Our day of exploration: Suchou gardens and Roe...and a bit more too

Friday, July 10, 2014

We complete our vacation in Oregon this morning.  Off to the airport and home.

We have loved our time in Portland.  Pam, the owner of the Heron Haus, with her husband, Carl, is a delight and very helpful with directions and assistance.   We think the BnB is a gem.

The breakfasts are good, the outside areas with lovely stone walls and plantings, and the inside, all very elegant and tasteful.   

Yesterday we decided to walk to downtown, which is about 30 minutes.  We sauntered along the old pre-World War 1 streets of the neighborhood, stopping to look in shop windows on a few of the streets, and view the architecture.  One particular building took our interest, the Temple Beth El, which dates from the 1920s I would guess.   It’s a round building with a huge dome.  One of its rabbis, Stephen Wise, was one of the founders of Reform Judaism and helped reduce the influence of the Ku Klux Klan in Oregon.

Suchow Garden

From there we went to the Lan Su Suchow Gardens downtown.   This Chinese garden was a gift from the citizens of Suchou  to their sister city of Portland about 14 years ago.  It’s an intricate series of urban gardens with a lake and pavilions.   We were fortunate to have as a guide one of the Chinese women of Portland who helped convince the city to establish the garden.   She had come to Portland in the 1950s with her parents and had been working to bring Chinese culture here.   Lots of stories and explanations about the value of urban gardens and the role of the Mandarinate in Chinese history.

Charles Rennie MacIntosh as lamp

From there we walked around the city’s Chinatown, lunched on small dim sum at the House of Louie, and then took a streetcar to NW 23rd Street and Ben’s coffee.  He found it at Barista, where the barista not only understood his need for art on his XXX-skim dry cappuccino  but also asked him what kind of art he wanted.  When told that abstract expressionism would be fine the barista asked:  “Jackson Pollock?”   And then he wondered if he should put the cup across the room and throw the second shot of espresso toward it. 

The barista knew!

Dinner was at Roe, a discreet little restaurant attached to Block and Tackle, on SE Division Street.    Here you enter the restaurant and you are seated at the bar until the room at the back of Block and Tackle, which is Roe, is ready.   Then you are ushered in for a fish and seafood tasting menu that’s very inventive and worth the time (and the expense).   We had such divergent sea food as white tuna sashimi, marlin and squid ceviche, lobster with chopped green beans and onion blossoms, poached NZ salmon that had the taste of magnificent lox, and a grilled sea bass.  There was a wine to go with each course.  We enjoyed them all, though Ben would have preferred not to have sparkling wine or champagne.  The high point were the wines from Annie Amie, a winery here in the Yamhill-Carlton area.  Of particular note from from Annie Amie was the Müller-Thurgau.  John had a cardamaro aperatif which had a mild artichoke flavor.  One of the palate cleanser after the first course was made of watermelon, tomato juice and onion blossom.

Portland

Thursday, July 10

The Coast Starlight at Chemult, Oregon

It’s a long way from Crater Lake to Portland.   We didn’t measure the miles, but we seemed to average about 40 mpg when we bought gasoline yesterday morning on the eastern side of the mountains, in the village of Chemult, where trains actually do stop for people to get off to go hiking or to the national park.   The train that stopped while we were there goes north to Portland and Seattle and comes up from LA.  One a day.  Quite a train, though.

From there we moved through the mountains, stopping to picnic on the banks of Lake Odell with Diamond Mountain in the distance.   Very pretty place to sit and nibble a banana with yoghurt.

From there we managed to find a lovely little coffee shack in Oakridge, where the barrista said she enjoyed making Ben’s coffee—the first time she had ever done it! She and Ben were having such a good time that she forgot to collect the $3.25 for the cappuccino and when Ben realized this, after we had driven several blocks, we turned around to pay her.  

And to Eugene, and I-5.  It’s the West Coast version of I-95 and it’s worse.   It’s narrow with only two lanes per side, with very heavy truck traffic.  Fortunately there are very few reckless drivers in Oregon and no one speeds!   We got off for a few minutes to visit Ben’s favorite XXX-dry coffee shop in Salem, the Ike Box where we stopped on the way south.   And then to Portland.

Herron Haus, Portland

We are staying at the Heron Haus, a 1902 mansion on the side of a hill overlooking the city.   It’s very grand and very comfortable.   Dormered rooms, parquet floors, interesting owner, a very comfy bed.   The gardens are exquisite.  

It’s within walking distance of a neighborhood loaded with restaurants, nightlife and interesting little shops.  It’s also walking distance to the city street car system.   We will use that today.

We dined outside at a sidewalk café, Café Mingo, an Italian place.   We thoroughly enjoyed our dinners and a lovely Chehalem Vineyard 2011 Pinot Noir.   John started with a smoked trout, grapefruit and butter lettuce salad and followed it with a lovely piece of Italian sausage, spicy sautéed spinach and polenta.   Ben began with crepelle stuffed with shiitake and two or three other kinds of mushrooms over arugula and sprinkled with parmesan, and followed it with a grilled chicken breast on a summer salad of spices, baby tomatoes and cucumbers mixed with cold rice.   Very lovely evening. 

The Ocean and the Volcanoes

Crater Lake, Oregon

July 8, 2014

We’re in a little village about 40 miles south of Crater Lake at a lovely inn/motel, the Prospect Inn.  John is expecting prime rib for dinner, the specialty of the house.  Ben had not yet indicated a preference.  John is sitting outside beneath the pines, in quite muggy, almost Washingtonian weather enjoying a local white, which appears to be a facsimile of a riesling.   It’s a nice facsimile, but he’s not a riesling drinker.

It’s been a long day and it was a lovely evening last night, all very enjoyable.   (The mosquitoes in this Oregon mountain village are very aggressive…John just swatted one to its netherland.

We had dinner last night at the Requa with a couple from Massachusetts who are looking for a place to build a winery.   Jim is a winemaker when he is not researching medical cures for GSK, and his wife is a 5th grade teacher.  They live north of Boston where Jim spends his free time making wine in their basement with purchased grapes.   They make about 400 cases a year and sell them at festivals and farmers’ markets.  Ashland and the Rogue Valley appeal to them so they are out looking around.  We may hear if they make a decision!  

Dinner at the Requa was very nice.   We had a fixed menu that began with warm beets, served with a beet whole wheat drop biscuit.  It was followed by a lovely piece of poached halibut with dill, fennel and steamed radish.   The meat course was sliced pork loin with a puree of vegetables.  Finished off with dessert of panna cotta, dried strawberries and honey coated roasted hazelnuts.   We had a Willamette Valley Four Graces 2012 Pinot Noir that was very good to go with the dishes.   One can always depend on Pinot Noirs to go with…

Klamath River meets the sea

Then this morning, after a breakfast of local fruits and a smoothie for Ben, with local eggs and sausage for John, we headed off in search of a) coffee, b) a gift for grandson, c) some good shots of redwoods by the side of the road d) Crater Lake.  We succeeded in all endeavors. 

We got the requisite XXX-dry skim cap at a coffee bar-cum-hair cuttery run by an Asian family with very strong California accents just south of central Crescent City that met every expectation, including art in the foam.   We got an appropriate gift for grandson at the Redwoods National Park admin building gift shop.  We stopped in a the Jedediah Smith Redwood Grove for good roadside shots of the trees as we climbed the Coast Range, and we crossed into the Cascades to Crater Lake, where we spent a couple of hours in its spell.

I didn't throw it!

We drove through many little towns and long straight stretches of road with such high pines and redwoods lining it that wondered where the altar was at the end of the nave of trees.  Crater Lake National Park is awesome. (And we don’t mean that like a 20-something. Perhaps awe-inspiring is more the right phrase.)  It’s a crashed in volcano filled with water that is blue, blue, blue…most days. Today without direct sunlight it wasn’t blue, blue, blue…just a nice blue.  The drops from the rim to the lake, the outcroppings, the slowly melting snow (in July) and the flora make it a wonderful time.   It was lovely.

More to come.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

We did have a lovely piece of prime rib for John last night and Ben had local Oregon salmon, that John, not a salmon lover, enjoyed with just one bite.   The service was excellent.   The Del Rio Pinot Noir was adequate, though we didn’t think it outstanding.   We talked with an Italo-Swedish couple who had spent the last two years at Stanford and are now returning to Stockholm.  We also met a pleasant family from New Jersey.   The vacationlands around here attract folk from all over the world.   The winemaker on Tuesday was Scottish but had spent much of his younger life in the Middle East.  

We spent a good half an hour talking about Washington with a young woman a rising senior from near Seattle, who is thinking about applying to Howard.   She and her father were spending a good part of the summer biking from the Canadian to the Mexican border.  They have already biked 10000 miles. They will have an easier day today going from here to Ashland…mostly downhill.

We are packing the car for Portland and will be there mid-afternoon.   It’s a 5 hour 30 minute drive, without stops.   We expect to be there around 4 pm.

Into the Woods ... and Really Into the Trees

 Monday, July 7, 2014

We had a grand evening last night and a couple of great performances to complete our days at the Shakespeare Festival.    We started the day quietly.  John worked on the blog and pictures while Ben headed out for coffee at the 116 Lithia Coffee Shop where they know him now.  

In the early afternoon we walked over to the OSF for the show “A Wrinkle in Time,” based on a 1960’s sci-fi novel.   The piece was very successfully done by using the book by reading sections from the book while the cast acted them out.   It worked very well, though the play itself is not one we would have thought to chose from a listing.   It’s about good and evil, with heavy Christian overtones.  John thought of C.S. Lewis’ Perelandra novels.

Dinner at Amuse

Dinner was a success at Amuse, quite near the Winchester Inn.   Ben had a fruit salad and Alaskan halibut, which he says was superb, and better than the halibut at Peerless, a couple of nights ago.   John had three small plates—a prawn and potato salad, then sautéed veal sweetbreads and a salad.   We all splurged with beignets for dessert.   The wines were local, a Rogue Valley sauvignon blanc, and a claret also from around here.   The wines are superb in this part of Oregon, though this viticultural area is not well known outside the state.   We have yet to have a disappointing bottle.  In fact the area was written up in the NY Times on Sunday as being a grand place to go for wines and food without crowds—it’s also kid friendly unlike a lot of places.  Maybe in a few years we’ll bring our grandson.

Last night’s play was Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” which is one of our favorites.  It was our third time to see the play  The first time was at Kennedy Center where we sat in the rafters, the second was a superb production at Signature, and tonight’s was the winner of all three—but only by a little for John because he loved the small theater at Signature where we saw it the last time.  We are always entranced with the lovely happy ending of the first act.  You think the play is over:  the reaction of many in the audience.  You are scarcely prepared for the second act where the characters realize that there are consequences of seeking and then getting what they wanted.   Jack in the Beanstalk becomes a scapegoat, Cinderella breaks off with the handsome prince…and Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood don’t do too well either.  The production was done outside in the Elizabethan theater with a superb cast.  The orchestra is on two levels toward the back of the stage with the pianist on the first level, the other instrumentalists above, and the conductor out where the audience sits.

Today we leave for the Pacific Coast and some national parks.   Off to breakfast.

5:15 PM.   Arrived at the Requa Inn on the banks of the Klamath River about a mile from the Pacific Ocean about 45 minutes ago.  The hills are covered with redwood trees. The gently flowing river is apparently the lifeline of an indian reservation that owns one mile of land from the riverbanks on both sides for 40 some miles.  A good time for sipping a nice Gruner-Vetliner.   It’s an old stage coach kind of place, dating from the 1860s I’d guess.  Nice rooms, hot-tub, which we will probably not use, and a dinner reservation so we need not move from the view.

The day was long but gorgeous,  John figures he drove over 5 hours, mostly on hilly, (read mountainous) roads, with trees coming up to the edge of the pavement for the last few miles.   We stopped for coffee at Z Coffee in Cave Junction, Oregon.  Not bad, but a bit too chocolatey for John’s taste and he had only an ordinary decaf.   We lunched on little pastries left over from the Winchester Inn, a couple of bananas, and some yoghurt from the local Safeway in Crescent City about 40 miles north of here.  We look forward to a locavore dinner this evening here in Klamath (not Klamath Falls, Oregon, Klamath, California.)

The Pacific Shoreline

The California Coast

The high point of the day has been the redwood forests.   They are magnificent.  John had seen them many years ago south of here when he lived in California and we had visited a small grove in Sonoma County about 10 years ago.  But there is nothing to compare to mile after mile of 500 year-old trees lining the roadways.  The trees survived fires, droughts and earthquakes since the days of the dinosaurs, but they nearly didn’t survive the arrival of Europeans in the 19th century.  Once they learned how to cut them down, down they came until the 1910s when groups of Californians started to develop a protection scheme.  Now it is a series of National and State Parks along the northern coast of California…and more rigorous logging controls that will save these magnificent trees, both for economic use but also for protection of the ecology and for our pleasure.   

The California Coast

Coastal Range

Taller than the Statue of Liberty

  

A Full Day of Theater...and We Will Return Next Year

John had never seen lambs quarters befor

A goat herder and her sausages

Tami buys one bean pod!

GeeGee and Peter in search of the perfect spice

Sunday, July 6, 2014     Saturday was a theater day, but we did spend the morning walking around town, visiting the farmer’s market, talking to the vendors about lambs quarters (an edible weed) and osso buco of goat, and checking out spices in the local spice shop, run by a South African guy who’d had an art gallery in Santa Fe at one point.   

The theater today was superb.   We started with a magnificent rock opera, “Family Album” set in today’s world, but with overtones of yesteryear’s communal life, the search of meaning and the desire to build a family that encompasses the meaning when it is found.  Written by Stew, a rock/hiphop/R&B artist, who recently did a piece that got a Tony in 2008 (Best Book of a Musical for “Passing Strange”), this is a world premiere that Ben thinks should go far.   He’s already been in on the phone with NY theater friends to interest them.

We had dinner at the Standing Stone Brewing Company, courtesy of Tami and Derrick, with lots of very good Oregon ale, calamari, and for John a kimchi pork burger and for Ben a vegetarian burger.   Very nice on the patio.  Jane had a flight of the micro-brewery’s various ales and stouts:  a group of full test-tubes with the brews arranged in ascending lightness.

The evening’s production was an outstanding “Richard III”, beautifully executed in all its evil by Dan Donohue, a regular performer here.   It’s amazing how the play drips with evil— and propaganda in favor of Henry, Earl of Richmond, who became Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, and grandfather to Elizabeth the First, the reigning monarch in Shakespeare’s day.   

Today, too, at dinner, we were asked if we wanted to become regulars to this July Fourth Trek to the Festival.  With pleasure, we look forward to our visit next year with the same wonderful group of people.   

Enjoying the Parade and more Shakespeare

July 5, 2014

Was the high point the parade yesterday in Ashland or the all-female production of “Two Gentlemen of Verona?”   We think the Shakespeare although the parade was fun to see.

“Two Gentlemen” has some delightful and familiar Shakespearean lines in it: “All you need is Love!”  And it is a chance for actors to show of their comedic skills.   There is nothing serious about it, but the contrivance is just a lot of fun, from the portly steward, to the drunk failing and loathed suitor, and handsome, but deceptive best friend who throws over his own girl for the intended of his best friend.  Beautifully performed (by many of the same cast from “Sidney Brustein” last night), it’s a delight.  It was interrupted often, too, by the screeching of a family of owls that have taken up residence in the outdoor shell of the Shakespearean theater, and the dog Picasso, who has a lead role.  Clearly this is a place where the animals are accepted as part of the scenery and employed as actors.

Our Crew at Peeless

We had dinner last night at Peerless on Fourth Street.  We ate on the restaurant’s patio, enjoying every minute of it.  Ben had Washington state oysters—they are smaller than Chesapeake or Normandy oysters, a chilled melon soup, and a golden beet salad.   The beets, with general consensus from the others had no taste, but everything else was good.  John had a sampler platter of sliders and artichoke pizzas, which was a lot of fun to eat but a bit heavy.   His starter was some calamari, very traditional, but served with a sweet and hot Thai dip.   The others had a variety of dishes from fish to lamb.   The wines, however, were the high points:   we had the cellar’s last bottle of a 2013 Rogue Valley Sauvignon Blanc from J Scott Winery, which was full and delightfully dry without being acidic, and a 2010 Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley from Sotor Winery.  A very pleasant meal—although the kitchen did not take Ed’s wish for his lamb rack to be medium and it had to be sent back.  It was very rare when it came.

A Biplane Fly-by to Start

Now the Parade:   It was sponsored by the Ashland Chamber and in many ways was a chance for the local small businesses to show of their staffs and their wares or services to the 20,000 people in town for it.   But it was a fun show:   The Wizard of Oz float for a local Spa, the ghastly cars pushing a fight against GMO foods, the bands from the college and the local Ashland City Band, the marching bagpipers—royalists Scots in the US Independence Day Parade (?), some scruffy Boy Scouts (not up to the 1950s military precision of John’s Rhode Island troop from his teen years!), and lots of politicians (both US Senators from Oregon) and very old cars.   We did not see any Gay rights organization though there was said to be one, but there were several Latino groups with the flag of Mexico and the dancing of the señoritas in their bright colors.  A hoot and worth spending the 90 or so minutes on the street.

Saving the Bees

Anti-GMO Folk--

Las Señoritas

Wizard of Oz Spa

We need to add to this part of the blog that we did some further exploring in the town.  We had thought to go through Lithia Park and so today we walked up through the park—stopping for some vegetarian pad thai at a food stand that would drive our friends in Thailand crazy with sadness.  It was a far cry from even a pad thai in Washington—a collection of noodles with some soft veggies and a sprinkle of sprouts and peanuts.  Oh, well… 

Then we walked up through the Fourth of July celebrations, including a Lincoln impersonator doing a Gettysburg Address to the Japanese garden.  It’s a small area but rather well done with a good collection of Japanese plants, rocks and streams.   A pleasant oasis in a large and very nice park.

The local band and the Lincoln impersonator 

 

In the Japanese Garden

A Theatrical Day and Exploring Ashland

Friday July 4th, Ashland, Oregon

We awoke to the sounds of the start of a 10K race along the Main Street as John sat down on the our balcony to write today’s entry.  The voice was the shrill sound of what we assume was a first grade teacher.  Very affirmative in her directions.   We will go to the Parade about 10 AM after the Winchester Inn’s huge breakfast to find places to watch for 90 minutes or so.  The actual parade may begin with a jet fighter overfly, but the Air Force may have to cut that due to Congressional budget cuts.

Yesterday was a day for theater.   We had two productions.  We spent part of the morning after breakfast exploring the town, buying a couple of post cards and stamps and finding the appropriate coffee from a local hole-in-the-wall on Main Street.   The barrista kept Ben happy, though John did not see the art on top.

Sign of the Festival

We began the theatrical day with “The Tempest.”  We had not seen a production of this, Shakespeare’s last play since Anne, our daughter, had produced an award-winning 30-minute production for the Folger’s High School Shakespeare Contest in 1994.  This production was superb,  probably the best Tempest we have ever seen, with agreement from our hosts Peter and Jane.  Set on a bare stage with dancers moving in Japanese style movements,  acting as assistants to Prospero on his island to an intense, but lovable Ariel and a yellow-dusted Calaban who moved as a beaten down slave, only twice rising to stand from a posture so low that you had the feeling he was slithering across the floor, it was a great success.   The director had somewhat changed the play’s emphasis, the setting and movements, the actual feeling in the play, to one of redemption (as opposed to revenge) as Prospero forgives all his enemies.  A post-production question and answer session with one of the young actors/dancers playing Prospero's assistants explained some of the director's goals and decisions.  

Memorial to the Pioneers

Our second production last night was “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” by Lorraine Hansberry, written in 1964.   We both agreed that it was slow to get off the ground, but by the second act had developed a ferocity over issues that resonate today—racism, sexism, and anti-gay sentiments.   Ben would have liked a slightly different ending, but the acting and the production were outstanding.   We had the pleasure of meeting with some of the cast OSF staff and the directors, including Bill Rauch, OSF's Artistic Director after the show at a small “closing” party.

A Red Dragon

Ashland Street Sculpture

Hunky Fabric?

 We dined at a new  restaurant, somewhat off Main Street, La Coquina, with an eclectic menu and a half local wine list.   John had a pea shoot and hazelnut salad as a starter and a huge bowl of gnocchi with a sauce made of Kobe beef and chopped pork bolognesi.  He coupled this with an Italian chianti.  Ben had a gilled brussell sprout salad followed by lovely piece of pistachio encrusted halibut with a local Rogue Valley pinot grigio and a glass of Evesham pinot noir.   The service was a bit slow, so we did not have time for dessert, though the portions were so large no one would have wanted to order them.   The restaurant is lovely, done in a contemporary style in what appeared to be an old store front.  

Down the Oregon Valleys to Ashland

Ashland, July 3, 2014

Oregon Capitol

We arrived at the Winchester Inn in Ashland late yesterday afternoon after a full day of driving to find our friends Jane, Peter, Ed, and Geegee, soon to be joined by Derrick and Tami, all set for five days of plays.   The trip down the spine of Oregon between the mountain ranges is gorgeous.

We started quite early out of Portland and headed for the State Capitol in Salem, expecting, correctly to find very suitable coffee nearby.   It’s quite amazing how Capitol buildings attract caffeine addicts!    Oregon’s Capitol building in Salem is quite unlike most others in the US.  It’s art deco, built in the 1930s and has a shimmering statue of a pioneer atop its central cylindrical hall.   What is most amazing stepping out of the car near the building is the intense aroma of roses; the bouquet of the place is phenomenal.  The older varieties, brilliant in their colors, produce a scent that wafts through the air hundreds of feet to bring a  smile to your face.  

Roses Scent Everywhere 

We had a walk around the entrance, saw the central rotunda then headed off to a reborn funeral home, the Ike Box coffee shop for our morning coffee.   When Ben explained to the barrista what he wanted, he got a response of “That’s just how I had my coffee until I stopped drinking milk!”   Ben found a kindred spirit.  

Capitol Rotunda

We sipped as we drove south through the Willamette Valley heading past Eugene, listening to baroque music from the local station, into the ranges that slow down I-5 as it winds south to the California border.

Ike's Box Coffee Shop, Salem

Getting peckish, we noticed  a sign at Oakland with a knife and fork and headed into the old railroad village to find Tolly’s, a grocery store gone antique shop that now is a restaurant.   With the strong Oregon accents of “you bet!” and huge sandwiches, we sat amongst 20th century antiques, wondering about the taste of our parents’ generation.   Let’s face it, the 20th century produced some wonderful things but the average household seemed to collect a lot of tchochkes!  And now we buy them as antiques.   Nevertheless, the barley lentil soup Ben had was fine, and John’s veggie sandwich was excellent, on swirled black and white bread.  Ben taught a willing barrista how to make his textured cappuccino and the barrista charged him only $2.00 thanking him for the lesson at the Oakland Coffee Shop around the corner.

Winchester Inn 

Off to Ashland

John had thought that Ashland, home of the Shakespeare Festival, would be quite alpine.  It isn’t.  Being quite close to the California border, and inland from the sea, it has the same air of central California—golden hills, and greenery only where it’s watered.  It’s very pretty, but not alpine.  

The Winchester Inn is a lovely old collection of Victorian homes, gathered together on a  hilly street up from the main street, with a superb restaurant, the Alchemy.   We dined there early last night before the theater on quail, stuffed with sausage for John and potato and sweet red pepper bisque, with Dungeness crab salad for Ben.   Ben chose a lovely local Willamette Valley 2011 pinot noir from the Penner Ash winery.   

The Inn is about two blocks from the collection of theaters that provide a home for the festival—it’s really not a festival, since it lasts most of the year and produces 11 plays every year with a predominantly repertoire cast.

The festival incubated the play “All the Way” and premiered it last season before it went on to American Conservatory Theatre in Cambridge, MA and then to Broadway where it won the Tony for Best Play this past June.  The second play, “The Great Society”  by the same playwright, John Schenkkan, is opening here later in the month.   

The first show of the seven we will see was the Irving Berlin-George Kaufman, Marx Brothers play “The Cocoanuts.”  It’s a hilarious slapstick Marx Brothers comedy, with Groucho played by local actor Mark Bedard!  It’s a scream.   We roared with laughter at the antics of actors as they moved through the farce, coupled with the music of Berlin, including “I’ll be loving you always.”

Today we will begin with breakfast and then off to Shakespeare’s “Tempest” this afternoon and a new play tonight. 

Where did Spring go and off to Oregon.

July 2, 2014, Portland, Oregon

We got back from South America and got so involved with the house, with friends’s visits and John’s on the campaign for mayor that Spring passed and Summer has arrived.   We made two trips to Boston along the way, enjoyed our grandson and seemed to just enjoy ourselves, rather quietly when at home.  Perhaps a good way to spend the season.  

We left yesterday for Oregon and are now in a BnB in the southeast section of the city.    We spent yesterday flying and then had lunch and dinner at restaurants very different from each other. 

First, a description of Portland.   This is Ben’s first trip in living memory.   He was here as a little boy age five or six.  John has not been here since he worked at the White House Conference on Small Business in the late 1970s.   It still has a very western sense about it, though in some ways the architecture is reminiscent of the Berkeley Hills or the older settled sections of Los Angeles.  It is a creature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  And, it is surrounded by dormant volcanoes, though Mt. St. Helen’s did blow its top between now and John’s last visit. 

Dormant Volcanoes

It’s very, very green, despite the temperature’s being near 100F (38C) and the sun’s beating down.  It was hotter here yesterday than at home in Washington.   We are traveling through Portland on our way to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland where we will meet up with our hosts Jane and Peter from California, and other friends from our trip on the Canal de Bourgogne several years ago.  

Portland is totally revitalized from when John was last here.  Then there were no streetcars, there were few restaurants, the Pearl Arts District did not exist and downtown was a deserted office hub.   John doesn’t remember that the Willamette (Will-AM-met) River was much of anything.    Now the city is alive with shops, bustling with people, mostly young, searching out good coffees (Ben loves that), and drinking the local brews.  The town says it is sometimes called “Brewvana.”  To give you a sense of the change, Ben read that many of the young people here call Brooklyn, NYC, the “Portland of the East.”

We drove into the city from the airport and decided, with help of the tourist office at the airport, to lunch in the Pearl District.  It’s an area of redone warehouses and factories north and east of downtown that was probably on the way to dereliction in the 1970s.  Now it’s loaded with apartments, reconstructed old breweries and factories, and lots of restaurants, art galleries, upscale shops (we salivated a bit over Jack Spade’s clothes shop), and lunch!  We learned that one of the art gallery owners renamed the area as the Pearl District because it had turned an ugly oyster shell into a pearl.

Pearl District Street Art

Pearl District Deco

We had lunch at the Zeus restaurant just off Burnside Street.   It’s in an old hotel on a side street.    The meal included tiny little manila clams in a white wine sauce, made with wines from the White Rabbit Winery.  Lovely, sweet clams that melted as they slithered down.   John had a Hammerton Brewery ale, very reminiscent of English beer, and we split a falafel sandwich with lovely tzatziki dressing and french fries that were nicknamed “truffled”, probably from their mushroom scented spicing.  

From there we walked around the district, and then had fine coffee at Peet’s.   

It took us a while to find the Clinton Street Guest House because Portland has lots of one way streets.  It’s in a 1910-1925 neighborhood of clapboard craftsman style bungalows and on very shaded streets.   Do remember that Portland is very rainy most of the time, though not right in the middle of summer.   Despite the 100F temperature John was reminded as he looks over some dried moss on that local roofs that in winter they warn visitors not to stand too still.   The story goes if you remain standing still too long, moss will grow on your backside.

The inn is not old fashioned, though the building is older.  The room is spacious and has two bathrooms, just across the hall.    It is air conditioned, and very, very quiet.   We think it only has three bedrooms.   We will see what breakfast is like before we head off to Ashland.

We had dinner last night with Steve, an old friend from John’s journalism days in Washington when he worked for Business Week.  Steve was with the Wall Street Journal and they would run into each other covering energy stories.   Steve now lives in St. John’s, an old working suburb up the Willamette River just before it joins the Columbia.  It’s a somewhat quaint town, undergoing gentrification, much to the distress of the older residents who probably worked the wharfs and the railroad yards along the Willamette, and probably still do.   

Friend Steve

Our dinner was at Dub’s Restaurant in the Ranger Tavern.   It’s a true piece of downhome America.   The owner, William, moved from Northeast Washington, not far from our home, to Oregon and a few months ago bought the restaurant inside the bar.   He specializes in Southern and soul food, which is lots of fun, though not always to our tastes.  We tend to think it is too often deep fried and too heavy, but John found William’s food very enjoyable.  He had an old fashioned style meat loaf with beans,cooked Southern style with sausage and lots of sweetness, some collard greens, which were very soft and cooked to perfection and a very light square of cornbread, suitably buttered.    Steve had his chicken dinner, with fries and cornbread — do remember that Southern food tends to be rather high on the carbs.   Ben had fish and chips, which he decided were OK, but not so good as John and Steve found their meatloaf and chicken.   This, for John and Steve, was washed down by the local brew.

Of course the conversation helped make the meal and on top of that we wish William great success with his venture.   

Today we head off to Ashland.  We’ll stop to find coffee in some esoteric coffee house along the way and arrive in time for dinner and theater this evening.