Outings in the City

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Dave Feucht

Last Sunday the weather was absolutely gorgeous – bright and sunny, warm even. We woke up late, and decided to go out for brunch, so we got ready and headed out over to Kenny & Zuke’s.

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It’s always nice to have an excuse to head downtown on a weekend, as we don’t get downtown all that often, and during the week it’s just a mess of traffic, so we prefer to avoid it. On the weekend, though, the character changes dramatically, and people are just meandering around, the streets are calm, and the atmosphere is really nice.

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Anyway, we got in and got seated, and had a delicious breakfast (with enough leftovers between us for another full breakfast). Their pastrami is really something, and they have a great deli counter as well, with fresh-made bagels, some meats, home-made pickles, herring in cream sauce, wine sauce, mustard, gravlax and novalax – great place.

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From there, we gathered up our leftovers (plus lunch for the next day that we bought from the deli) and decided we’d leave our bikes and take the streetcar over to the NW 23rd shopping area, and just walk around a bit.

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The trees this last week or so have been really popping, and the colors everywhere are amazing.

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We made it over, and Patrina bought some paper for a project she’s going to do, and we looked for a few other things, with not much luck, but also got some large tea canisters and few other random bits and bobs.

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We hopped back on the streetcar and headed back to our bikes, then rode back over the river to our favorite Japanese market, Anzen, and bought food for dinner, stopping to take a look at the view at the top of the east bank.

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Since we had stuff in the panniers, I waited with the bikes while Patrina went in for food.

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We went home and made dinner, and had a nice evening relaxing before both heading back to work the next day. It felt so nice to just take a whole day and relax, do whatever we felt like, and enjoy the nice weather while we still have it.

Have you all taken any relaxation days recently? What do you find relaxing and enjoyable to do when you have a whole day to yourself?

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  • http://www.joyofbicyclecommuting.com Micheal Blue

    Dave, it’s nice to have a relaxing day in the city, but real nature is vital to good health.  Do you have a chance to get out of the city on your bike?  How difficult (long) is it to bike from your place to real nature?  Or, can you take some light rail to outside the city and bike/hike there?  Every weekend I go for a bike ride or a hike outside the city.  In either case I have to take the car, as it’s a loooong way from my place to the countryside, and public transport is not very good here (Toronto).  As I biked alot during the week, the weekend was devoted to two hikes and one day of taking it easy at home. 

    • http://pin-hole.tumblr.com Dave

      We don’t often get outside the city, but there are some very nice natural areas in the city, including Forest Park, the largest naturally forested area within city limits in the U.S.

      It’s not that easy to get outside the city via bicycle alone (it involves either some very busy roads, or some very very steep hills, or both. There is light rail that goes pretty far out of the city, on which you can (usually) take your bike. We can also rent or borrow a car for a day if we feel like it.

      I would say we predominantly spend our weekends around home, making food, working on projects (photography, crafting, sewing, etc), and just relaxing, reading, playing games, whatever. But there is some availability to nature if/when we want it.

      • Brandon

        I really like your idea of a weekend. My wife and I do much the same, with occasional trips to the coast. We need the weekend to relax, and for us that does not mean a lot of travel or organizational effort.

      • http://www.joyofbicyclecommuting.com Micheal Blue

        Dave, thanks for the link.  I had a look at it on Google (map) and also read about it on Wiki.  You’re blessed to have such a beautiful piece of nature so close.  I think I’d be there every weekend, or almost.  The closest natural area to my place is 35 km away.  Yes, we do have nice parks in Toronto, many of them along rivers/creeks in ravines, but they are very small.  Can you post some photos from the park?

  • http://ridinginreno.blogspot.com Ridinginreno

    Please excuse the cell phone photography….this was our bikey day in Reno!  http://ridinginreno.blogspot.com/2011/11/weekend-wanderings.html
     

    • http://pin-hole.tumblr.com Dave

      Sounds like fun, thanks for sharing! Anytime good beer and good food are involved, it’s bound to turn out well :)

  • Anne

    Hi Dave & Patrina! Thanks for sharing your lovely day with us. We’ve actually ditched the bikes a couple of times this fall and walked around the neighborhood. Sometimes it’s nice to “discover” what’s in your own backyard. Shocked by how much is happening in NE Portland! Little cafes/bars/shops beginning to get tucked in to the residential areas. And of course we love Anzen! A Portland institution!

    • http://pin-hole.tumblr.com Dave

      Yup, not having a car anymore, we’ve been using bus/MAX/streetcar more often, and we usually will just walk to/from wherever we’re getting on. It feels really nice sometimes to just leave your front door with nothing but yourself and just venture out into the world – and you definitely notice things you wouldn’t, even on a bike.

      It’s great to see service-oriented businesses starting to get mixed into residential areas, as that just adds that much more flexibility in terms of how you can get to the things you need. If they’re literally just around the block, you’re hardly going to drive even if you have a car, right? Plus, it’s so cozy to have a place so close by that you can just go sit and drink something warm or meet people, or whatever.

      Heading to Anzen again today after work – thanks for tipping us off on that one, we’ve been regular customers ever since!

  • Dan

    Dave, Thanks for the pictures; have to love this beautiful city of ours!  Are those the CleverChimp panniers on your bike?  I’ve been wanting to get a pair, but unsure of their weather-tightness.  Any feedback?

    • http://pin-hole.tumblr.com Dave

      There is a lot to love about Portland, for sure :) 

      Those are the CleverChimp panniers. In terms of their weather-tightness, I would say they are about 98% water-proof. We leave our bikes outside, and though they are under a tree, they do get quite wet. I leave the panniers on my bike at all times, and even when soaked on the outside, the inside is basically dry. There are also holes in the bottom of the pannier underneath the inner liner, so if water does get in there, it drains out. They also have a strap to cinch in the top of the bags so if you really stuff them, you can kind of cinch them back in to still be able to close the top. The material they are made out of is 100% water-proof, it’s just that some small amount of water does sometimes get in the openings (similarly to how a saddle, left outside in heavy rain with a rain cover on will get slightly damp just because the bottom of the seat is still exposed). I don’t know that I would leave electronic devices sitting in the panniers overnight, outside in a heavy rainstorm, but other than that, I have never had any problems with stuff getting wet in them.

      The one thing you want to make sure with these bags is that your bike has a long enough distance between the cranks and the rear hub that you won’t be kicking them with your heel while riding, because they are quite large (large enough to fit a full paper grocery bag). I couldn’t have used them on my 1952 Raleigh Sports, for instance, because the bike itself was just too small.

      Other than that, I’ve loved them, they are really great bags.

    • http://pin-hole.tumblr.com Dave

      Which reminds me, I should do a little photo explanation/review of them.

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