Brotherly Love

My brother came to visit! Last week he came to Portland for a visit and to go to a work conference. He stayed with us for a few days and it was really nice spending time with him. The last time I saw him (and the last time he saw Logan) was last year when we went to Seattle for our grandma’s memorial. I think Logan was 6 months old. Logan isn’t really shy and he took to Uncle Andy almost immediately. He seemed so curious! Friday night after work and his conference Michael and Andy picked up spicy Thai wings from Pok Pok! After Logan went to sleep the three of us sat outside on the deck in the perfect summer air and ate our spicy wings and listened to music and talked about diet, fitness, losing weight and exercises that have helped us. On Saturday Andy went to the last part of his conference and I went to the gym. I did weights, PT, stairmaster and the elliptical, then home to clean up and we all went out for lunch. I saw another local blogger post about Wayfinder on Instagram last week so I suggested we check it out. It looked like a really cool place and it was! They had a HUGE outdoor dining area! So many people could fit out there. There were tons of picnic tables and big umbrellas. We got a table in partial shade.

Wayfinder is the brainchild of Charlie Devereux (co-founder of Double Mountain Brewery), Matthew Jacobson (co-founder/owner of Sizzle Pie, Quality Bar, and Relapse Records) and Rodney Muirhead (co-founder/owner of Podnah’s Pit and La Taq). Our mission: to bring simple and authentic pleasures of the highest quality to the Rose City and beyond.

So last week when I read the above on their website, we were pretty much sold on going there. Double Mountain beer (YUM) and Podnah’s?? One of my favorites!! Wayfinder did not disappoint, either.   I got a glass of the Boneyard Hop Venom IPA. Michael got the Doomtown IPA. Andy got something called a “Hazy IPA”, I can’t remember the name of it. Now for lunch. We were all starving! I loved the nod to Twin Peaks– Black Lodge and White Lodge. 😉 I got the Major Payne and asked for it to be a salad instead. Andy got to the Black Lodge as a salad and Michael got the sausage party platter. I loved that they could make anything into a salad! Andy’s lunch: Basically prime rib with peppers and onions on top of a salad. He said it was amazing. Michael’s: They made their own pickled squash–AMAZING! They were kinda like pickles but better. SO GOOD! And my lunch was the winner: The pulled pork was excellent. Great smokey flavor, juicy and tender, not overcooked or burned. The mustard slaw on top was really delicious. It was all slightly odd being a “salad” but it tasted good so I didn’t care. It was filling but didn’t feel like a gut bomb had it been on a bun. I’m glad I got the salad option. Next time when we go, I really want to tried their fried cauliflower topped with Buffalo sauce and Bleu cheese. How amazing does that sound?? YUM! It was a really cool place. Very fun, awesome vibe. Pretty good service considering how busy they were. We got a table right away, even though it was the middle of the lunch rush. The prices were pretty average. We’d definitely go back. Just hanging out on the outdoor patio alone made it worth it and the fact that the food was outstanding was just a bonus! We stopped at Sheridan Fruit Company after lunch and it turned out to be a really cool store with lots of specialty items, not just fruit! They had a huge frozen case of different meats–like ground camel (weird) and alligator. Lots of unique things. Michael picked up some specialty cheese and some spicy sausage for dinner. 

The rest of the day was pretty low-key and at home. Logan sort of took a nap, the guys watched sports, I went grocery shopping, then Michael made homemade pizza for dinner. Andy suggested that we do caramelized onions with the spicy sausage and it was probably my favorite version of our homemade pizza we’ve done so far. It was great.

It was a great day.