Ok. Before my incessant salivation short circuits my keyboard, let me get some grub praises off my chest.
Ethiopian food is s o f r e a k i n g o o d. Really now, who doesn't love finger food? And I've never had bad Ethiopian food, either. The best part is that half the time, I have no idea what I'm eating! I'm always asking with a great mouth full in the side of my cheek, "What is this!?" If you have never tried it, you simply must. And don't be picky about what you're ordering. I promise, no matter what it is, it's going to taste great.
Today, Arlo took me to a place downtown near the river called Blueplate. What makes this place unique is their wide variety of homemade sodas. Back in the day before Coca Cola and Pepsi completely rocked the market, everyone was making their own soda. Blueplate does a great job of keeping that tradition alive. When we first walked in, there were 4 lil' youngins sitting up at the long counter, and jars of candy by the register with 5 or 10 cent price stickers on each one. A mug full of dumdum lollypops graced each table, and there was a smile on every face in the quaint joint.We took a table towards the back, and ordered the vanilla soda and the Brown Cow (ice cream, root beer, chocolate syrup). SO YUMMY! It was hard to share. We also ordered the special of the day: homemade meatloaf with Yukon gold mashed potatoes and creamy bacon gravy. Normally, I shy away from meatloaf unless I make it myself. But they had me at bacon gravy, so I took a chance. DEAR LORD! I haven't had a dish that good in quite a long time! It was perfectly balanced and delicious. Needless to say, I'm hooked. And I'll be back as often as my wallet allows.
-end food rant-
Let me clear up some misconceptions about my last post. I miss the East Coast a lot. I miss it's snappy pace, great pizza, Wawa/Quick Chek/Sheetz, warm coast, friends, family, and even the nasty drivers. But there isn't a day I wake up, not even the ones I wake up at 4:20am, that I don't look out the window at the city and think of how lucky I am to be living here. I've never been somewhere so beautiful, let alone lived there. I've never seen such a wide variety of food and friendly/odd people. All I know is that one day, when I leave this place, I'll be terribly sad because the odds of moving somewhere this beautiful are slim. I miss the East Coast, but I adore Portland.
Another thing I love is the Wunderland Arcade. Yes, I've raved about this place before, but I can't get over it. 5 cents per play is a dream for anyone with an arcade addiction. Some locations are even combined with movie theaters that charge around $3 per ticket. Good luck finding that on the East Coast. Most locations here will even serve you dinner with a beer if you choose. We went to the Avalon location tonight to see Fast Five. It was surprisingly good! I wasn't expecting them to be able to milk another addition to the series. The place was so empty at 10pm when we got out of the movie. Of course, we got $5 in nickels and romped around the arcade until our pockets were empty (of nickels) and there weren't anymore nickels to scrape from under the machines. All of the little munchkins had gone home to bed, and all the adults were out at the bars. Our age-inappropriate choice to stay late at the kiddie arcade proved to be a success! We practically had the full run of the place. I hate waiting to deposit my money into machines for the chance at winning little paper tickets. I want it fast and furious....err......
Bedtime.
