The conference itself was small but filled with ardent "pop-up book" lovers. I learned about the fringes -- pop-up book as art and historic pop-up ephemera. I met enthusiastic collectors, paper engineers, and artists. I learned about rescuing battered and forgotten old pop-up books. All in all I came away a bit better informed about the books I love and the people who love them, too.
After the meetings, Rog and I would go exploring. We visited an art gallery that was exhibiting a variety of pop-up books as art. The variety was staggering as was the talent. And the prices! I was not able to add any of these one of a kind books to my personal collection but it was great to see them. From there we walked to the Thatched Tiki, a bar Rog read about in a Tiki publication. As it turned out we were too early. The young couple, tattooed and pierced, let us know rather abruptly (we felt) that they weren't open yet. We peeked into the establishment to at least ascertain the level of Tiki represented there and then feeling rebuffed, we headed on down the street to a brew pub. As is our practice, we ordered a sampler and tasted their various brews. Since we had to walk back by the Tiki bar, we decided to go ahead and go in. Am I glad we did!
Our experience at the Thatched Tiki was one of the most pleasant of our trip. Three young workers, two guys and a gal, kept us company as we were the only customers at that time. Yes, two of them were the same two who let us know they were closed earlier. It turns out the girl was from Ohio and one of the guys was from Ann Arbor. That became the beginning of a great, brief friendship. We learned a bit about them and they, us. The young lady was soon to marry and she shared some of her wedding plans. As we chatted, telling them of our Tiki adventures across the country, we sipped a great Mai Tai and Singapore Sling. According to Rog, it was the best he'd ever had. Imagine our surprise when before we had even finished those drinks, two Spanish Coffess were presented to us. The explanation? One of the guys was hoping to become a bartender and he was practicing. We were the beneficiaries. Those drinks were pretty darn good, too. The young lady felt we needed to know the difference between a Trader Vic Mai Tai, the one we just finished, and a Don the Beachcomber Mai Tai, the one she set in front of us. Again, without charge. By this time, we knew we had to eat something so we ordered a couple of appetizers, both of which were highly satisfying. We also knew we had a long night yet ahead of us so we ordered some coffee. These came to us gratis. So needless to say when we asked them to call us a cab and bring us the bill, we left a tip that more than doubled the charge! I doubt we'll ever encounter a bar quite that generous again. By the time we left, the place was crowded. Clearly, we weren't the only ones who enjoyed the ambiance.
From the Tiki place, we headed to the train station for a traditional jazz trio -- piano, bass, and drum. The music was reasonably good standard jazz. We only drank water but we did order a marquerita pizza (not good) and a bowl of onion soup (great).
The following day, before conference meetings, we headed to Voodoo Donut, a hole in the wall not too far from the hotel. When we got there, there was already a line stretching halfway down the block. The choice of donuts was definitely unique -- Oreo donuts, maple bacon bars, and a few with macabre titles paying homage to the Voodoo name. We had the Oreo, a coconut, and a maple bar. I just couldn't quite go the bacon route. Also, we ordered a wonderful cup of coffee. Everything was good eating but far too large for us. After walking around the historic district and a number of vagrants waiting for a hand-out, we headed for the river front, a popular jogging and walking trail for Portlands citizens. From there we went to the Bijou and had a healthy organic breakfast -- fresh squeezed orange juice, granola, yogurt and fruit (kiwi, fig, apples, peaches, and bananas). Rog had a classic eggs, bacon, and potatoes meal.
I returned for more of the conference and Rog set out to explore more of Portland. That evening we checked out the view at a bar high in the sky. Thinking we'd get a good seat if we got there around opening time, we learned we were too late for a window seat! There must have been a line waiting. We sat at the bar and managed to see Mount Hood in the distance. Later, we dined at Jake's and finished Jimi Mak's, a noted jazz club (I may have misspelled the name). The music was hot and the crowd rowdy. We enjoyed ourselves though we will always favor more standard jazz.
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