Wednesday, February 18, 2009

happy anniversary, portland. got you on my mind.

i was mulling over the fact that we've lived in portland for just about exactly ten years this month. in fact, we moved here at the very beginning of the public schools' winter break. bean was six, in first grade (she made a sign which she hung in our living room window that said "THERE IS A KID IN HERE! i like planets and sea creatures."), and boo was not-quite-three. we moved from baltimore to maine in february and promptly got sick, all four of us, with some new england-style flu which knocked us out for more than a week. it was a different decade! a different century! anyway, i was thinking about it today and realizing that it's sort of strange to have been here long enough to feel nostalgic for portland things that aren't around anymore. and i started making this mental list of portland stuff that is no more:

*the barking squirrel cafe in deering oaks (what a great place for a restaurant - the one time i ate there, the cook quit mid-breakfast)
*the keystone theater/cafe (so weird and so wonderful!)
*the movies on exchange (sad and recent)
*bookland of maine (m's first employer, moved us to maine and promptly went out of business)
*casco bay books (sniff)
*milo (ditto)
*java joe's (still there in the form of the embarrassingly named morning in paris cafe)
*breaking new grounds (see above)
*american pie pizza (it was as good as flatbread, really)
*monroe salt works
*amaryllis
*dunne roman
*granny's burritos
*terra firma
*sip tea house
*the center for cultural exchange
*stone coast brewing co.
*acoustic coffee

i know i'm forgetting many, many more. oh, and remember how portland used to have a daytime and a nighttime new year's eve event? with fireworks on congress street?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Hollow Reed, Edith and Edna, Mike Chitwood (although that new guy sounds pretty good), Portland Children's Shop, Baxter Elementary School, etc. etc. By the way, San Francisco, Sausilito and Palo Alto are all pretty nice, although it's clear that things are going out of business here too....Today, P and A biked over the GG bridge to Sausilito and I met them in our cute red Toyota. It must be 70 degrees--a nice respite from our beloved Portland!

margot said...

i don't even remember all these things. is "sip" that tea/massage place? if so, too bad it's out of business. kayla and i always wanted to go there together someday.

and i'm pretty miserable about the movies on exchange, fyi.

Liz Woodbury said...

i knew you'd think of a bunch, mama d. what about "raoul's" or whatever that place was which then became american pie and then the pie hole and now is some kind of mexican place? we weren't here when it was, but people used to always give directions based on the place it used to be.

margot, no that tea place is still there! you and kayla would love it!

and, i am also sad about the movies. i know there is a group of people in portland trying to figure out how to do a new art house theater, though...

Mary said...

did you mention the Way Way ?

Liz Woodbury said...

oh, i forgot the way-way! it was in saco, i think, but it still played a huge role in our lives for our first couple of years in maine.