-
RSS
Julie My Love and I were both frightened of the future earlier this year. We were escaping from L.A. after a decade in Entertainment Industry residence, so Julie was of course afraid of leaving friends made close by ten years of shared experiences. I, meanwhile, was completing work on my first book, tellingly entitled I Hate L.A., and feared internally, What if I hate my next hometown?
After weekend visits to a few top contenders, Portland, Oregon, was selected by surprisingly wide margins to audition as our new answer for “Where ya from?”
We’ve been here three weeks now, and I’m grateful to report that I’m not just a chronically pessimistic complainer. Los Angeles really is a horrible, terrible town. Portland, by apples & oranges comparison, dances with ideal.
Case in point: a three minute bike ride north of our place is MacTarnahan’s Brewing Company. This brewery has a taproom out front that serves all the company’s brews (and then some) along with bar food that’s archetypal in its excellence.
Twice now we’ve rolled in for the day’s first Happy Hour. We sit out on the sun-dappled veranda, shaded by leafy trees and surrounded with effusive flowers. Julie enjoys a Mimosa while I rotate onto the next 20 ounce beer on my MacTarnahan’s to do list. We also split the taproom’s eponymous burger (a “1/2 pound of Fulton ground chuck on an onion bun, fully dressed with crispy fried onion strings… served with savory garlic rosemary fries.”) The cost of all this afternoon happiness? Less than ten bucks, which still feels nearly free by our old Angeleno standards.
This is just one of the many exciting discoveries we’ve made since our recent arrival in PDX, and we see no end of fascinations ahead. Our nascent list grows daily longer.
Will the approaching seasons’ interminably gray skies rain on our little civic honeymoon’s parade? Well, back at MacTarnahan’s taproom, there’s also a covered and heated outdoor patio, so I’m not forecasting any imminent sequels in my city-slamming bibliography.
(But check back with me near the close of this next winter, as I may have ranting new plans.)
Postscript — Thanks for your thoughts, Z & Morningstar.