Thoughts on a Night Out on the Neighborhood....
Last night was very fun and rewarding for taking an explloratory jaunt through the neighborhood. I had vegan dinner at Pho Green Papaya (the lemongrass tofu curry was exquisite and tantaizingly spicy), and I have yet to be disappointed by the food at the restaurant. For just $7, the dinner was satisfying and memorable! I plan on visiting the restaurant more frequently.
Afterwards I made my maiden voyage to the recently-opened Green Dragon ale house nearby. Holy wow. The place had 19 hard-to-find and esoteric taps, and there were some amazing beer on tap, including the delicious, organic hoppy Winter Abomination Ale from Hopworks Urban Brewery. Total score! The staff was friendly, and I wound up chatting at length with guys who write for the Portland Beer Blog and Guest on Tap. Good times. Having the opportunity to talk to hardcore microbrew experts is like going to see an amazing rock band and talking to the keyboard wizard for length afterward!
The fun moments during the Night Out on the Neighborhood made me realize that I could probably keep myself entertained and enlightened ("edulightened"?) locally by planning periodic frolicks through the inner eastside neighborhods. It felt so liberating not having to worry about driving or coordinating mass transit all evening long. I feel so lucky and blessed that there are at least three dozen places and establishments within 12 block radius, in each direction, from my LoSt (Lower Stark) neighborhood that I would consider exploring and visiting during neighborhood jaunts. Those three dozen places also include those establishments that I have yet to visit. I foresee many maiden visits to these neighborhood destinations! It would be fun to pick 1 to 3 destinations in the 'hood for future Night Out on the Neighborhood outings.
And, of course, since I want to branch out in my explorations, I can also foresee numerous adventures to other destinations in the city--Northeast, Sellwood, Northwest, Pearl, and so on. Sometimes I forget to remind myself that there are so many interesting places to go in this city--many of them unexplored.
Afterwards I made my maiden voyage to the recently-opened Green Dragon ale house nearby. Holy wow. The place had 19 hard-to-find and esoteric taps, and there were some amazing beer on tap, including the delicious, organic hoppy Winter Abomination Ale from Hopworks Urban Brewery. Total score! The staff was friendly, and I wound up chatting at length with guys who write for the Portland Beer Blog and Guest on Tap. Good times. Having the opportunity to talk to hardcore microbrew experts is like going to see an amazing rock band and talking to the keyboard wizard for length afterward!
The fun moments during the Night Out on the Neighborhood made me realize that I could probably keep myself entertained and enlightened ("edulightened"?) locally by planning periodic frolicks through the inner eastside neighborhods. It felt so liberating not having to worry about driving or coordinating mass transit all evening long. I feel so lucky and blessed that there are at least three dozen places and establishments within 12 block radius, in each direction, from my LoSt (Lower Stark) neighborhood that I would consider exploring and visiting during neighborhood jaunts. Those three dozen places also include those establishments that I have yet to visit. I foresee many maiden visits to these neighborhood destinations! It would be fun to pick 1 to 3 destinations in the 'hood for future Night Out on the Neighborhood outings.
And, of course, since I want to branch out in my explorations, I can also foresee numerous adventures to other destinations in the city--Northeast, Sellwood, Northwest, Pearl, and so on. Sometimes I forget to remind myself that there are so many interesting places to go in this city--many of them unexplored.