Portland and Hillsboro-December 8 and 9

We love giving concerts for our neighbors in the south in Portland and Hillsboro. I like Oregon because they have gas station attendants who pump gas for you. And there is no sales tax. What more could you ask from a state?
The concert in Portland was on Friday December 9 at the Old Church in downtown Portland. A prominent architect in the Portland area who had built many buildings in the Boston area built the Old Church in the 1880’s. The church has a very large gothic styled steeple. The Presbyterian congregation that built the church outgrew the building. Many different congregations occupied the building during its history and now it is a venue for concerts and weddings. The acoustics are wonderful.
We all (Katherine’s parents, my brother and my mom) went to Portland for the weekend. Our friend Jon Pardue also joined us as a musician onstage. He is a great jazz piano player who filled the holes nicely and created some additional great sound. A favorite of the audience is when I play something for people who don’t want to be at a harp concert. This year I am playing the theme from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, which seems to be a hit for those that don’t want to be at the concert. I always ask to see the hands of those that don’t want to be there. Laughter erupted from the front row from a wife who must have had the exact conversation that I can picture when I think of people coming to a harp concert. Her husband did not want to be there. The coincidental aspect is that this nice man’s name was Charlie. It couldn’t have been scripted any better!
I enjoy living a musician life. Part of that life is going out to eat after the concerts. I felt bad for my mother-in-law Nell and my mom Betty as we sat in the booth waiting for our food. Betty and Nell needed each other to prop themselves up as they are used to much more reasonable bedtimes. We found a tremendous place to go for dinner, serving breakfast all night and open until 3:00AM. It was very reasonably priced called “The Stepping Stone” on 23rd Ave in West Portland. We will find ourselves there again when we visit Portland.
In the morning Jon, my brother Park and I packed up at the Old Church. We had time to return to the hotel to go for a walk and sit in the hot tub before we gave our concert. We headed to Orenco Presbyterian Church in Hillsboro. An extremely friendly group greeted us at Orenco. The concert went well. There were many friends in the audience and quite a few “newbie’s.” I like having the new audience members. I like to think that our concerts aren’t the typical harp and voice concerts. We play for those that don’t want to be there!
We ate another late night supper at a McMeneman’s Brewery, a local popular establishment in Portland open late. We don’t have a lot of choice where to go when we want dinner at 11:00.
We woke on Sunday and attended First Presbyterian Church in downtown Portland and headed back north on I-5 and Sultan.