Portlandian Decorum

This is just a brief post, but it is something worth mentioning.  Mike and I took public transportation a lot while in Portland.  In an independent study done by us, 9 out of 10 people exiting the bus yell "Thank You" to the bus driver upon their departure.  The bus driver also usually responds with a reply or a wave.

It is obviously just a Portlandian thing to do, but it is so courteous, civilized and just plain decent. Everyone should be more Portlandian in this respect. Enough said.

Pickleball is a thing

We researched and communicated in advance to find possible pickleball playing opportunities in Portland.  Some of the best pro players hail from the Pacific Northwest and so we thought it would be an easy, popular game to find.  We were disappointed to learn that, much like for us in St. Pete, the local community centers are closed to pickleball in the summertime so that they can provide daily activities to the kiddies while they are on summer break.   And because the weather is so rainy 10 months a year, there are very very few outdoor courts.

There is a great website available for Oregon pickleball play here.  It is accurately maintained.

Without any wheels to get to the suburbs of Portland, we thought we were going to be on a pickleball hiatus. 😖😖  Lake Oswego Pickleball Club to the rescue.  We identified a bus route (35) would get us only a block away from the park.  It was a 45 minute trip one way on most weekdays, Sundays a little shorter.

My pickleball bag waiting to get on the 35 Bus 

This club plays outdoors on six portable courts on Wednesdays and Fridays in the morning and Sunday afternoons.  Their club meets at George Rogers Park Tennis courts.  It is a really well run club by Carl Schmits.  They have all levels of play, but they try to segregate courts by skill level to maintain challenging match ups during play.  Most days we played all courts were full and 4-6 people waited to rotate in.

We had a great time, met some friendly folks and had challenging play with the club for the entire month we stayed in Portland. The weather was so lovely and devoid of humidity, I am not sure what we will do when we get back to Florida heat.

The group welcomed us into their community and we learned a lot about how pickleball is exploding in their area.  Their club is very organized and works closely with the local recreation departments to promote pickleball locations, tournaments and specified playing times in the region.

I am not too sure that the other riders on the bus appreciated our return trips after playing 3 hours of pickleball, but no one complained outright to us.  😆

Our pickleball bags on their last bus ride back to Portland before we leave for Seattle. 😢

Even as I write this blog post, Mike is playing pickleball with intermediate/advanced players in Seattle tonight, only our 2nd night in town.  We will both play tomorrow morning as well.  What can I say?  it is addictive.

If you ever find yourself in Oregon in need of a pickleball game, look up Carl and his wife Jane at the Lake Oswego Pickleball Club. You will be glad you did.

Farmer's Markets, pies and a butcher

I cannot ever eat anything while traveling that I don't want to photograph.  It drives Mike crazy. "Can't you just eat it? People are staring."  Yes I will eat it and no one is staring. Everyone in the universe is always looking down at their own phone screen or taking a selfie or making sure they get a picture of their own delicious food. So there!

One of the most bountiful farmer's market I have ever been to is in Portland, OR.  They have a farmer's market almost every day of the week in some neighborhood of the city, but the Mother of all markets is the Saturday PSU Farmer's Market.  It is 30% fresh fruits and vegetables that are so beautiful you almost don't want to eat them.

Beautiful squash blossoms for stuffing,

50% prepared goods and 20% food stalls.  This is where we first tasted "The Reggie" biscuit sandwich from Pine State Biscuits.  For those of you who have followed my blog since the beginning, I will not regale you with another in-depth discussion on it, but suffice it to say that we made it a point to visit our friend Reggie once again while here.

A picture of The Reggie is worth a thousand words

We also found some new favorites and learned a few things.  Marionberry (a cross between the 'Chehalem' and 'Olallie' blackberries) season is July in Oregon.  Mike said they are like little bumpy sacks of juice.  Well that they are.  We love to buy a pint and eat them each day while we can get them.   However, they are very delicate and can be turned to mush on the streetcar ride home.  Once home, they don't stay fresh very long.  Damn you elusive Marionberry!

Anyway, when you are ignorant on a subject, such as maintaining berry freshness, best to ask the experts.  Our next trip to the market we inquired on the best way to save the berries multiple days.  1) Don't squish them on the way home, 2) Immediately remove them from the pint crate and lay them in a single layer of paper towel on a plate or tray.  Proximity to one another in the pint crates cause mold and spoilage.  3) Do NOT rinse them until right before you eat them. 4) Refrigerate them.

We followed the Fresh Berry Code for the rest of our trip and very much enjoyed our little sacks of juice.

And if eating the fresh fruit itself wasn't enough, ,we sampled it in pie form from Lauretta Jean's pie stand.  Turns out that Marionberries nestled in a delicious flaky crust are even more phenomenal. Way to go Lauretta Jean.


 We tried to get another piece of that delectable pie the following week and it was SOLD OUT by the the time we arrived.  You snooze, you forfeit your right to pie!  Just sayin',

And if fruit and a biscuit breakfast sandwich the size of a small cat's head doesn't draw you in, there is a small batch butcher shop called Chop that makes its own sausages, pates and rillettes out of the most delicious parts of the pig.  We had this Summertime Rillette on sourdough bread with olives and wine a few nights just as our dinner.  As grownups, we can do that.  Heavenly.

   

Getting around Portlandia

We have been staying in the city of Portland, more specifically The Pearl District since the beginning of July.  The first week was fairly consumed with the aforementioned Blues Festival.  We had some general plans that we would get out to the wine region, play a little pickleball, check out a few of our favorite food places and see what else came up for us to do.

Luckily, July and August are the time of year in the PNW when outdoor activities are most pleasurable.  No rain and sunny, moderate temperature days that we do not get in Florida. 

First things first, while we can walk to many places from our rented flat, and the public transportation services around Portland are plentiful (bus, light rail, streetcar), they are not the most efficient way to get from point A to point B and also only get you to close in suburbs.  But all we had was our feet, so we were glad to be able to buy 7 day unlimited bus passes.

Mike also searched around for rental cars for our long weekend plans away from the city.  OUCH, very expensive!  What gives Portland?  Mike began searching for other alternatives than the bus, Uber or a rental car.

When we lived in Seattle, Zip Car was just starting their "shared" car concept in Seattle.  If you live in the city and need occasional use of an automobile, you can pay a monthly membership fee and use their cars on an hourly basis.  Great idea, except we don't need a long term commitment.

We found 4 other potential car sharing options available in Portland for our use.  Car2Go, Reach Now, Getaround and Turo.  The services are not available in all cities.  The first two will show you, via their app, all available cars near you.  You also use the app to unlock the car, release the key and relock at the end of your use.  The last two, also via the app show you local a person who rents their personal car for hourly or overnight use.   You can select your vehicle and price range for the dates you need. 

S CarG

We had the most luck with Car2Go and Reach Now.  The apps were intuitive and their use instructions were easy to follow.  Just drive it to your location within their service area, park it and it then becomes available for someone else to use.  The one negative is that the service boundaries are limited, but as long as you stay within their service area, it is a good alternative. 

We ended up just using an Enterprise rental car for our other adventures outside the city and used the bus and streetcar at multiple times on most days.  You all may be way ahead of me on this topic and Uber/Lyft may be your first choice since you leave the driving to someone else, but I thought I would share these options in case they come in handy on your next trip. 

I got the Blues, shall we dance? 6/30-7/4/17

The Waterfront Blues Festival, in its 30th year this year showcases amazing regional blues musicians and a few national blues headliners.  It is always held over the 4th of July weekend and ends with a spectacular fireworks display over the Willamette River.  The organization, management and setting of the festival is unmatched by any festival we've ever attended and it is also a fund raising event for the Oregon Foodbank charitable organization as well.  A win/win all around.

Before our trek to the festival, we had to stock some basic picnic food items and something to sit on. We scored two pop up outdoor chairs at Fred Meyer for $7 bucks each, and schlepped them back to our flat,  We packed up a cooler, our spiffy new chairs and headed out to the Portland Streetcar for the festival.

The 2017 festival was 5 days long. The weather was a little warmer than we had anticipated during the day, but the evenings were spectacular.  It is a beautiful venue. It did not have any significant headliners this year as in years past but we heard some phenomenal musicians and vocalists.  The talent always blows my mind.  There are two main stages that are run like Swiss clocks, the sound is always spot on.  There is a small more intimate stage and a larger back stage with a football field sized dance floor.  The addition of the dance floor was a new element since our last festival.  Little did we know that dance floor would provide us with so much entertainment without ever stepping foot on it.

When we were not at the main stages, we frequently found ourselves at the Front Porch stage with the dance floor.  From the first day we were fascinated by all the dancers.  All shapes, sizes and skill levels were represented.  We watched several men and ladies change into their "dancing shoes" before they took the floor.  They twirled, stepped and boogied their hearts out for all 5 days. Some were smooth and debonair as they led their partners, making all the right moves. Others were unbridled, almost convulsive and yet the ladies said YES to the courageous men who asked them to dance. Most of the couples switched partners after every song, both respectfully saying "Thank you for the dance" at the end of their groove.  It was a lovely microcosm of humankind. I think I see dance lessons in our future.

Beyond the Palm Trees - 6/29/17

We have been enjoying our new home in Florida through the winter and spring, but now it is time to get out of the heat and look beyond the palm trees. 2017's travels include a couple of domestic trips and one six week sojourn through France by boat, by train and by car.

We don't often return to the same places on our travels, but Portland, OR has been a favorite location ever since we lived near it in Seattle.  It's gritty, hipster, pioneering culture provides local color, great art and music and an "eat local" food scene that is booming.

The first leg of our flight from Tampa to Seattle was uneventful.  Upon landing at approximately 10 pm PST (1am EST) and receiving my dormant texts and email, there was a message from Alaska Airlines.  "Sorry, Flight 2751 has been canceled. We're here to help and get you back on your way. Please see an Alaska customer service agent for assistance. This was a very unwelcome message. But air travel is fraught with these kind of challenges.  Alaska Air provided some food vouchers for our inconvenience and booked us on a later flight that same night. A little Ivar's chowder in our bellies, we completed our trek to our new temporary flat at around 1 am.  Good way to catch up on the time zone change I guess.