A glorious and proper date night in Bellingham

My wife and I don’t get out much — at least on our own.

Outside of going to work, if we leave the house we’re usually dragging along our three little munchkins, alternately playing Fight Night referee and Explainer of the Universe. (“Daddy, why are grapefruits not grapes?”) It’s fine. It’s just what happens when you have three kids, two jobs and no life.

So a few weeks ago when we had the opportunity to have a proper date night, we jumped on it. It was glorious. We dropped the kids at the in-laws, scooted up to Bellingham and stayed the night at Hotel Bellwether, a luxury hotel on a small peninsula overlooking Bellingham Bay. We imbibed on a few adult beverages, laughed, ate and pretty much acted like we’d never heard of the concept of parenthood.

Since my college days when I’d visit friends in “The ‘Ham,” the quirky, artistic, liberal city just south of the border has always been one of my favorite places to hang out. Downtown is easy to walk and isn’t crowded and stressful like Seattle. You can see a show at the number of small clubs playing live music or an indie film at the Pickford Film Center. Oh, and there are plenty of great breweries and places to eat.

As for our accommodations, Hotel Bellwether is a far cry from the couches I used to sleep on in college. We walked into our premier room and dropped our bags in shock. Besides the large king bed, there was a comfy sitting section with full-size sofa and a medium-sized bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. There was also a small deck with sweeping views of the San Juan Islands, Bellingham Bay and the marina. It’s a luxury hotel in every sense of the word.

After a long week, I would have been content just taking a bath, donning one of the large bath robes, popping champagne and watching some SportsCenter.

The wife had other plans — something about this is one of our only chances to get out and “do” something. “OK, OK,” I said. “Where’s the nearest brewery?”

I got a not-so-fast look. Dinner first, she insisted. We decided to try the hotel’s in-house restaurant, the Lighthouse Bar &Grill. The restaurant faces the bay and south toward the city’s downtown, giving it beautiful views to go with the food.

As for the food, head chef Michael Grogan makes traditional Pacific Northwest fare with a focus on local ingredients. Order the chef’s plate for the more inventive or adventurous meals, or stick to classic Puget Sound staples like clam chowder or grilled halibut. We found the charcuterie plate simple and approachable but preferred the chef’s inventive sauces and use of seasonal vegetables.

After dinner is time for a drink. Bellingham is home to some of the region’s best breweries, including the old standbys Boundary Bay and Chuckanut — which is right down the street from Hotel Bellwether — and up-and-comers like Aslan, Shuksan and Wander.

The city also boasts a wonderful bottleshop/bar in Elizabeth Station. With 16 beers on tap and many, many more in bottles, Elizabeth Station is a great place for beer nerds to hang out, tilt a few back and talk about … well, what else: beer.

Thankfully Elizabeth Station was just a hop, skip and a jump from the hotel. We wandered in on a busy night. A cook from the food truck just outside the entrance was hollering out orders and, despite the chilly environs, close to a dozen people had set up residence at the picnic tables outside.

I ordered a beer while my wife took off toward the back where a newly renovated portion of the bottleshop has become a cider bar called Cidra. The best part of Elizabeth Station is the fact you can drink a beer while eye-balling the scores of coolers full of other unique, hard-to-find ales, lagers and stouts. We finished up our drinks, purchased a few bottles for later consumption and took off back to the hotel for a long winter’s nap.

After a blissful, uninterrupted night sleep, we ventured downtown, which starts just a mile south of the hotel. After getting some great advice on places to eat, we had breakfast at Old Town Café, a local favorite (try the Number Nine dish, two poached eggs on a biscuit drenched in all kinds of goodness), and grabbed some great coffee at the Black Drop Coffee House a few blocks away.

We then walked over to Henderson Books. Sipping our coffee, we agreed to separate and get lost in the stacks of books (my wife gravitated toward the cookbooks, while I perused the row upon row of nonfiction). After buying a few books (Hello “Boys in the Boat”!), we dropped by Allied Arts, a nonprofit art space, and checked out their unique artist’s garage sale, contemplated seeing a movie at Limelight Cinema (we didn’t) and did some Christmas shopping at Spruce, a stationary and design shop.

There were a number of fun entertainment options just in the tiny neighborhood we explored. There’s the Mount Baker Theatre, which hosts a number of well-known musical and comedy acts, Pickford Film Center (the big brother to Limelight) and SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention.

That’s kids stuff, though, so we went directly to where my wife was gravitationally pulled: chocolate. Belllingham’s Chocolate Necessities specializes in all things chocolate. They have a number of their own chocolate bars and truffles that they sell as well as some from a local chocolatiers like Mount Vernon’s Forte and Lynden’s Fresco Chocolate. They also serve gelato and coffee and chocolate drinks. My wife got a bar and some drinking chocolate, while I went with a mocha. All of it was divine.

Sadly, kids must eventually come home and our children were on their way. We checked out of the Hotel Bellwether and headed for home. But not before one last stop. The siren song of award-winning beer was too great, so we stopped at Chuckanut Brewery for a pint.

Like the entire whirlwind day/night trip to Bellingham, it was well worth it.

If you go

Stay

Hotel Bellwether, 1 Bellwether Way, Bellingham, 360-392-3100, hotelbellwether.com.

Eat and drink

Lighthouse Bar &Grill, 1 Bellwether Way, Bellingham (inside Hotel Bellwether), 360-392-3200, lighthousebarandgrill.com.

Old Town Cafe, 316 Holly St., Bellingham, 360-671-4431, theoldtowncafe.com.

Black Drop Coffee, 300 Champion St., Bellingham, 360-738-3767, blackdropcoffeehouse.com.

Elizabeth Station, 1400 W. Holly St., Bellingham, 360-733-8982, estationbeer.com.

Chocolate Necessities, 1426 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, 360-733-6666, chocolatenecessities.com.

Shop

Henderson Books, 116 Grand St., Bellingham, 360-734-6855.