Monday, September 3rd
Portland rocked. I really liked it there. I was genuinely sad to leave this morning.
Last Wednesday, Amy arranged a Spamily kayaking trip on the Willamette River. Naturally, I signed up as soon as the sheet went up. As the trip got closer, however, I started to get nervous about it. I’d never been in a kayak. I didn’t have any idea what was appropriate clothing for a kayaking trip. I don’t own any Tevas and I didn’t bring a swimsuit on tour with me (thus far neither of these things has been a problem). I started to worry that though their website claimed that the trip we were going on was suitable for people of all skill levels, I would prove them wrong. As I walked down to the water on Wednesday, a string of big barges and a dinner cruise ship sailed by. I hadn’t even thought about other traffic on the river! I was certain that I was making a mistake that would lead to my drowning death.
I needn’t have worried. I was fine in my chucks and shorts. I didn’t come close to drowning. I had a great time and I shot a whole roll of film while we were out on the water. I went with the early group – we paddled away at 10 AM. I shared a tandem kayak with Tony Pittsley, who is an experienced kayaker. Our guide was very cool and a patient guy. He even had a spare paddle handy when Cuz snapped his in half while splashing others in the party. The river was smooth and our guide kept us out of traffic. We paddled for about two hours: upstream, around an island and back. We passed a blue heron, some amazing floating homes and a sizable gravel operation. We went just far enough to have the city disappear from view and then back toward the skyline. It was great.
After we pulled our boats out of the river Tony, Cuz and I went and had lunch at the marina. We ate at a floating restaurant within sight of the kayak docks. While we waited for the later group to put in, we enjoyed local beer, local oysters and each other’s company. The day had warmed up quite a bit by the time the late group put in and we watched them paddle out, we were happy that had gone when it was still a bit cooler.
Thursday we had a Spamily outing that could not have been more different than the kayaking: a bunch of guys went out for cigars and bourbon after the show. Graham arranged this outing – we went to the cigar lounge at El Gaucho the steak house in the Benson hotel. Karl, Jeff Dumas, Patrick, Cuz, Tony, Graham and I settled in around a big table in the lounge and had an evening of guy talk. Our waitress was lovely- she gave as good as she got – and she really took good care of us. We talked about poker and baseball in between drinks and ended the evening listening to Jeff’s stories about Hal Prince. Not somewhere stories in the cigar lounge at El Gaucho usually end up, I’d bet. On the way out, the steaks smelled so inviting that we made a reservation to come back for dinner later in the week.
I’m awfully glad that we made that reservation, the steaks were delicious. We went back between shows on Saturday and indulged a bit more. The only shame of the meal was that we had to go back to work! Our waitress from earlier in the week even dropped by to say "hello".
Friday I had lunch at Jake’s Famous Crawfish. Jake’s is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and my meal made it easy to see why the place has endured. I sat outside, but the inside of the restaurant is charming: very old school with a brass railed bar. (Crawfish also live up in the Northwest – not just in the Mississippi – who knew?) I had some more local Yakima Bay oysters. They were just so tasty and fresh that I couldn’t pass up one last bunch (I probably won’t be eating a lot of local oysters in Salt Lake City). Then I had an endive salad topped with fresh local pears. All of this was accompanied, of course, with sourdough bread. I don’t know what it is about the sourdough in Portland, but everywhere we went they served up big boules of delicious bread. My main course was “Cajun Mac’n’cheese”: penne pasta in a cheese sauce with andoullie sausage and tiny bay shrimp. Perfect. And since it was lunch time, the whole meal set me back (with a glass of Oregon Pinot Gris) less than $30!
Portland rocked. I really liked it there. I was genuinely sad to leave this morning.
Last Wednesday, Amy arranged a Spamily kayaking trip on the Willamette River. Naturally, I signed up as soon as the sheet went up. As the trip got closer, however, I started to get nervous about it. I’d never been in a kayak. I didn’t have any idea what was appropriate clothing for a kayaking trip. I don’t own any Tevas and I didn’t bring a swimsuit on tour with me (thus far neither of these things has been a problem). I started to worry that though their website claimed that the trip we were going on was suitable for people of all skill levels, I would prove them wrong. As I walked down to the water on Wednesday, a string of big barges and a dinner cruise ship sailed by. I hadn’t even thought about other traffic on the river! I was certain that I was making a mistake that would lead to my drowning death.
I needn’t have worried. I was fine in my chucks and shorts. I didn’t come close to drowning. I had a great time and I shot a whole roll of film while we were out on the water. I went with the early group – we paddled away at 10 AM. I shared a tandem kayak with Tony Pittsley, who is an experienced kayaker. Our guide was very cool and a patient guy. He even had a spare paddle handy when Cuz snapped his in half while splashing others in the party. The river was smooth and our guide kept us out of traffic. We paddled for about two hours: upstream, around an island and back. We passed a blue heron, some amazing floating homes and a sizable gravel operation. We went just far enough to have the city disappear from view and then back toward the skyline. It was great.
After we pulled our boats out of the river Tony, Cuz and I went and had lunch at the marina. We ate at a floating restaurant within sight of the kayak docks. While we waited for the later group to put in, we enjoyed local beer, local oysters and each other’s company. The day had warmed up quite a bit by the time the late group put in and we watched them paddle out, we were happy that had gone when it was still a bit cooler.
Thursday we had a Spamily outing that could not have been more different than the kayaking: a bunch of guys went out for cigars and bourbon after the show. Graham arranged this outing – we went to the cigar lounge at El Gaucho the steak house in the Benson hotel. Karl, Jeff Dumas, Patrick, Cuz, Tony, Graham and I settled in around a big table in the lounge and had an evening of guy talk. Our waitress was lovely- she gave as good as she got – and she really took good care of us. We talked about poker and baseball in between drinks and ended the evening listening to Jeff’s stories about Hal Prince. Not somewhere stories in the cigar lounge at El Gaucho usually end up, I’d bet. On the way out, the steaks smelled so inviting that we made a reservation to come back for dinner later in the week.
I’m awfully glad that we made that reservation, the steaks were delicious. We went back between shows on Saturday and indulged a bit more. The only shame of the meal was that we had to go back to work! Our waitress from earlier in the week even dropped by to say "hello".
Friday I had lunch at Jake’s Famous Crawfish. Jake’s is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and my meal made it easy to see why the place has endured. I sat outside, but the inside of the restaurant is charming: very old school with a brass railed bar. (Crawfish also live up in the Northwest – not just in the Mississippi – who knew?) I had some more local Yakima Bay oysters. They were just so tasty and fresh that I couldn’t pass up one last bunch (I probably won’t be eating a lot of local oysters in Salt Lake City). Then I had an endive salad topped with fresh local pears. All of this was accompanied, of course, with sourdough bread. I don’t know what it is about the sourdough in Portland, but everywhere we went they served up big boules of delicious bread. My main course was “Cajun Mac’n’cheese”: penne pasta in a cheese sauce with andoullie sausage and tiny bay shrimp. Perfect. And since it was lunch time, the whole meal set me back (with a glass of Oregon Pinot Gris) less than $30!
After lunch, I went across the street to Powell’s Books. They bill their main location as a “City of Books” and they’re not kidding. Powell’s is an entire city block of buildings knit together with stairs and passages into an enormous independent book store. Francesca gave me a gift card for my birthday and I hade no trouble spending it. Besides their enormous selection of new titles, Powell’s buys and sells used books. I came out with a grocery sack of books for next to nothing! Of course, now my trunk is that much heavier – I’ll have to lay off the Law & Order in the next couple of cities and spend more time curled up with a good book.
Among Roadfood’s recommendations for Portland were a couple of bakeries that I couldn’t resist. The names of each make their specialties clear: Saint Cupcake and Voodoo Doughnuts. At Saint Cupcake I had a red velvet number with a cream cheese frosting. It was lovely, but it made me miss Bleecker Street and the Magnolia Bakery. Voodoo Doughnuts, however, is unlike anywhere else. They offer weekly classes in Swahili. They will marry you (it’s completely legal) in the shop under the “Holy Doughnut”. They also make some of the craziest doughnuts you can imagine. On Sunday, Piper brought me a “Mango Tango”: filled with mango and topped with Tang. For my birthday, I was presented with one of their signature creations: “The Maple Bacon Log.” A maple glazed doughnut topped with strips of bacon turns out to be a great idea, once you get past its appearance. The “Voodoo Doughnut” is made in the shape of a voodoo doll and filled with red jelly – you’re invited to torture it whatever way you might like. The whole Spamily stood in awe, however, as Callie took on the “Cock and Balls” doughnut. It’s triple cream filled – you can imagine. A link to their menu.
Among Roadfood’s recommendations for Portland were a couple of bakeries that I couldn’t resist. The names of each make their specialties clear: Saint Cupcake and Voodoo Doughnuts. At Saint Cupcake I had a red velvet number with a cream cheese frosting. It was lovely, but it made me miss Bleecker Street and the Magnolia Bakery. Voodoo Doughnuts, however, is unlike anywhere else. They offer weekly classes in Swahili. They will marry you (it’s completely legal) in the shop under the “Holy Doughnut”. They also make some of the craziest doughnuts you can imagine. On Sunday, Piper brought me a “Mango Tango”: filled with mango and topped with Tang. For my birthday, I was presented with one of their signature creations: “The Maple Bacon Log.” A maple glazed doughnut topped with strips of bacon turns out to be a great idea, once you get past its appearance. The “Voodoo Doughnut” is made in the shape of a voodoo doll and filled with red jelly – you’re invited to torture it whatever way you might like. The whole Spamily stood in awe, however, as Callie took on the “Cock and Balls” doughnut. It’s triple cream filled – you can imagine. A link to their menu.
Saturday I awoke early to watch MSU trounce the hapless Blazers of the University of Alabama Birmingham. Awesome. What a great way to make a break from the past couple of seasons of Spartan football – I hope they can keep it up! I met several more MSU alums in Portland on Saturday (amazing what wearing a green football jersey can do). As I boarded the Portland Streetcar on my way to work, a woman said to me: “Does Michigan have a big game today?” When I explained that Michigan State did, she said: “Looks like you have a friend” and pointed out a father and son at the other end of the train also decked out in green and white. While I was standing in line at the Quizno’s waiting for my lunch, a nice gentleman from the class of ’64 approached me – turns out he was coming to see Spamalot that afternoon! There are Spartans everywhere. I might have to look up the Salt Lake Alumni on Saturday; this week’s game isn’t on national TV…. Of course, Saturday was a nearly perfect day in college football: State won, Dame lost and Michigan was embarrassed by a 1AA team on national television live from the “Big House”!
This morning I was up bright and early to make the trip to Salt Lake City. (I was in a cab at 5:45 this morning.) While I’m excited to see Salt Lake City and the cities that come after it, I was sad to leave Portland. I dug that town a lot.
I took tons of photos in Portland; I’m sort of surprised none of them have come back yet. As soon as they do, I’ll post my photo essay…
This morning I was up bright and early to make the trip to Salt Lake City. (I was in a cab at 5:45 this morning.) While I’m excited to see Salt Lake City and the cities that come after it, I was sad to leave Portland. I dug that town a lot.
I took tons of photos in Portland; I’m sort of surprised none of them have come back yet. As soon as they do, I’ll post my photo essay…
Until then, a stolen picture from Fran's blog:
The bocce game at Nate's barbecue. That's right, we had the tape measure out - this was serious stuff!JV
No comments:
Post a Comment