Enjoying Our New Home Away from Home

As I mentioned in the last post, we are in transition this summer.  We're not leaving the Chicago area entirely (after all, we still have a condo to sell!), but we are adding a new Portland-area zip code to our lives.  So for the rest of the summer at least, it's goodbye mid-west and hello pacific northwest!

Because we have been busy making yet another drive across the country and then setting up a new menage (lots more on that in another post probably), we haven't had a chance to sight-see as much as we'd like.  Once things settle down and we establish a rhythm of working in this new area (Will) and traveling back and forth (me), hopefully we will get to familiarize ourselves more fully with the charms of the pacific northwest. 

In the meantime, let me enumerate a few aspects we already enjoy about our new home-away-from home:

NATURAL BEAUTY

We love Chicago (well, maybe I love it a bit more than Will does...), but it certainly cannot compete with the pacific northwest in terms of scenic beauty.  It seems like we can drive an hour in any direction from the Portland area and find amazing seaside, majestic mountains, cute little villages, rolling hills, and lush vineyards.  (Something makes me think that there will be a future post--or dozen--on Willamette Valley wineries...)

On the Friday before Will started his new position, we took a drive to Cannon Beach (pictured at the top of the post), and enjoyed vistas reminiscent, alternately, of Cornwall and Hawaii.  (Though the water was MUCH colder than in Hawaii, so it's not really the swimming kind of "beach"...)  Mileage-wise, the drive was similar to one we usually made between our Chicago suburb and our go-to Wisconsin resort town of Lake Geneva, but it was a much more beautiful and pleasant drive, with winding hills and a little country highway bracketed by evergreen forests and clearings.

After we walked along the beach, we strolled through town.  I overheard one young woman say to her sister, "This town is ridiculously picturesque," and I have to agree.  If Disney tried to manufacture quaint northwest small-town Americana, the town of Cannon Beach could not be more appropriate, with its rows of coffee shops, bakeries, ice cream parlors, and boutique stores.

SEAFOOD

And, of course, we had to sample some seafood while we were in Cannon Beach.  At the hole-in-the-wall-seeming (but highly rated) casual cafeteria-style seafood restaurant we stopped in, Will and I were charmed by the signs that read: "Friends don't let friends eat farmed fish."  Our Captain's Platter had amazing (huge!) prawns and scallops (our favorites) as well as Pacific cod, gigantic oysters, and Pacific salmon.

But it's not just seaside villages that serve great seafood.  The Thai restaurant that we walk to from our new apartment also had gigantic prawns--fresh, succulent, and flavorful--in a spicy curry.  After my teaching term begins in Chicago, I'll be commuting between the two cities, and I'm confident that I'll save my seafood consumption for when I'm back in the Portland area.

FRESH FRUITS, VEGETABLES, AND FLOWERS

Back in Chicago, I think about the $14.99 "Deluxe" bunch in Costco as pretty much my very best option for beautiful and plentiful flowers.  On our first visit to our local farmer's market, I was astounded to discover some stunning arrangements--many pre--made and others assembled at your request--that were enormous!  I picked up a bunch on Sunday, came home, and split into three different bouquets.  And here's a picture of them 5 days later!  All for $10.

Blueberries and marionberries (blackberries local to this area) have been particularly tasty, and strawberries and raspberries have been much better here than back in the mid-west.  Peaches and nectarines have also been heavenly!

PET-FRIENDLY

We were surprised when we went to our local farmer's market here (10 minutes walk from our new apartment and thus actually a bit further away from home than the one back in our old place...) since it was doggie heaven.  Dogs, dogs, everywhere!  We felt a bit guilty that we left Katie back home while we shopped in the presence of so many other dogs sniffing at produce, interacting with vendors, greeting each other.

Then one day, while we were walking around town with Katie, I decided to stop in at a kitchen goods store.  Will went to find a shady corner to hang out with Katie.  But, of course, as I was about to enter, I spotted a sign saying that the store is pet-friendly.  So they both joined me to look for those final few items we needed to outfit our new apartment.

GREAT FOOD SCENE

I'm not going to lie.  We still think that Chicago has the food advantage (thank goodness!).  To be fair, it's going to be hard for most places not named New York City, San Francisco, and perhaps Los Angeles (though that last one is still debatable) to beat Chicago in terms of food in the U.S., especially the variety and the affordability!  That being said, the food scene is very good here, punching way above its weight-class one might say, for a much smaller city.

We were pleasantly surprised by authentic Vietnamese (see above) and Thai.  And the French bakery-bistro that we can walk to has a very nice selection of pastries (though, again, it's not Montreal or Paris).

We've already scouted out one of the more famous donut shops in the Portland area (since it seems we do have a thing for donuts), and we can report that Blue Star Donuts (below) is very good.  Now whether these three donuts (Cointreau creme brulee, Lemon poppyseed buttermilk, Dark chocolate ganache with hazelnuts) should set you back about $12 is up for further deliberation...

In fact, that might be the drawback to the food scene in smaller cities.  Everywhere we go, we can find excellent cuisine these days.  The factor that puts NYC, SF, LA, and Chicago above others might be the cost.  The larger cities--perhaps because of greater competition and larger clientele to draw from?--often have amazing second or even third-tier restaurants that offer great value.  If we are used to being in a place that has several dozen serviceable Thai restaurants that charge $6 for pad thai, you don't feel like paying $11 for it, right?

MICROBREWS!

When it comes to beer though, Chicagoans won't contest the Beer Capital of U.S. title.  One of the first things that Will did after arriving here was to start assembling mixed 6-packs of local beers, especially those ubiquitous IPAs (and, incidentally, Will's favorites).

I'm sure there will be plenty to miss about Chicago (the Art Institute, small local theaters, and longer winter daylight hours being on the top of my list!), but the first couple of weeks in the Portland area have been pretty promising.  We'll check back with more after we get our bearings.