Winter Morning in Chinatown
Mar/25/06 03:01 PM | Adventures
Saturdays during the winter require a certain
amount of creativity. And parental wakefulness. And
therefore coffee. The rest of the year it’s
easy to head straight to the Farmers’ Market –
on foot if we’re up to it, and via
streetcar if we’re feeling lazy.
So in late March, with the Market still a week away, we went on a full fledged adventure. Jason was working, so The Kid and I bundled up against the briskness.
First stop was Fullers. Suzie makes a great pancake with teddy bear face and ears, which The Kid loves. And her homemade whole wheat bread is a sweet start to the morning. The coffee wakes me and warms me, and we wander out into the world around 8:30.
A walk down Everett takes us past the park, gives us glimpses of dragons on 4th Avenue and a close up of the foo dogs in front of the Chinese Garden. We keep going, as we’re headed to the river. The Portland Spirit was a welcome sight. And though we waited and watched, no trains came across the Steel Bridge. We headed south and walked under the cherry trees at the Japanese Internment Memorial. The blossoms were still tightly budded, and I doubt The Kid believed me when I told him they’d become flowers.
Next stop was the Saturday Market. Vendors were setting up – still lots of empty spaces. But it’s better that way, for a toddler. Not too crowded, plenty of dogs, the Max train rushing by, and people working hard.
We walked up Ankeny past the Couch Street Fish House, and headed north on 4th Avenue. Just across Burnside are the gates to Chinatown. The marble is beautiful up close, and there are plenty of letters for a small child to trace with fingers. If you walk in between the marble bases, you can also find engraved dragons.
At this point we were chilled to the bone. We admired the bulb plants (tulips? Daffodils? No way to tell this early) as they poked their first leaves out of the planters on 5th and 6th Avenues. And hurried home as quickly as we could.
So in late March, with the Market still a week away, we went on a full fledged adventure. Jason was working, so The Kid and I bundled up against the briskness.
First stop was Fullers. Suzie makes a great pancake with teddy bear face and ears, which The Kid loves. And her homemade whole wheat bread is a sweet start to the morning. The coffee wakes me and warms me, and we wander out into the world around 8:30.
A walk down Everett takes us past the park, gives us glimpses of dragons on 4th Avenue and a close up of the foo dogs in front of the Chinese Garden. We keep going, as we’re headed to the river. The Portland Spirit was a welcome sight. And though we waited and watched, no trains came across the Steel Bridge. We headed south and walked under the cherry trees at the Japanese Internment Memorial. The blossoms were still tightly budded, and I doubt The Kid believed me when I told him they’d become flowers.
Next stop was the Saturday Market. Vendors were setting up – still lots of empty spaces. But it’s better that way, for a toddler. Not too crowded, plenty of dogs, the Max train rushing by, and people working hard.
We walked up Ankeny past the Couch Street Fish House, and headed north on 4th Avenue. Just across Burnside are the gates to Chinatown. The marble is beautiful up close, and there are plenty of letters for a small child to trace with fingers. If you walk in between the marble bases, you can also find engraved dragons.
At this point we were chilled to the bone. We admired the bulb plants (tulips? Daffodils? No way to tell this early) as they poked their first leaves out of the planters on 5th and 6th Avenues. And hurried home as quickly as we could.