To the Nines

Yo! Greetings from The Nines Hotel in downtown Portland. It's a pretty cool place sharing a building with Macy's. Newly completed rooms with a big comfy bed and huge HD TV. The lobby - atrium - restaurant- bar is located on the 8th floor. Good wine list.

There's also a very hip asian/fusion restaurant and bar on the top floor called "Departure." Don't know where they're departing to; but I stuck my nose in last night and it was packed. Looked too young and hip for me in any event - although I would have been willing to have a night cap and people watch for a bit had there been a place to sit at the bar. Perhaps tonight...

I sure enjoyed visiting with the Snowdens. Their house is in Laurelhurst, a very stately neighborhood with some beautiful old homes. It's within walking distance of some good neighborhood eateries and Laurelhurst Park is very pleasant. You can catch a downtown bus right outside their door and the MAX line is only a short walk away.

Last night I had supper with Jim Larson and Tim Wilson at Pok Pok, an outstanding Thai restaurant in what I believe is called the Hawthorne District. They serve Thai "street food" - the kind of food you might get from a city pushcart vendor and it is delicious. We sat outdoors which is always a treat for this Southeast Alaskan boy - so I don't really know what the inside of the place is like. Also great whiskey sours...the perfect sweet/sour drink accompaniment to the food which was a bit spicy but well within my tolerance. Pok Pok will make the blog sidebar for worthwhile Portland eateries.

Jim and Tim are doing well. Jim is still conducting a long-distance romance with the Yellow Rose of Texas. She was up here a couple of weeks ago and they had a great trip to the coast. He's headed down in a couple of weeks. I think I detected a bit of a Texas twang in his speech and he's complaining about Portland being a tad chilly. This probably bodes well for his relationship - but maybe not so much for those of us who enjoy visiting him in Portland. Time will tell...

Tim and Luann are healthy and busy and their wine and deli shop, Foster & Dobbs, is holding-up reasonably well in the recession. Tim just got back from his big annual performing arts conference which was held in Phoenix and it sounds like that book of business is weathering the storm too.

My Portland pals are slowly wearing me down on the question of where I ought to relocate. Next spring I hope to spend a couple of weeks here and I suspect Jane will be more than happy to be my personal escort on an extended tour of Portland neighborhoods. Arthur kept brandishing a flyer for a beautifully remodeled 1912 Craftsman home in north Portland that is (barely) in my price range. It looked VERY attractive. Sunny location near the Rose City Golf Course. I almost let him talk me into driving out to take a look; but fortunately I resisted the temptation.

I'm going to have lunch with Jane today and this evening it's off to "Beast" for supper with Leah, Chris, and Mathew. Should be a ton of fun. This afternoon I'll have a workout at the very nicely appointed gym in the hotel and probably take a walk down by the river. I like this town!

Dining in Olympia with Tim and Mary Lou Milnes

Putting on the feed bag with Sher and Arthur Snowden

More groceries - with Tim Wilson and Jim Larson

The half-assed photoshop program on my laptop automatically "fixes" redeye when pics are downloaded. It's idea of a "fix" in this instance, was to give me a black eye instead.

Well, think I'll go poke my head into the Nordstrom's Rack before lunch. And I see the morning fog is burning-off. It's supposed to be in the low 80's today.

I see that there's a big fall storm in Juneau today - southeast winds to 40 knots and rain, heavy at times. Sure hope Dougie and Alison get out this evening...