one week in portland - pt. 1
farmers markets, friends & reflections, mhmm
Here’s a slew of quick words + phrases to sum up my week in Portland, OR: rain & shine, socializing, celebrating, coffee & resolve.
Two planes, one train, public transit and my precious bicycle.
Quite the contrast to the long drive up to Fairbanks amidst the wildfires in the interior.
The context / the disclaimer / the background / the truth is that while I now seriously reside inside a national park + preserve in the middle of Alaska, prior to living in the woods, I resided in Portland, OR for what I like to say is just short of twenty - 20! - years. I moved there shortly after graduating from college in Boston in the early 2000s.
In other words, I spent most of my twenties and my thirties in a city that gradually became quite the tourist destination (again). I’ll hold off on an Oregon Trail joke.
I’ll attempt to sum up my Portland days (what already feels like a lifetime ago, because that’s what leaving city-life can do to this even longer-ago New Yorker) with another set of words —> Friends, Brunch, Careers, Farmers Markets, Food Carts, Landlines, Independent Business everything, Community Gardens, Cats, Marriage, Bikes, more Brunch, another Career or two or three, Conferences, Dive Bars, Nonprofits, GOOD coffee, Cook-offs, Sweaters, Vegan Scenes, Supper Clubs, that Rain, that Shine, all those Freepiles, Twitter, Dresses, half a Shaved Head, and yet more Brunch – but enough of my life story.
It wasn’t much of a surprise, not really, that so much of what I remembered of Portland was still there for my return. It was…welcoming.
Yes, it’s changed, it’s changing, there’s a lot going on, it’s true. Likewise for all of us, in every layer of society. Most of us. Eh, all of us.
I openly admit that I wasn’t thrilled for the act of travel - the environmental dismay (impacts) and the packed metal tubes of fellow humans of it all. I used to genuinely enjoy travel of all sorts. I really did.
Those sentiments aside, if I can attempt such a thing, I remained eager to catch up in person with longtime friends, celebrate nuptials (queer women, oh the beauty of it all, more than ever), ride my bike everywhere, eat a great meal or two, and see just how many farmers markets I could visit.
Gosh, I didn’t intend to get heavy above there, but isn’t it inevitable? No need to answer that. Or do: feel free to wax on about climate dismay, corruption, and the erosion of my no-longer-“modern” rights as a woman, the impending doom of what’s next for gay marriage, my trans spouse, and well, everything.
Uh, or the beauty of a well-risen, fried and glazed doughnut. I hear ya on it all.
I’ll wander into the good memories, the better, the real, below, starting with the produce…
HOLD UP, ON THE ALASKA LIFE -
As you probably correctly assume, Alaska has a very short summer. I swear it’s fall right now…..which it is, in all but a calendar date.
We had the THRILL of having a regional CSA delivered last ‘summer’ that unfortunately is not happening this year, so I was that much more eager to soak in all the fresh bounty available in the lower Northwest.
BACK TO PORTLAND STUFF -
In one week, I was able to visit four farmers markets - including two on one sunny Sunday afternoon.
Doses of my old life, mixed in with the perspectives of my new one.
Condensing these into these silly but handy collages.
Fun fact - (as usual) I cooked almost every single day of my week in Portland, or at least threw together a salad with the baby gem lettuce, pan-seared tempeh & other goodies I’d acquired.
Echoing my above statement on an old life mixed with the new. Chapters.
Reader, I took that broccolini and those chanterelles back home with me.
Not so random.
Onto the eats & drinks in Portland / aka the Rose City / aka Stumptown / aka Bridge City / aka where I revisited & relished old habits…
Cue the requisite americano before the purpose of this visit - my dear friend’s wedding reception (not the first wedding I’d had the delight to bike to in my Portland tenure, mind you).
Plus, pictured is a lovely oat milk latte from a few days later - my sole one - at another good friend’s (vegan!) coffeeshop - albeit in reverse order above, I do not seem to have control over that with our tech overlords.
Bring on the vegan doughnuts + pastries as wedding cake:
Truly excellent for soaking up whiskey cocktails at the reception.
Frankly, that above set-up was near perfection.
My friend was legitimately reaching for her dinner while I took this.
Oh, the nostalgia of it all.
This next one was not my plate but I meant to order real food at this establishment, and short story shorter, I made it in time for happy hour and could not pass up the hand-cut fries on the hh menu, therefore ruining a bigger appetite while satisfying again, more nostalgia.
Moving on to the burger below, it is SO not me to order something like this, however, this eatery is respectfully indie & radical and offers a weekly burger special I had been seeing on insta (for years). Fun times.
It is so good to see this former food cart-turned-restaurant remain open after so so so so much.
The entire week was bittersweet, in that regard. Covid, time, rents, development, etc. Some spots were no more. Other nooks were reblooming, in more than one way. In that vein, where are you voting with your dollar lately?
For real.
Let’s just say that I somewhat-creepily / comically threw out a smile and bunch of old pre-pandemic loyalty punch cards with the requisite past-life stamps and well, thanks to a combination of a nice employee/wanting to get those things out of rotation/the impression of my neon safety vest for biking /, and I would say my smile but I actually had a mask on and in any case, my lunch was freeeeeeeeee. : )
(And duh, I tipped. In cash).
The company was even better than the grub.
One more for the road, er flight, er airport:
When this scone returns, I’ll be discussing more semi-jaded reflections-as-therapy, sharing what I actually cooked with all those gorgeous fruit + veg, and more scenes of biking & wandering around the city I (sorta, technically, sure) became an adult in. 🌈🌈🌈
References + Relevant Links
The 7 Most Terrible Lines from KOIN’s “Is Portland Over?” Article, Portland Mercury May 13, 2021
Crying Wolf: If Portland Tourism Dies, You Can Thank Downtown Business Interests and the Police, Portland Mercury February 1, 2021
It’s Not Your Imagination—This Is a Tough Year for Oregon Summer Fruit, Portland Monthly July 15, 2022
Street Roots/Social Justice weekly street newspaper “for those who can’t afford free speech”
Portland Farmers Market (@portlandfarmers) on instagram - see what’s in season
Taking the Lane zine series by Elly Blue
Taqueria Los Gorditos’ vegan menu - beans + rice burrito + avocado is/was my mainstay, occasionally the mulita plate or something with soyrizo
Thunderbird Bar on SE Foster
I need to go to Portland just for the food!!
Looks like you had an amazing trip to PDX! We love going to the PSU farmers markets and the kid friendly small size Montavilla market too. Next time, may I suggest checking out Fermenter? They serve fabulous vegan fare, as does Mama Dut. Cheers!