Travel
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The 5 Spot was hands-down my favorite restaurant we’ve eaten at so far on our trip and one of my favorite restaurants of all time. The place itself was cool, hip without trying, filled with interesting people and great servers. The menu was inventive without being too foodie (I can be a little under-adventurous sometimes). The food was great, tasty and fresh and the prices reasonable. They use grass-fed beef of which I’m a big proponent and that’s something hard to find in a restaurant. To sum it up: The 5 Spot rocked!
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The first half of the Woodland Park Zoo was amazing. I’ve never been to a zoo that didn’t make me feel at least a little sorry for the animals, but these guys are living it up at a 5 star hotel. The experience for the visitor was stunning as well. The whole place was heavily wooded with a trickle of a path running through. The path wound round and round and brought you to viewing spots where you had to think for a moment how it was that the animals were staying in their environment while you stayed in yours. The boundaries were non-conventional and effective in making you feeling like you happened upon the animals in the wild. They had a giraffe feeding experience that was top notch. Mazie and a bunch of other kids got to feed a giraffe a bunch of branches, leaves and lettuce. It was natural and unstructured and a big hit. Also, whereas most zoos have crap all about, the first half of the Woodland Park Zoo had no beverage carts, food stands, vending machines or souvenirs for sale. It was all cool zoo, all of the time. And if that’s not enough, their newest building is Gold LEED Certified; not an easy task. The second half of the zoo lost the magic and turned into a regular zoo. It was still nice, but nothing like the first half.
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My third favorite spot was Top Pot Doughnuts. The building had amazing architecture, with a mix of classic modern and deco. The facade was all windows and very unique. It had a metal structure jutting out which made me think vintage airport for some reason. The interior was great too. The ceiling was high, high, high with a loft up top for grand sitting and viewing of the downstairs. The sides of the place were bookcases, climbing all the way to the top. There were tons of old books lining all of the shelves. And the doughnuts…the doughnuts were top-notch!
Would you like some plastic with that - Update!
I’ve come across three more instances of biodegradable, starch-made plastic on our drive down the coast and I thought I should share. The West Coast is definitely far ahead of the Midwest on this front and it’s been exciting to come across these products. The proof is in the crappy iPhone pictures. [gallery]
Face to Face with a Redwood...
or maybe that should be face to foot with a redwood. Yes, they are tall, majestic and grand. Yes, I felt tiny and timid in the midst of such greatness. And yes, I am definitely smaller than a redwood. But, I also felt peaceful and quiet amongst the giant trees and even a little protected. Because the trees are so massive and their foliage doesn’t start until high up in the sky, there is a lot of space down on the ground. I relished all that open space in a place that felt disconnected and separate from the rest of the world. It was a good day.
Thoughts on Portland
Best thing about Portland: FOOD! The place is chalk full of interesting, unique, locally owned, eco-conscious, yummy eating establishments. Ken’s Artisan Bakery was hands-down my favorite spot, it was yummy after delicious after tummy-rubbing goodness. We sampled the morning bun, brioche cinnamon roll, eclair and chocolate croissant. We partook in many other tasty meals, including the best falafel sandwich Jamie or I have ever tasted at Karam. Deciding where to eat each day was a practice in fun.
The next best thing about Portland: Bishops Barbershop. We happened by the barber shop this morning and I felt compelled to cut my hair. I’ve never in my life gotten my haircut on the fly, just cause, but I guess greatness can inspire rash action. Imagine a big, open space with ceilings at least 20 feet tall. The walls are covered with posters and pictures, the floors are cement, and a couple of long, wood benches adorn the middle of the floor. Old-fashioned barber chairs sit in front of 8 or 9 stations and the stage for cool is set. The barbers are all young, hip, friendly and tattooed or pierced. Jamie sat down for a quick buzz while I enjoyed a more leisurely wash, cut and blow-dry. Bishops is to a haircut place what the Kennedy School is to a hotel, sheer genius.
Other highlights included a pretty cool children’s museum, an independent bookstore that occupies a full city block on multiple levels, beautiful Japanese gardens and having our friends, Kent, Maril, Simon and Caroline around for a few days. We are on the move now, heading down the coast toward San Francisco. We stay in Eugene, Oregon tonight and then tomorrow Redwood Forest here we come!
A rare day of foot-loose and fancy-free
A few days ago Maril and I had 12 hours of kid-free, unstructured time on our hands. I’m here to report that it’s pretty easy, fun and relaxing to spend 12 hours of kid-free, unstructured time, even if there is no plan in place. An idle stroll though the Pearl District with a leisurely lunch, snack and dinner, a park dedication for a park that’s a sidewalk (i know, go figure), a play at the Platinum LEED certified remodeled historic Armory building, and a late night trip to Powell’s Books and Whole Foods Market. I didn’t spend much money or come home with a bunch of trinkets, but I enjoyed my time away immensely. A shout out to Kent and Jamie for hanging out with the kids all day!
Omnivore's Dilemma
Omnivore’s Dilemma is one of my favorite books that I’ve read in the recent past. I heard a couple of talks on the radio with the author Michael Pollan and the subject sounded interesting. I bought the book and I distinctly remember reading it in the parking lots of various big-box retailers in the New Jersey wasteland, where we lived for three weeks during the summer of ‘06, while Mazie napped in the backseat due to regular nap failure.
The book helped shape and change some of my ideas about the production of food, but what I most enjoyed about the book was the simple pleasure of reading it. The book is divided into four sections. Section I is a short history of corn (which I found to be really mind-blowing), Section II is a look at big organic and what that means and entails, Section III is all about one small farm in Virginia called Polyface and the move toward beyond organic or sustainable food-raising and Section IV is an interesting look at building a meal from things grown, foraged or killed by the author.
If you haven’t read it yet, I highly suggest a read. If you have read it, let me know what you think!
A Homeless Lady
Today we were at the Portland Saturday Market eating lunch and there was a woman sitting next to us who was eating some leftover food that other people had left behind. She was in her 40’s or 50’s, seemed to be lacking most of her teeth, and maybe had some type of mild mental illness. Shortly after we sat down, one of the security people for the market came up and began to give her a hard time. The employee accused her of getting the food out of the trash, which she didn’t, then when she said that she had asked people for it, told her that wasn’t acceptable either. They came to an arrangement where she continued to sit and eat her food without disruption, but she was asked to never return.
I felt bad for the woman, but understood the security guard’s position. And I have to admit that sitting next to her for 20 minutes made me uncomfortable. I paid her much more attention than I would any other person, not because I was scared of her, but because I couldn’t help wondering how she came to be this person. Normally I pass homeless people on the street, but I’m never confronted with their situation for more than a minute or two. This woman was clearly on the streets and she didn’t seem like she had it together enough to do anything other than live on the streets.
I understand that there are many different reasons why people are homeless, but I was struck that this woman was homeless because at some point she fell through a crack and at this point the crack has turned into a huge hole and there’s no getting back. I’m not sure what responsibility we as a society have to someone like her or why I’m even writing this post, but I came away with the feeling that even though having her around was unpleasant and made me uncomfortable it was a good thing. And whatever she may or may not be, she’s still a person.
Quotes from the Road...2nd Installment
Yesterday at breakfast Mazie commented that she was cold and I replied that I was too. She looked at Jamie and asked him if he was cold; he shook his head no. Mazie then pointed to Jamie’s forearms and asked in all seriousness, “Cause of that white fur?”. Classic stuff, but she does have a point. He’s one hairy guy.
Litter and it will hurt
We came across this sign a couple of days ago on the way to the zoo in Seattle. I had to take a picture and offer up a quick post. I’ve never seen a sign like this, so please forgive my ignorance if these are posted all over the Pacific Northwest. I love this sign! It’s so vaguely threatening. I wonder after reading the sign what exactly will happen to me if I litter? Will I just feel bad and therefore it will hurt or will someone come out of the bushes and beat me or will some big brother figure render a nasty fine that hurts my pocket-book or something worse? It’s just so ambiguous and I think that’s where the genius lies. If you knew exactly what was going to happen you would be able to calculate the risk and decide if it was worth it. But, with the sign as it is you have no idea if you are meant to suffer a hurt conscience, a broken bone or a life in prison. It really does make a person like me curious and I’m no litter bug!
My Favorite Hotel Ever!!!!
Lots of favorites lately and another to add to the list. We stayed for one night at the Kennedy School just outside of Portland, Oregon. The Kennedy School hotel used to be a school and the evidence is still all other the place. The McMenamins brothers carefully restored the place, added lots of interesting art, turned the auditorium into a movie theater free for guest with comfy couches, added a couple of wacky bars, a outdoor hot tub soaking pool, a restaurant and lots of swanky charm. All of the rooms are refurbished classrooms. Our room was huge with an awesome closet that had three fold-up type garage doors that contain chalkboards. The place is funky with capital “F” and I loved every minute of our time there. Mazie loved that they had drinking fountains all over the place that were kid-height, perfect for catching a drink or two or ten. It’s hard to describe the place and do it justice, but if you ever need a place to stay in Portland, I highly recommend the Kennedy School. They have a few other properties around Washington and Oregon and I’m sure they are all worth checking out. Did I mention that you get all this coolness for $99/night. That’s what we paid to stay a night in the crappy-de-crappy hotel in Glendive, MT. Oh, and I almost forgot, our room had a recycling bin - a happy first for me.
These are a few of my favorite things...Seattle
I’d never been to Seattle before; now I have. We, me and the family had lots of fun traversing the city, mainly on foot. We checked out Folklife, Seattle Center, The Seattle Aquarium, Woodland Park Zoo, The Children’s Museum, The Space Needle, Pike Place Market, the flagship REI store and lots of cool restaurants and shops littered throughout downtown. I’ve come away with a few favorites that I’m dying to share.