Sunday Afternoon in the City

This weekend, Finn and I went out to go "poke around," as we call it -- usually involves cake and a drive to explore a new neighborhood in the city.

[Note: Sorry about the massive photos in this post -- I fussed around with them for awhile but couldn't get them any smaller.]

First up, the boy and I headed for sweets at Pix Patisserie in our neighborhood. Finn opted for some housemade chocolate ice cream while I got this thing called a Shazam -- a dark chocolate bag filled with almond cake and caramel mousse. But the fleur de sel macaron we got on the way out? Holy crap, that was good. I'd never had a French macaron before (not to be confused with the chewy coconut macaroons). I'm a fan.

After that, we drove downtown to see the city Christmas tree in Pioneer Courthouse Square. This year, it's a locally grown 75-foot-tall Doug fir, adorned with red, green and blue twinkle lights (LED lights that use 90% less electricity than standard, incandescent lights, of course). Photo taken from the Portland Tribune.

And then, it was off to poke around. We headed south on Broadway, and from there, Finn noticed one of my favorite Portland holiday traditions, glowing on the side of the West Hills neighborhood above the city -- the Martini Glass.

Every holiday season, a house built on stilts on the side of the steep hill lights up its infamous, two-story tall martini glass. Here's one story about it, with another photo from the Trib:

****
The Portland martini glass was constructed in the late 1970s by teenager Monty Meadows who lived in the house. He built the sign with stuff he picked up throughout the area. The sign has grown larger and more elaborate over the years, remaining with the house as new occupants moved in. At one point, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) said no to the glass and it disappeared. Eventually, everyone came to a compromise: After 10 p.m., a red slash lights up across the glass, discouraging holiday party-goers from heading out onto the roads.
****

Finn wanted a closer look, so up into the West Hills we went. These homes have incredible views of downtown Portland and the river -- despite some of them being a bit run-down, they go for a million or more.

We located ol' Monty's childhood home after some twisty hills and hairpin turns. The view was incredible, looking out past the lit-up martini glass. Finn was impressed and asked if we could do some sort of light display on our house -- I'm thankful he didn't suggest Mommy's wine glass or Dad's bottle of beer.

Interestingly enough, just two or three houses past Monty's Martini Glass is the famous Piggott's Castle (also called Gleall's Castle and Piggott's Folly). I had to look all this stuff up -- a wealthy business tycoon built this house on the hill in 1892. Piggott designed the castle himself, without the benefit of right angles or consistent shapes between rooms. His favorite room was what he called his "sanctum sanctorum," which sat atop the home’s turret and was a room from which women were excluded. After only a year in the home, Piggott was forced to move out, as he couldn’t afford to live there any longer. It was uninhabited and run down for years, but there is obviously a family there now, as evidenced by the vintage old-timey Santa Claus that Finn spotted on the 2nd-floor balcony last night. (Although it looks like this katu.com news photo was taken around Halloween, if the skeleton on the balcony is any indication.)