Athena's Blog: My pilgrimage to the promised land of micro-brews and food.

In the beginning, all was dark, and there was no light, and no stars in the sky.

And the Flying Spaghetti Monster saw this, and he spake; "let there be light!"

And FSM put the stars in the sky, and the sun, and the moon, and he saw that it was good. And the first day came, and passed.

On the second day, FSM's noodley stomach began to tremor; and he commanded "Let there be dumplings! Put them on carts and have ladies force them upon me!"

And FSM ate Dim Sum, and he saw that it was good.

(Dim Sum cart in Portland, Oregon's Chinatown)

On the third day, FSM felt a bit pudgy, and decided that this was not good. "Let there be bicycle lanes, sidewalks, and trees, oh and move that pesky traffic". Thus he spake, and it became so. And he looked upon his creation, he decided to call it Portland, for no real reason whatsoever.

(Outdoor sculpture)

On the fourth day, FSM looked upon that which he had created, and he felt bored. "Pirates!" he boomed in his saucy voice. "I want Pirates! And hippies! Drifters too! They should ride bicycles in swimsuits and tattoo and pierce themselves, while jumping in my fountains!"

And then FSM created Portlandians, and he looked upon what he had created, and saw that it was good. And unto them he issued one commandment; "Keep Portland weird" and they obeyed, and it was good.

(Cyclists playing in a fountain en masse)

And on the fifth day, FSM again grew bored. "I desire to LOL at something!" Spake FSM, and he created a fountain with adorable bronze otters. And he LOL'd, and saw that it was good.

(Awww!)

On the sixth day, FSM looked over his creation, and he liked that which he saw. "I shall create a sign, something super obvious and snarky, so the pirates will know they have reached the holy land"

And he looked upon that which he had created, and saw that it was good. And he also scattered gourmet restaurants and street carts with sumptuous morsels across the land, and supped at them, and it was all good.

On the seventh day, FSM decided to kick back with a spliff and a micro-brew, and commanded; "Yo, peeps, just be... chill man. Don't try to go all crazy and be doin' stuff on Sundays, just feast and be merry" and the pirates, they obliged.

At least that's how I imagine it happened.

We arrived in Portland this past Sunday, and it's been a full week. Most of my Portland bogs will have to be written post-vacay-humously, since I leave tomorrow for San Francisco. But that means I'll have something to do (blog-wise) when I get back to Las Vegas, so never fear, loyal reader(s)!

Sunday night dinner: The Original Dinerant, in our hotel, the Pearl District Mariott.

Lamb meatballs with crostini. Hearty and satisfying.

Chicken and ham fritters with red pepper coulis. Crunchy and savory.

Pierogi stuffed with beef short rib, with cheese sauce and red wine reduction. Sorry, I just drooled a little, you can just dab that off.

Succulent and richly flavored lamb ragu, on pan-fried polenta with shaved parmigiano-reggiano cheese. (Hey, I've met that cheese before!)

Buttermilk fried chicken with an heirloom carrot and red cabbage slaw, Texas toast. (Of course it was good, why even ask? Oh wait, you didn't, pardon me!)