Silver Bells...

Silver Bells... It's Christmas Time in the City.  My sisters Robert and Denise and sister/friend Shirley and I spent the afternoon in downtown Portland, Oregon yesterday.  It was magical!  We began our adventure on Park Avenue at the Brasserie Montmarte, the home of "French Influenced American Cuisine".

The bar is impressive!  (So were the two bartenders)  :-D

They seated us at a nice booth and I was impressed by the huge chandelier.

I shared a Baby Iceberg Wedge salad with Roberta, it had brioche croutons, house bacon, Toy Box tomatoes and bleu cheese dressing.  Delish!

For the main dish -- Croque Monsieur, a ham and cheese melt on brioche with sauce Mornay and Pomme Frites with aioli sauce.

The last owner of the restaurant covered the tables with white paper and crayons were left for the diners to use to draw while they waited.  Now many of the drawings are framed and on the walls.. we were waited upon by the manager of the restaurant and she knew all kinds of fun facts to share with us.  The new owner deemed that covering the tables with paper was too expensive, so no more art.

This drawing impressed me.. I'm not sure what it is about.. but it's cool.

The manager took a photo for us and behind us is part of the history of the place... during a time of closure, some criminals broke into the restaurant and tried to break into the jewelry shop next door to rob it, until they ran into concrete and rebar of the vault.

Next up was a movie at the Regal Cinemas Fox Tower - Philomena.  It's about a world-weary political journalist who picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.  It was good!

Next up was a walk down to the Pioneer Courthouse Square to see the big city tree.. it was gorgeous!  That is the historic courthouse behind it.

The tree was fantastic, all covered in glittery multi-colored lights.  See our Max train there?  It runs in all directions out into the suburbs and all around downtown.

We were thrilled to find that there was a chorus singing Christmas songs!  That really added to the magic of the day.

There is a famous bronze statue in the square, of a man with an umbrella rushing to catch the Max train.. he was dressed in yarn bomber style with a hand-knit sweater and scarf.  It was all over the TV news here when someone tried to steal the sweater off him.. and you'll notice one arm is gone.  

We walked down near the tree.. it's so pretty.

This nice woman was taking photos of her daughter and her husband and then she offered to take one of us.  Are you sick of seeing us have fun downtown yet?  LOL!

We then walked uphill (my cardio for the day) for 4 blocks and took the elevator up in the parking structure and got the car and headed home.. this is looking up Broadway as we drove along.

What a great day we had!  What large city is your closest to visit?  I'd love to hear where you go when you want to have some city time.  We sang as we walked.. "Silver Bells, Silver Bells, it's Christmas Time, in the City.. ring-a-ling, here them sing, soon it will be Christmas Day".

My daughter Amy posted some photos on Facebook of my granddaughters visiting Santa in a historic log cabin.. aren't they adorable?  Paige on the left, Jenna on the right.

Paige is very gregarious and it looks like she's telling Santa something very important!!  o<[]:{D

We gathered at Denise's house to ride together downtown.. she had her home decorated beautifully with things she's collected over the years.  I spied a little wooden house that I painted just for her -- years ago.  I do enjoy seeing my little "makes" in my family and friend's homes.  I also saw the little jar snow scene I just gave her.

Thank you for visiting with me today and joining me in a trip downtown.  

❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉
*M*E*R*R*Y* *C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*!*
❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ 

((hugs)), Teresa :-)