Out with the girls on New Year's Eve afternoon

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Julie from Minnesota, Donna from Alabama, and I from Mississippi met at Brasserie Montmartre in downtown Portland for a tasty, time-consuming-cause-we-wanted-it-to-be lunch. Good food. Good friends. Talking. Laughing. Enjoying. Then, we walked a few blocks to the Living Room Theater and bought our tickets for "Old Goats." With time to spare, we browsed at nearby Powell's Books before returning to the theater to watch what turned out to be a highly entertaining movie.

Part 3, our last fun day together, Sunday, August 28, 2011

On the drive to find somewhere to eat lunch, probably in Depoe Bay, Oregon, south of Lincoln City on Highway 101, we came to this scenic outlook. I just had to stop, which was OK with my passengers. Hooray for the view!


A good-looking rig drove through the parking lot.


And a beauty parked facing the ocean. A red 1960s Chevy El Camino. I don't know the year, but I know it's close to whatever year the one was the my dearly departed husband had when we married. Now, 28 years later, I can't remember the year, but I can remember vividly that he taught me to drive a stick shift in it. What a trip that was! Me, uncoordinated to say the least, and a heavy duty clutch he'd decided to install. I did learn, though, and when they came of age, I taught both of our sons to drive a stick shift Honda. Thanks, LeRoy, honey. I love you and miss you, still.


Looks like everyone found a perfect spot for watching.


We stopped at Tidal Raves in Depoe Bay for lunch. Here's part of the view from the parking lot.


And here's part of the view from the restaurant itself.


Fish and "Chips," as it is printed on the Menu at Tidal Raves Seafood Grill consists of mahi mahi in crisp beer batter served with housemade slaw. I don't know why they don't go into detail about the "chips," cause they beat the you-know-what outta that slaw. The fish was flaky and tasty, just right. I enjoyed a glass of sweet ice tea, too. Seems like Milton got a cup of clam chowder and a cup of spinach oyster bisque, an order which sort of shocked our waiter. He understood, though, when Milton said he wanted to taste both of them, so why not. Kay got the spinach oyster bisque, I think. Howard and Vanessa split an oyster po'boy, I think, and maybe some spinach oyster bisque.

Where we were seated, on a raised level above the tables at the windows, provided a splendid view of the ocean while we enjoyed our light lunch. Then we set the GPS for the Elk Cove Winery in Gaston, Oregon.

A bit about the rest of Saturday and on to Sunday, August 21.

About Saturday after we left Cars in the Park, somewhat tired and definitely thirsty, we walked over to Director Park and Violetta where I had a cold glass of lemonade, Milton had a margarita and Kay had some sangria. From past knowledge, I knew that mine would be good, but Milton and Kay took a chance; turned out their drinks were just wet and cold. Anyway, still tired and somewhat hot due to lots of great sunshine in downtown Portland, I suggested that we ride the MAX out to the end of the line and back, then get sandwiches from Subway and take them on home to eat. Well, we made it about 30 minutes on the MAX out towards Hillsboro, got off and rode back so that after we got our sandwiches at Subway and rode the bus home, we walked into the apartment just in time to catch the Saints' game. Unfortunately, Houston beat them 27-14. Rats. But the evening turned out to be just fine because Leland and Kailey came to visit! It was fun being with the two of them and Milton and Kay. Lots of fun. I am blessed.

Here are the photos I took as we waited in line at the Screen Door for Sunday morning brunch, as I watched the kitchen from our table, and as our food appeared on the table. Mighty good food, I might add. Mighty good Southern food. We knew that would be the case because we also ate brunch there in May, 2007, on Kay and Milton's first visit to Portland. That knowledge, plus people-watching, made the 20-30 minute wait fly right by.


Busy, busy kitchen.


My breakfast of scrambled eggs, grits, biscuits and potatoes. Oh, and you can see what's left of my first-ever Bloody Mary--spicy goodness. That big glass of iced tea helped cool me off. I couldn't finish all of that delicious food, but every bite I did eat was so fine.


Milton's scramble with toast and grits and a side order of bacon. I cannot remember which scramble he got, though, but he enjoyed it.


Kay's fried chicken with biscuit and gravy and potatoes. She ate all she could, then Milton ate some of it.


Speaking of fried chicken, it's also served atop a waffle. Very popular brunch dish at the Screen Door.

Now for a few more photos.
The Screen Door's sign--I like that yellow and blue. And the part of the line of folks already there when we walked up--about 80 ahead of us.



Flowers we saw on our walk home.


These roses are on the sidewalk to my building's front door.


Once back inside the apartment, we settled in for an afternoon of getting the laundry done and watching NASCAR. Kay and I ended up washing and drying four loads between us. We sort of watched the race, not too excited about it though because that dadgum Kyle Busch won. Anyway, I managed to talk Milton and Kay into letting me make some tuna salad for supper, and then we watched "Secretariat" on NetFlix. A nice afternoon and evening.

Vacation, Day 5, 10/25/2009, Part 1

Now that's what I call an eye-catchin' billboard! It's for Ro'Chez Restaurant, located in Ridgeland, a small city north of Jackson, Mississippi. I didn't get to go there, but I love this vintage car--a '50's Ford, I think. My brother H says they've not been there to eat yet, but some friends of theirs have and said it was good.

I saw it on my way to lunch at Pan Asia, another Ridgeland. I met three of my librarian buddies--Nancey, Sherry and Cheryl--and enjoyed good food and fine company. We four, along with our other librarian buddy Anne, successfully endured the National Board Certification process for school librarians several years ago. I know without a doubt that I couldn't have done it without their help and support; the process reminded me of being in labor for six months! We ended up what the National Board people call Accomplished Library Media Specialists--I shortened it to ALMS, as a sort of pun because we also ended up getting a substantial yearly stipend from the state of Mississippi--get it, alms for the poor, we teachers in Mississippi being among the lowest paid in the country.

After spending several super hours with the ALMS gals, I drove around Jackson a bit, looking here and there to see what had changed, what had stayed the same. I stopped now and then to take photos to share with you.

I found this about the neighborhood I photographed first. Fondren District is a culture center in Jackson and is one of Jackson's most sought after districts, featuring an array of antiques stores, galleries, and lots of entertainment options in the numerous pubs and restaurants.

First, in Fondren, I took a few photos of the refurbished Duling School, part of Fondren Place, which includes various businesses including The Auditorium, a restaurant that my brother and his wife have enjoyed a time or two. Here's some info I found about Duling School: The Lorena Duling School in Jackson was built in 1927 and served as the neighborhood elementary school for the developing community of Fondren. The school was designed by architect Claude H. Lindsley in the popular Tudor Revival style. Lindsley would go on to design Jackson's Central High School and Standard Life Building. The Duling School was used for educational purposes until 2005, at which time it was vacated.


This new building takes up what used to be a vacant lot just west of the school building. You can tell that I took this shot through the windshield--see the blue band along the top of the photo?


The same building, the back corner from the parking lot behind the building. Found this on the Internet, "The building will house BankPlus and have other office spaces, some retailers, and a restaurant. There are also loft apartments and rooftop decks." I imagine some of those are in this particular part of the development. In fact, I see a sign about the ATM near the dark brick section.

Sunday evening at Three Doors Down Cafe, SE 37th and Hawthorne

One of the many neat things about having a son for a sous chef (and, in the past, a second son in the same kitchen as a line/prep cook) is you never know what sort of goodie you just might get as a surprise when you go to the restaurant.

Sunday night when I watched our waiter bringing us a full-sized white dinner plate right after we'd ordered our appetizers and entrees, I wondered if Lamont had sent us a great big surprise--quenelles of wasabi, the bright green, extremely hot food he had me try years ago at Little Tokyo, a very popular Japanese restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi. I watched the plate come closer. I recognized a scallop beneath the quenelle. "Ah, scallops," I swooned, vividly remembering my first ever scallop, at Three Doors Down when we visited in the summer of 2005. Seconds later we knew what we had--from bottom to top--a slice of oven-roasted baby golden beet, a slice of oven-roasted cippolini onion, a pan-seared scallop, and a quenelle of green pea and truffle puree.

The four of us, Tony, Melissa, Danielle, and I, sat there, looking at the colorful, inviting dish for a moment. Then we each got one and took our first bites. Repeated "Ohs," and "Oohs," and "This is delicious," and "Wow," came from our mouths as we slowly devoured our first appetizer. Momentarily satiated, I completely forgot to photograph our second appetizer, dungeness crab cake, micro-greens salad and Mama Lil's Hungarian pepper tarter sauce. I don't eat crab, but the other three continued to repeat those same words as they made short work of it.


My turn to repeat those sounds and phrases came with our third shared appetizer, ricotta gnocchi with fava beans, shimeji mushrooms, paresan and black pepper. You can tell, though, that we all had a bite before I got the camera out for the photo. Three Doors Down is where I ate my first gnocchi.

Melissa's entree, from the risotto/pasta section of the menu, prawns, mussels, scallops in a traditional spicy fra diavolo sauce of plum tomatoes, chili flakes, kalamata olives, cherry peppers and fettuccine.


My entree, from the entree section of the menu, pan roasted sturgeon with smoked bacon, cippolini onions, fava beans, morel mushrooms and mashed potatoes.


Danielle and Tony's appetizer, from the risotta/pasta section of the menu, plum tomatoes, vodka, cream, chili flake and sweet Italian sausage with rigatoni. Three Doors Down's best-known dish.


All I can say is that every bite I ate was great and the three of them said the same about their food. I want you to understand, though, that I truly believe that even if my son, and at other times my two sons, didn't work there, I'd still have the same reaction to every bite I have ever enjoyed at Three Doors Down. Dave and Kathy, chef and owners, set high standards for food and drink and service and have held themselves and their staff to those standards since opening in 1994.

After a short wait to let our entrees settle a bit, we ordered dessert, four different ones. Tony grew up eating his mother's cannoli (description from the menu: a crisp pastry shell stuffed with creamy ricotta cheese, chocolate chips, citrus zest and crushed pistachios), so that's what he wanted. We three ladies shared a slice of banana cream pie (description from the menu: bananas layered with pastry cream in a graham cracker, brown sugar and banana crust topped with whipped cream, shaved chocolate and caramel sauce), a slice of bocca negra (description from the menu: chocolate bourbon torte with white chocolate bourbon cream), and a serving of creole bread pudding (description from the menu: white chocolate custard, cinnamon and raisins baked and served with a hard sauce). I confess, by the time the desserts arrived, my camera was the farthest thing from my mind.

Sunday evening at Three Doors Down Cafe, another wonderful memory made in Portland centered around family, friends and food.

UPDATED TO ADD: I remembered that I had a photo of the banana cream pie from 2004, taken with my Nikon CoolPix.

Half a dozen diverse restaurants in one block, SW Morrison, between 10th and 11th

For months as the No. 15 bus turned west at SW Morrison on my way home from work, I have noticed the juxtaposition of two restaurant signs and pondered on them, not in a culinary way but in a geographical sense--India House on the corner, Perian House down the block, right here in Portland, Oregon. Neat.

So the other week when I walked that block after my trip to the Central Library, I decided to look closer, once this MAX Blue Line slid by bound for Hillsboro, a suburban city like Brandon, Clinton, Madison, Pearl, and Ridgeland.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that six separate restaurants populate the block! And they're easy to get to, with a Smart Park garage down at SW 10th and Morrison, plus the nearby MAX and bus stops. I wonder what the block looks like at lunch time as well as dinner time? Oh, let me make it clear that I've not yet dined in any of these diverse eateries; I'm just impressed that there are six in one single block and thought you Jacksonians would be, too. I well remember how much Jacksonians enjoy a meal out, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. Or is that breakfast, dinner and supper? Or breakfast, lunch and supper? Are you hungry yet?

Now you're looking west towards the bus stop I often use after my trip to the library. It appears other parking exists to the south, too.

Back at the corner of SW 10th and Morrison the first restaurant on the south side of Morrison is a Mexican one. I didn't go back around the corner to get a photo of it's front, so I don't know it's name. Any of you Portlanders reading this know? I'd love it if you'd share it. I do know that one young man often on my homeward-bound bus when I catch the No. 18 says the food there suits him.

Glowing reviews for Habibi Lebanese & Mediterranean Cuisine exist at Citysearch. What do you think about those reviews? Do you use them as guides for your dining pursuits? I like those green umbrellas; they're interesting, in an eccentric sort of way. And the font used for the restaurant's name esthetically appeals to me.

Just what is casual Italian, as the round sign for La Capanna states?

Persian House's sign goes on to explain that the menu is continental in addition to Persian. Their Web site says Spanish, Italian, French, Greek, and Middle Eastern recipes. I must admit, that broadness makes me wonder about the attendant quality.

Here's India House at the opposite corner from the Mexican restaurant. Those umbrellas stand out, too. I suppose midday diners need them, especially if they don't have any sunglasses.

Directly across the street from India House is this Big Town Hero Sub Sandwich Shop, born in Corvallis. Their slogan on the Web site: an army travels on its stomach.


I'm hoping my Mississippi buddies will share names and details of their favorite dishes at any and/or all of these ethnic restaurants. One of these days I'd like to stop for a bite or two, but I'd like to go in with some knowledge. Also, any Portlanders reading this willing to share your knowledge about these restaurants, feel free to comment.

In camera. Not.

Yesterday after work I rode the #18 to the Central Library, to return a load of mysteries and check out some more. Then I walked up 10th to the corner of Morrison, turned left which is west, and headed for a bus stop several blocks away.

About half way up the block, I saw this No Loitering sign. My brain, the kind that could easily be described as subject to richochet, noticed the distinctiveness of the golden capital letters on the dark red background, the brighter red border. I wondered if the font was Arial. I decided to loiter and take a photo.


In fact I had been loitering since I'd turned the corner headed for the bus stop. I first looked at the vintage clothing and accessory store's windows on the corner, slowing to check out the black and white checked sunglasses on the styrofoam head, then I walked a couple of steps and looked to the south side of the street at the variety of restaurants in the block, then I took two more steps and noticed the No Loitering sign. According to Merriam-Webster online that particular loitering fit the word's first definition, to delay an activity with idle stops and pauses. If I hadn't decided to get out my camera and take this photo, I would have sequed right straight into loiter's second definition, to remain in an area for no obvious reason.

The sign hangs near this door, on a wall set back at an angle from the surrounding walls. Where the key hole should be, it appears plugged. Is this merely an exit? Or a door that is only opens from the inside upon prior notification of a person's or a delivery's arrival? I looked up. I looked down. I had a Marvin Gaye moment: What's goin' on?




The juxtaposition of the sign and the door barely fit in my camera! And I still don't know what they were thinking. Do you?