While smoking at the restaurants is a thing of the past, enjoying their great steaks is not.  With two locations, downtown at  2165 West Burnside and Glendoveer at 14021 NE Glisan, RingSide is not far from wherever you are in the Portland area.

Do you have a matchbook that you’ve found stuck away in a drawer?  I’d love to feature it in a future Matchbook Monday.  Take a photo and email it to me, and be sure to include any memories that you might have.

Photo credit:  personal collection

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Sometime it’s nice to have a window seat!

On a recent flight I was able to snap this photo of Mount Hood through the very dirty windows of the plane.

Mount Hood is located in Oregon, and is part of the Cascade Range.  It’s a little over 11,000 feet tall, and is very popular with skiers.

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The festival started to honor the 1950 Trent sighting in which a couple of McMinnville residents saw a large, metallic looking, disc-shaped object hovering silently in the sky just northeast of their farm.  They took photos which would become some of the most hotly debated UFO photos in history.

The annual UFO Festival, the second largest in the U.S. features a roster of noted speakers, and a screening of a documentary on the mystery of crop circles.

Tickets are $10, or $15 for a combination 2-day package.

Believes and skeptics alike will be there.

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A visit to Mint actually gives you two options, the more formal dining of Mint (the restaurant), or the bar and its menu door at 820.

On my visit, my companion and I opted for the bar.  We sat at the bar, chatting with the bartender for a recommendation as to a good food and beverage choice.  Upon her recommendation, we both order “O” – the house mojito made with Orange Rum, with the mint shaken rather than muddled.  While I’m still partial to the original recipe, this one was tasty and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  A happy hour order of calamari did not fare quite so well however, as it was heavily breaded, too chewy, and without much taste.

Happy hour at 820 is daily 5 – 6:30 pm, and all night (4 pm – midnight) on Wednesday, and offers reduced prices on well drinks, draft beer, and select cocktails.  A specially priced appetizer menu is also available.

Mint is located at 816 North Russell Street, and is open Monday – Thursday, 5-10 pm; Friday & Saturday, 5 pm – 11 pm, and is closed on Sunday.  The next door bar, 820, is open Monday & Tuesday, 4 – 11 pm; Wednesday & Thursday, 4 pm – midnight’ Friday & Saturday 4 pm – 1 am, and is closed on Sunday.

Photo credit:  personal collection

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I stayed at The Riverhouse a number of years ago while I was attending and speaking at a conference.  The hotel is located on the Deschutes River, and while it has a rustic feel, the accommodations are anything but rustic.  These are nicely appointed rooms in a rustic setting.

The resort also features meeting rooms, Crossing Restaurant (a steakhouse), the River Rock Grill & Spirit (bar offering live music), and an 18 hole golf course. 

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The city of Portland has as sordid an underground history as my home city of Seattle does, and, like Seattle, it makes for a fun walking tour.

There were plenty of nefarious deeds going on above ground, but the underground was where the really fun stuff was happening.  In the subterranean world of Chinatown, you can still see impressive architecture from years gone by, looking nothing like the modern city in the photo. 

Below ground you’ll find the “Shanghai Tunnels.”  The tunnels originally connected the basements of most of the downtown hotels and bars to the Willamette waterfront, and were used to expeditiously move goods.  They later became the site of many kidnappings called “crimpings” and known to us today as shangaiing. 

During the years of Prohibition, a different kind ”goods” were moved through the tunnels, and many bars were set up underground.

The tour guides swear that this is all real stuff, with no urban legends or folklore.  The guides don’t use canned scripts, and since each bring their own favorite stories to the tour, each time it’s a little different.  You’ll have to be the judge if the stories are fact or fiction.

Tours start at 2 pm daily, and depart from the Portland’s Visitor Information Center, on the lower level of Pioneer Courthouse Square (SW Broadway & Morrison).  They last about two and a half hours and cover about a mile and a half.  Comfortable walking shoes are recommended.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors (65+), and $13 youth (ages 12-17.  You can purchase tickets online.

NOTE:  The tour is rated PG-13, and adults may find some of the stories a little too racy for younger children.

Photo credit:  flickr

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