet next time he won't be taking "fight night" so literally.