Wednesday night last week my friend Jenn got us box seat tickets to the Portland vs the Lakers game. Portland has been doing very poor lately and the Lakers record was just barely .500 so we weren't sure what to expect game-wise. Also the owner of the Trailblazers, Paul Allen, is trying to sell the team so we weren't sure what to expect stadium-wise. The seats rocked - about mid-court - a little to the left. We got there an hour early because they had free food for box seats. What I like about Portland is they like good beer. Hefeweizen is the mainstay - (think Hacker Pschorr with the lemon) - although they do sell the domestics. Then there was all the festivities surrounding Mardi Gras wrapping up. There was this cool band and these guys on stilts before the game and they also did the half time show. The game ended up being good with the Trailblazers leading by 3 with 10 seconds left and the Lakers driving down the court. Some guy on the Trailblazers stole the ball at mid-court and dunked it on the opposite end and the crowd went wild as the game was wrapped up. One thing I noticed. A LOT of Lakers fans. Everytime the Lakers scored the cheers were almost as loud as when the Trailblazers scored. Heidi says this is because alot of people move up here from California. Makes sense. Overall it was a great night and a fun experience.
Thursday night I met Heidi, her friend Kristen and her Mom out for dinner and drinks at this place called the Raccoon Lounge. They brew there own bee there. There’s alot of breweries here in Portland. Many more than Milwaukee. Portland is also known for the number of ‘adult’ establishments that are here. Both strip clubs and just plain old ‘accessory’ stores. Locals here will sometimes give directions by which porn shop the place your looking for is closest too. “Oh yea – that’s over by such and such”, thereby giving Portland the other title of Pornland. Heidi, Kristen and I then went to this bar called Tillicum.
Outside it looked like nothing. Just a small bar. Inside it was kind of cool. A band played some blues/jazz songs and everyone sat at a tables. Waitress brought you drinks and food. BTW, by law every establishment that serves beer MUST serve food in Oregon. And what’s with Keno. You could play it while sitting there. There was a TV screen rolling off the numbers. I saw it again this weekend at the beach… must be popular here. Gambling back home was strictly something you did at the Casino. Now I’ve seen a few Casino’s here but I’ve also seen alot of places with gambling in them… weird.
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