An Overview of My West Coast Trip

Well, I am back in Jersey after a satisfying trip to the west coast. The trip lasted seven days and involved three cities. I hooked up with some old friends, made some new ones and learned a thing or two on the way.


The trip can be broken down like this:



72 Hours in Seattle: What Has Happened To My Old Town?

24 Hours in Portland: Why Can't I Find That Old Hotel I Stayed in 1991?

48 Hours in San Fransisco: Why Do I Love This City So Much?


Seattle:

I got to Seattle on Wednesday the 9th, It was raining when I got there but that stopped soon after I arrived. The rest of the stay involved exploring my old stomping grounds, Drinking that Seattle coffee, Drinking sake with a new friend, Doing karaoke with old friends, Eating at Seattle fast food joints, Meeting some interesting women, Seeing two movies at some of the great Seattle movie theaters. Oh, and I watched too much TV on September 11th.


Portland:

I got to Portland on Saturday the 12th after a decent train ride. I wandered aimlessly until I finally found a hotel that fit my budget. Yikes. I wandered downtown again, Shopped at Powell Book Store, Ate at Carl's Jr, Rode the new Green Line light rail train, and Drank about 7 sampler beers at a modest beer bar during a bachelorette party.


San Francisco:

I got to San Fransisco on Monday the 14th after a long train trip that had nice scenery that would have been spectacular if it wasn't dark when we rolled by Mt. Shasta and Crater Lake. I toured the Giants ballpark, Walked the waterfront, Walked up to Coit Tower (whew!), Rented a bicycle, Rode over the Golden Gate Bridge, Hooked up with an old friend, Ate at In-n-Out burger joint, Toured by bike the Presidio, China Beach, the Cliff House, Golden Gate Park, Haight Ashbury and the Castro. I then rode the bike to visit my friend at her coffee shop in the Tenderloin. Ate some burgers with my friend and his wife. It was a blast.


I will go into details about the trip in more blog entries and explore some themes and trends. I think there is enough room on the internet for my ramblings.

I Coulda Been A Yankees Fan...

Well, today I went to New Shea. It's called Citi-Field for now, but I can guarantee that it will not be called that when the contract is up in a few years. I took the bus from down the street from my house in Atlantic Highlands,NJ. For eleven bucks that took me trouble free to the Port Authority. then a walk to the 7 train that took me straight to Willetts Point, New Shea.

The view from the 7 train was graffiti strewn once we entered Queens. How I hate graffiti. So, when New Shea finally came into view it was like a oasis that beckoned me in. The surrounding area and the parking lot around the entrance was beautifully landscaped.

And what of Old Shea? Well, the remains of Old Shea is in a small pile of concrete and re bar in a corner near the subway entrance. Nothing in that pile suggests the historic blue monstrosity that had been there less than six months ago.

















I hope they will mark off the spots where significant moments in Shea history when they finish the parking lot. The spot where Cleon Jones made the last out of the 1969 world Series, The spot where the Mookie Wilson's ball trickled through Bill Buckner's legs in 1986, and the spot where Jimmy Qualls got his single that broke Tom Seaver's perfect game in 1969.

Anyway, New Shea looks great on the outside. Old Shea had the ugly blue walls with the uninspired neon sculptures that replaced the tacky, but endearing blue and orange panels. New Shea has a definitive entrance area and brick work inspired by Ebbets Field with a rotunda dedicated to Jackie Robinson, A guy who never played for the Mets.

Outside, however there are banners outside dedicated to Mets history and players of the past like Tug McGraw, Rusty Staub (circa 1973), Dwight Gooden, and my favorite, Ed Kranepool.















Now, a feature that is in every new ballpark built in the last 15 years is a field level concourse which every ticket holder has access to, I did a walk around to take in the scenery. The field, funny enough doesn't look as good as Old Shea yet. But the shape of it is very interesting and close to the fans. New Shea has a second concourse on the 300 level that almost goes fully around the park. I did that before I sat down to my assigned seat.

Since I'm a cheap bastard, I paid twenty dollars for eleven dollar tickets. That got me a ticket in the very last row in the left field bleachers, Section 537. Wouldn't you know it, but it was an obstructed view, very obstructed. My view was blocked by the rest of the league's scores. If I was at Old Shea, I would have to sit here the whole game if I wanted to see any action.

I sat in my seat for the first inning. By the second batter, I knew I wouldn't be seeing a no-hitter. The Mets were down 2-0 by the time the Mets came up to bat. And by the end of the first inning it was clear to me that New Shea was going to be a triple paradise. One each was hit by the Mets and Marlins.

There are several public gathering areas to enjoy the game at New Shea. My favorite was on the Pepsi Porch near the replica Pepsi-Cola sign. A little acknowledgement of Queens. A great place to enjoy a beer.














Beer, Ah yeah, nothing like an over priced beer to fulfill the ballpark experience and New Shea doesn't disappoint. There are no taps to be had, but one beer stand had a variety of decent brew from around the world. 24 varieties I believe. $7.50 a bottle, Which is less than what I paid once in a bar in Manhattan, so it didn't bother me that much.















What bothered me was that after the Mets came from behind and were winning 3-2 they blew the lead. The bullpen has been good this year and I don't need flashbacks of Aaron Heilman. And yet that's what I saw.

















True to form, the Mets weren't clutch. David Wright in particular is driving me nuts striking out when we needed a hit. The Mets had the winning run on second base! They pinched hit Ramon Castro without having anyone ready to bat, it took about three minutes before Santos, another right handed hitting catcher stepped up to the plate to pop up to end the game, what a drag.



Still, I look forward to seeing the ballpark again in two weeks with my co-worker friends. New Shea is great, better than the new Phillie park, not quite as good as the Pittsburgh park. I rate it as good as the Mariners park. Both have three good sides to look at and one bad.

Beer Run

Here's the thing.

I'm a fanatic of microbrews. Have been since I went to the west coast in 1991. I wasn't much of a beer drinker until I moved to Seattle. Sure I drank beer, Guinness was my beer of choice, but when I wanted to get drunk, I'd drink Jack Daniels or Southern comfort like a rock and roll cliche. If I wanted to enjoy my booze, I'd go to TGIFs or Houlihans and get a fruity drink.

When we went to Twin's Pub across the street from Sloane House USA I would join in on the pitchers and drink...ugh...Budweiser. When it was my turn to buy, I would get a pitcher of Guinness which no one would partake in, yay more beer for me.

I digress, In 1991 I moved to the West Coast, home of the phenomenon known as microbrewery since the mid 80's. Oh what a joy it was to partake in fine craft brews like Red Hook, Portland Ale, Hale's Ale, Grant's Ale, Sierra Nevada, Widmers, and Alaskan Ale amongst others.

Anyway, every time I visited the east coast I was disappointed at how far behind New York was for many years. The last ten years have been a vast improvement in quality suds for the beer snob that must exist in the NYC area. I mean we're snobs about everything else, why not beer?

So, I had the day off, money in my account, cheap gas and nothing better to do, so I decided to visit some New Jersey brew pubs I have read about in recent weeks.

I mapped out three in the Union, Essex counties area. I wanted to visit some I haven't been to. The three that I felt would be convenient were Trap Rock in Berkeley Heights, Egan and Sons in Montclair, and Gaslight Brewery in South Orange.

I started my trip at a quarter to twelve because I never drink before noon. I was pleased that I mapped out a smooth trip from my place to Berkeley Heights using the back roads. It probably ended up being the fastest way to get there. I went through some towns I did not know but was pleased to see.

I found the Trap Rock easily enough but was unsure if it was the right place. It's a restaurant that didn't look like a brew pub. When I found the right entrance I saw the telltale casks that revealed un premise brewing. I went in had a beer, saw the food menu and decided I was only a beer snob not a food snob. The amber beer I had was good but I asked about samples. they had a set of six including the one I had. I opted to have a stout and a pilsner sample option instead. good stuff the pilsner, the stout was more porter like and okay but not great. I left feeling good and head to Montclair because I made good enough time to visit all three of the pubs I wanted to see.

Egan and sons was just as funny to find. I got there a little too early. It didn't open until 3. It was in a nice part of Montclair not far from a place I was looking to move to back in June. I knew there was a Popeyes for me to enjoy lunch at. I went back to Egans to find that the main entrance was not where the street address said it would be. That's okay. I was put off by the fact there were umbrellas outside with a Guinness logo. Do they brew their own beer? Yup, There's the casks. Not only do they brew their own beer, they also have a selection of the best beers you can get in this world, a lot of Belgian imports and what not. They had four beers to sample. I enjoyed it to my hearts content, three of the four. The fourth I drank tasted like butter. Oh well, I had the ale I found to be the best tasting. Now, I'm buzzed. It was starting to get dark, which was good because I wanted to see the gaslights of of Glen Ridge in action. Not as dramatic as that of Vancouver BC, but cool nonetheless.

I found the Gaslight Brewery in the center of downtown South Orange. Right away I loved my surroundings. It's the best downtown I've seen in some time. The brewpub was similar in its selection of beers that weren't brewed on premises. However, they had 8 beers to sample and in two rounds I enjoyed the whole lot of them. All but one were enjoyable.

Now I was buzzed good, so good I bought some comic book collections of Love and Rockets.

A good day, that hasn't quite ended yet.

My Dream Town.

I visited my favorite town in New Jersey yesterday. It's Lambertville and it's on the Delaware River right across from New Hope, PA.

I wasn't planning to come here but my original plans had changed a little bit.

Let me explain.

My mother recently had a fall and hurt her eye. She had a doctor look at it and she has been going to Philadelphia for some doctor visits. My father had asked me to come down to Philly to drive her back to their house in case the doctor's visit went too long. He had an obligation to fulfill later in the day and needed me just in case he had to leave before my mother was done wiuth the doctor.

So I went to Philly and met up with my Dad. We hung out for a while while my Mom was at the doctor's. Well, My Mom got done early so I really wasn't needed. I had lunch with them at a diner and we went our separate ways.

So I figured what to do? Since I drove all the way out to the western part of New Jersey I decided to take advantage of that and visit my dream town of Lambertville, NJ. I went north on Rt. 206 from Rt. 70. The ride itself was eye-opening. I forget how pretty and authentic New Jersey is when you get away from the coast. Lots of farmland and rolling fields and the drive up the banks of the Delaware is quite scenic. Anyway, about 15 miles north of Trenton off Rt. 29 is Lambertville, New Jersey. A town with a canal!


Lambertville is known for its antiques and historic houses. It's surrounded by tree-lined hills and it doesn't take a huge leap of imagination to picture the town in its canal heyday. The last time I was there, I spent more time in New Hope, PA at the suggestion of my companion. New Hope is okay but it pales to Lambertville. One reason is that Lambertville has the better brewery.


Riverhorse is easily one of my favorite beers of all time. I first tried it shortly after I moved back to New Jersey. It was at a great liquor store in the town of High Bridge where my brother lives. Being the curious monkey I was, I thought a trip to the brewery was a good idea for a day trip. This time I was able to explore without the interference of someone who's not as bold at exploring.



I got there shortly after 4 in the afternoon. I had about 45 minutes to sample their wares. They give you 4 4oz. samples of their various brews for a DOLLAR! That's 16 ounces of beer for a dollar. So of course I had two sets of samples for two dollars and with a dollar tip I had two sets of excellent brew for less than what one glass of typical beer costs in a bar. I enjoyed my conversation with the server, we talked about the various towns of New Jersey which seems to be what I like to talk about these days.



Anyway, when I got done I went to the offices of Modernism magazine. I've become a huge fan of Modernist architecture and I wanted to visit the place that puts out the best magazine on the subject. Yes, I understood the irony of a magazine called Modernism being located in a historic town of centurys old buildings. I walked along the canal and wistfully wished that I had lived there. Under my current job I would be able to afford a house there but it's too far from where I work, oh well. Maybe I'll retire there. I talked to a cute woman as I walked across the bridge to New Hope. A friendlier face I haven't seen in years.



Yes, I would like to live there.

Sigh.

Good New Beer

I bought some beer today I have never had. It's called Kona Longboard Lager. It's brewed in Hawaii. I enjoyed the flavor, it went down smooth. I recommend it.

Feeling Funky!

If It's Tuesday, it must be Karaoke.

It was a good night last night, I gave notice to UPS, YES!

My life begins again!

I go to Jack's and there was no "Rock, Paper, Scissors" Bud Light promo to be found.

The Mets win in 11, though Johan Santana lost a win.

And my voice was as clear as possible, so that means I can do falsetto!

It wasn't all good though. I had to deal with one of those cheesy con artist types. You know the guy. It's someone who comes up to you, tells a sad sack story about how they lost money in one way or another and need some to get them on their way to a destination of at least 40 miles away.

His spiel was that his female companion lost her handbag after going to a wedding at Cape Cod and need money to get gas to get themselves to Cape May. He said someone was kind enough to give them 40 dollars at Cape Cod and just needed to get some more to reach Cape May.

Yeahhhh, it used to be quarter that they begged from you, then a dollar or two, now the man wants forty dollars.

As any woman who has dated me in the past knows, I'm a hard person to pry money from. Okay, the guy was dressed pretty nicely and I'm always wondering when a con artist does this is don't you have family that can help out? Between the TWO of you, I'm expected to believe there is no way for you to get help form a friend. Where's your phone? Your wallet? Your ability to pick up a pay phone?

This kind of con annoys me because it involves two people who feel the need to come up with the same ol' same ol' sob story. A guy used to come into Sonya's about twice a month and state how his car broke down on I-5 and needed some money to get it fixed, I would point him to a auto shop near by, but he'd insist they wouldn't help. He'd never remember later that he pulled this con one me before. Sometimes he'd be bold enough to harass a customer.

Anyway I told the man I had no cash and went into Jack's, plopped down a crisp twenty dollar bill and got a Magic Hat No. 9. I felt nooooooo guilt.









Anyway my voice felt good this night so I decided to take on some challenging songs. The first one was "Sexx Laws" by Beck. I wanted to sing "Sour Girl" by Stone Temple Pilots but it was not available. Anyway, it's a song full of Non Sequitors and a high pitched wail at the end of the chorus. I nailed the wail but flubbed a few of the more tongue twisting words. Here's the video from 1999, I had never seen it before and noted that Jack Black makes an appearance. You know the saying "Too Much Jack Black Is Whack!"



After the song I plopped down a ten dollar bill and got myself a Sierra Nevada, mmmm that's tasty!








I was feeling a bit funky, so I decided to sing a chestnut from the late 70's "Back In Love Again" from the funk group LTD featuring a young Jeffery Osbourne. This is a fun song I like to sing when I want to get the people to move on the dance floor, which they did. It doesn't matter how old the song is, the young folks will dance the danceable songs. That's why I don't sing the torch songs like some of the later Jeffery Osborne songs. Anyway, here's a not so clear song clip from Soul Train.





After the song I decide I needed more courage and bought a Sam Adams with a wrinkled 5 dollar bill. Say what you will, for a mainstream beer Sam Adams hits the spot.











Now I was feeling cocky. I decide to take on the falsetto disco classic "You Made Me Feel Like Dancing" by Leo Sayer. It's my alternative to the "hipsters" who like to sing "Staying Alive". It's only the second time I tried singing it. The first time was at an obscure bar in the Magnolia section of Seattle. I did terrible but it was because my voice was hoarse that previous night. Anyway, I nailed it this night. I missed one line because I forgot to get out of falsetto in the bridge. Anyway, the response was great, I was a hit, Karaoke Steve, the host appreciated it.
A good fun night. Anyway, I was looking for a clip of Leo Sayer doing the song but was unimpressed with the clips. I then remembered that he appeared on "The Muppet Show" and found this clip. The song was changed a little, but it's the muppets, man!

MicroBrew of The Week

I like trying new kinds of beer in the microbrew catagory.

Today I tried a new brand called

Cricket Hill East Coast Lager

It's a smooth smoky brew from a Fairfield New Jersey brewery.