McMenamin’s – Dear Liza

Busy Saturday

Dear Liza,

After our technically glitchy zoom call, this past Saturday kept being busy.

I started a mosaic to cover the second three dimensional paper sculpture. I think it is going to be very nifty, once it’s done.

We had lunch and walked up to Music Millenium, our local music store, for a concert by a family friendly group called Ants Ants Ants. They are very good! Nice harmonies, good guitar work, and delightfully silly lyrics. We were by far the oldest folks in the place.

Walking home, we saw spring blooms that look like they jumped off an Easter card.

I got more mosaic done, then we headed north to the Mississippi neighborhood. There was a fundraiser for the proposed Northwest Museum of Cartoon Art (NWMOCA) and the opening of a bar themed on our local baseball team, the Portland Pickles.

We stopped in at Gifty Kitty to say hi and see their pretty things. This painting would make a fine quilt!

The fundraiser was at Bridge City Comics, which is decorated as you would expect. It is nice, but I prefer Auntie Katie’s Books with Pictures.

The new Pickles Bar was so packed and noisy we couldn’t get in the door, and barbar, down the street, was way too raucous for us. We like to talk our conversations, not YELL them.

We headed to an old favorite, McMenamin’s Chapel Pub, and had soups, salads, and a nice Black Rabbit Red. We were all pretty wiped out.

We got home, curled up in the sofa like hamsters, and watched an episode of The Repair Shop.

Goodnight!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Rainy Valentine’s Day

Dear Liza,

Our warm, sunny weather disappeared just in time for Valentine’s Day. Wednesday was cold, rainy, and windy.

So of course, we walked the mile or so down to the McMenamin’s Bagdad for dinner.

Funky and familiar, delicious and friendly, we can always count on McMenamin’s for a good time.

Black Rabbit red wine, pulled pork sandwiches,, French fries, and a fabulous veggie soup filled us up and made us smile.

We enjoyed the music, the service, and being out together in the city we live.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Family Alert!

Dear Liza,

We had a wonderful visit this week. Auntie Bridgett’s sister Esther and her family came through town and we got to spend some time with them. We had so many neat things we wanted to show them!

They spent their first night at the McMenamin’s Kennedy School, so we met them there for dinner. Over pizza and breadsticks, we got to hear about the trip up and make plans for what to do in town.

Then we introduced them to the ghosts! Many of the McMenamin’s properties are rumored to have spirits wandering around, and the Kennedy School is one. There have been sightings of a little girl who wanders around and looks out the window. The artists have captured this eerie feeling in several murals.

As Grandpa Nelson, Auntie Bridgett and the kids were looking at one art piece, I took their picture in front of another one… and it got creepy. Look at that girl with the ribbon above Bridgett’s head. She is up to no good.

There was also art that didn’t give me shivers, of course. The skylights in the hallway all have mosaics that reflects light beautifully.

On this visit, we even got to see the inside of a hotel room, because the family had reserved one. They stayed in a room just down the hall from the movie theater. It was very nice and didn’t seem to have any ghosts.

We gave everyone good night hugs and headed home. More adventures tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Harry’s Birthday at the Kennedy School

Dear Liza,

One of our favorite local businesses, the McMenamin brothers, helped us celebrate Harry Potter’s birthday this past weekend. The party was at The Kennedy School.

We started with lunch on the Cypress Room patio and Zach took good care of us. There was a special menu of food and drink to honor our favorite boy Wizard, and we took advantage. I had the Leaky Cauldron Shepherd’s Pie and Bridgett enjoyed the Chamber of Secrets pizza in a gluten free crust. Our drinks were a butter beer for Grandpa Nelson, Felix Felicius for me, and Pumpkin Juice for Bridgett.

Once we were fed, it was time to shop! The classrooms of the School were filled with vendors of candy, books, art, and all sorts of Wizarding goodies. Honeydukes sold me some delicious peanut butter fudge. I passed on the “Cornelius Fudge”, which a fellow shopper guessed might taste of cowardice and bad management. (Don’t you just love clever smart guys?)

I met Christie Quinn, The BookMobile Babe, at her Banned Books booth.
She knows Auntie Katie and Books with Pictures and loves them almost as much as I do! In the world of “Folks Who Get Books to Kids”, these two are best buddies.

As always at McMenamin’s, we took time to appreciate the design and decoration of the place. We stepped into The Detention Bar for a refresher cocktail (and to get Bridgett the special stamp in her McMenamin’s Passport) and enjoyed the Oriental details as the The Chamber of Secrets played in the overhead screen.

Just down the hall was this lovely, ornate door, labeled Kennedy Night School. Our waiter, Zach, walked past as I was taking this picture. “It doesn’t go anywhere and is just nailed up there,” he said, “but doesn’t it look neat?”
Yes, it does.

When we had seen everything there was to see and gotten Auntie Bridgett a few more stamps, we headed home. I love that Harry and the McMenamin’s get together.

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Very McMenamin’s Holiday

Dear Liza,

I have told you about the McMenamin brothers and all their interesting restaurants created in historical buildings. Last night, we visited another one! Auntie Bridgett drove us through the rain and dark to the Chapel Pub.

It all started with Grandpa Nelson’s Christmas gift to Auntie Bridgett, a McMenamin’s Passport. This is a little booklet, like a real passport, which has a page for each region in Oregon. When you visit a restaurant (or bar, or hotel) on that page, you get a stamp.

Some larger venues have lots places to visit and get stamped. Edgefield has a dozen! When you have filled a page, you get a prize. This can be a free appetizer or drinks, but mostly what you get is the fun of going out.

This is, of course, a very clever marketing scheme, sort of an adult version of “Collect ‘em All!” We know this, and we don’t care. It is fun. We always have a good time at a McMenamin’s, enjoying the artistic renovation, the historical preservation, friendly service, and reliably tasty food and drink.

The Chapel Pub started life in the 1930s as a mortuary and chapel, which may explain the green “spirit orbs” in one of my photos. I imagine any mortuary would have a few lingering ghosts.

Another charm of The Chapel Pub is its historic pipe organ, and last night we got to hear it played. The talented and versatile Steve Kerin brought his giant suitcase of music and played requests for an hour and a half. Enjoying a Terminator Stout at the bar while listening to Steve play Vince Guaraldi’s “Linus and Lucy” on the organ was a high point of the 2022 holiday season, for sure.

Have a wonderful new year!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Out for a Drive

Dear Liza,

Since we have lived in Portland, we have used our car less and less. I thought of this as a good thing …. Less pollution, less wear and tear, more exercise. Right?

As it turns out, cars need to be driven. Some electrical parts of the car are always on, and need electricity from the battery. Driving generates power which charges the battery. Therefore, if you don’t drive the car enough, eventually the battery will die. This happened to us a few weeks ago and we decided that if we are going to keep Miles, we needed to take him out more. We drove clear across town to a craft show where our friend Cathy Scott was selling jam. We bought a bunch!

Heading home, Grandpa Nelson found us a new (to us) McMenamin’s venue for lunch! It is called the Grand Lodge and used to be the Masonic Lodge’s retirement home in Forest Grove. As with all the McMenamin’s, it was delightfully quirky and historic. I will tell you more about it in the next blog.

We are still in blinding bright Fall sunshine along with below freezing temperatures. On the drive home, Mt. Hood loomed like a ghost, enormous and covered in snow.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Yet Another McMenamin’s

Dear Liza,

Heading home from Long Beach, we stopped at a new-to-us McMenamin’s location. Like most of the McMenamin’s venues, it has an interesting history.

The original Gearhart Hotel opened in 1890, as a golf club and get away for well-to-do Portlanders. It was the first golf course west of the Mississippi River and was very popular.

A second hotel opened in 1910, but by 1915 both hotels had burned down.

The third hotel that was also connected to the golf club was constructed in the 1920s. This grand Oregon coast landmark was torn down and replaced by condos in the early 1970s. The current building was built in the same Cape Cod style in 2012. So the building is not historic, but that doesn’t stop McMenamin’s. They take a story and run with it!

Original paintings by McMenamins’ team of artists are typically colorful and quirky, and here, they mostly have themes of golf. This painting in the restaurant tells a fanciful story of St. Rule making a pilgrimage to take St. Andrew’s ashes to Scotland and this being the basis for the development of St. Andrew’s Golf course there.

As with all McMenamin’s properties, the food was good, the ambience delightful, and the service friendly.

Still, when lunch was over and we made the last leg of our trip, we were happy to be home. And Mousie was glad, too.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Summer Surprises

Dear Liza,

This weekend brought some lovely surprises. Even though the weather was really warm on Saturday, Grandpa Nelson suggested a walk. “Let’s head down to Division,” he said. “There’s ice cream, and gelato, and even frozen yogurt.” So we headed south.

The sun was hot, and the sidewalks got hotter as we walked. It was afternoon, but the shade wasn’t much help. “Maybe we find a pub a little closer?”Grandpa sighed. We agreed, and found the delightfully decorated McMenamin’s Bagdad Cafe and theater, down on Hawthorne. They had food and drinks, A/C and friendly folks.

Some pretzel fondue, tuna sliders and beverages later, we were refreshed and ready to head off. Grandpa Nelson was still feeling the heat, so he headed for home. Auntie Bridgett and I continued on to Laurelhurst Park. It can be full of surprises.

And it was. We found an impromptu violin concert along one end of the lake, and a reading of a play I’d never heard of at the other. Both had collected small but appreciative audiences. We listened for a bit and walked on.

I love walking in the park when it is buzzy! There were folks walking dogs, playing frisbee, and practicing circus tricks with hoops and slack ropes. Kids hollered and ukuleles were strummed. It is a like all the best of life, just out playing on the lawn.

When we left the park we were absolutely vibrating from all that human energy! And the surprises weren’t done yet. Growing on a telephone pole-supported grape vine were the beginnings of this year’s grapes.

Always something to see….

Love,

Grandma Judy

Jigs and Promotions

Dear Liza,

Friday was a very busy day! Cousin Jasper has been promoted out of the fifth grade, which means he is on his way to Middle School next year. He has been accepted into Winterhaven, which is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics magnet school. This is a perfect fit for him and I’m sure he will do well.

Because of the school district’s COVID restrictions, only his immediate family went to the ceremony, but there was a very informal meet-up at Seawellcrest Park in the evening. Of course, we took cake. It had been raining all day but was dry enough for kids to run around and for us to eat and hug and be silly.

When we had had a visit and Jasper got into a really long line for hot dogs, Grandpa Nelson, Auntie Bridgett and I headed off to our next activity. We drove up to one of our favorite places in town, The Kennedy School. This is one of the McMenamin Brother’s renovated old buildings, created from a public school that was closed in 1975 and is now a delightfully funky hotel, several restaurants and bars, and two concert venues.

We were able to show our vaccination cards, get wristbands, and go around the property unmasked, which was very nice. I have missed seeing people’s faces and smiles, and having unmuffled conversations. We ate dinner in the downstairs Boiler Room. Cheeseburgers, sliders, fries, and cocktails filled us up and gave us energy for our NEXT activity!

Three do’s in one evening! Are we mad? Yes!

We took our cocktails and headed upstairs to the Gym, which has been gently made over for food service at tiny tables and has a small stage at one end. We were there to see Brigid’s Crossing, a trio of Kevin Foley, his wife Jill, and their daughter Kayleigh, who play traditional Irish music. The tables are set well apart for COVID, and the room felt a bit bare. But once the music started and folks began clapping, slapping tables and even singing along to ‘Galway Girl’, ‘No, Nay, Never’ and countless jigs, it was a heart-swellingly full room.

It was our first show in fifteen months, our first time out enjoying what our city has to offer. Our first “I’m back, Portland!” evening. And it was lovely.

When the music was done, we jigged down the hallway and out to the car. Auntie Bridgett drove us through dark streets and we got home, so tired we could barely make it up the stairs, and fell into bed.

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Pretty, Chilly, Birthday Part 2

Dear Liza,
The waterfalls and green forests of the Gorge were very pretty, but Grandpa Nelson’s back started bothering him, so we said good-bye to the drive and headed for home.

“I should at least feed you both lunch,” he mumbled as we drove along, feeling badly about cutting the day short. “There’s Edgefield! Let’s go there!”

So Auntie Bridgett pulled off the freeway and we headed to McMenamin’s wonderful country retreat. This is such a unique place!

In 1980, Mike and Brian, the McMenamin brothers, bought the land and buildings of the abandoned Multnomah County Poor Farm. The Poor Farm had operated from 1911 to 1982 as a place of refuge for folks who had nowhere else to go. It provided room and board, work, training, medical care, and companionship for hundreds of people over the years.

The grounds have been delightfully landscaped and the buildings repurposed into a hotel, a spa, and a dozen bars and restaurants. There is also a golf course, a brewery, herb garden, wine tasting room, and a large outdoor music venue. And, like all of their properties, there is art everywhere you look.

We ate a delicious lunch in the courtyard of the Loading Dock Grill and watched other people’s dogs play. Then we walked around, marveling at the good work the landscapers have done, creating intimate spaces enclosed by trees and rhododendrons connected by neatly paved paths opening onto amazing views. It was easy to imagine, sitting at a table and looking out through the trees, that we were the only people on the property.

We visited the gift shop, getting some Black Rabbit wine and Herbal Liqueur Number 7, a special favorite of Auntie Bridgett. And then at last we headed home, where Grandpa could stretch out and recover from his birthday.

Now that we are almost all vaccinated and the world is opening up, we will certainly return to Edgefield and enjoy another day.

Love,

Grandma Judy