We began our walk with a nice visit to The Albina Press (mentioned in earlier posts). I love that coffee shop because it is open and welcoming and the staff is wonderful. Me with my medium Stumptown latte and Anna with her Americano, we were off. East on Blandena to Williams and then south to the crepe place, we came accross some great stuff. One item, the Old Kelley Tire location - someone has either setup home there behind the fence (there's a cool airstreem there) or people are having fun before the building is demolished.
The Kelly tire building is like any tire repair place which an open area for vehicles to drive in and get fixed. This location was for larger rigs, so the bay area is much wider and taller than most places. An excellent graffiti artist with a wonderful imagination has done a work of art on the building and the bays. It appears to be a story created with characters and superheroes.
Further down Williams, we came accross the building where Scrap is relocating to. Scrap is a community organization for crafters. Scrap is associated with the Rebuilding Centeer.
Finally, we arrive at Crepe Soleil, a new Crepery in North East Portland. I want to claim it in NoPo, yet it is on Williams and Williams is the division between North and NorthEast Portland. To begin with, we didn't have any money, so had to venture further to a cash machine at Emanual hospital. Back to Crepe Soliel in a bit.
Dawson Park between N Vancouver and NE Williams has an interesting dome in the SE corner. This dome has a plaque that tells us the dome was part of a main building in the former city of Albina, incorporated in 1887 and annexed by Portland in 1892. We'd heard stories of Albina being the largest city on the west coast during this time, larger than Portland. The former Mayor of Albina built this building and it stood on the corner of Williams and Russell until it was demolished to make way for a hospital expansion that never came to be. Too bad. History is sometimes lost to growth.
Crepe Soliel - yes, we finally arrived and got some food. By now, it was too late for Breakfast, but then again, a crepe doesn't necessarily know what time of day it is. I had a wonderful crepe with avocado, green onions, artichoke, palm sauce, and fresh cilantro- topped with parmesan cheese. Yummy. Anna had a crepe with fresh spinach, minced garlic, bruschetta and mushrooms topped with feta cheese. Equally Yummy. We both were just in heaven with the complex flavors and savory taste. They were very fresh also. To finish off the morning, we had a sweet crepe - The Polygono - banana, nutella and whip cream. OMG - OMG. What a great way to finish a meal or begin the rest of the day. Crepe Soliel offers many other choices for Crepes and is a venue for coffee, live music and art - had to put the plug in for a neighborhood locale.
After filling ourselves with food, we proceeded on our intended walk to the video store. Nothing new to report here other than MKL is a busy street. We returned to our side of the hood via Killingsworth and decided to stop at a couple locale's to waste some time. First off, we visited Rancho Deluxe, one of those Antique stores that seems to be above everyone else. Above even talking to you when you purchase something. I visited the store a few years ago and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Well, nothing's changed. We moseyed further down the street where we came upon the Holiness or Hell Church of God in Christ. We've always wondered about this locale since it's in the same building with the Lovlee Ladee sign. hmmmmm.
Well, the walk proceeds further down Killingsworth where we visited another vintage store and asian market and then turned south to shortcut home. Alas, we couldn't go on a walk without seeing the NoPo Po- or in other words, the Po Po - Portland Police. Yes, 6-7 cop cars surrounding a block - nothing really looked like it was going on, but what do we know. The walk ended with a nice walk again accross Skidmore bridge and home to the pups.
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