Bunk Bar: Another Notch in the Belt for Habetz

There are tons of places to get a good sandwich in Portland, but one of the best is from the Bunk family of restaurants, run by Tommy Habetz. The original Bunk Sandwiches is on SE Morrison, but within the last three years a second outpost has opened downtown near Little Bird Bistro, a Bunk Truck is up and running all over the city, Trigger opened up near Toro Bravo in northeast, and Bunk Bar opened on SW Water Avenue. 

Bunk Bar not only serves food and drink, but also hosts shows almost every night of the week. As a bonus, Hair of the Dog Brewery is just down the street and Water Avenue Coffee right next door, so it's a happening place.

Bunk Bar is quite open and well-lit with plenty of color on the walls and a lot of seating, something that is at a premium at the other two Bunk locations. Wifey and I visited on the weekend around lunch time and there was a constant stream of people coming in and out, some with children.

Here you order at the bar. We only planned to order two things, since we knew the portions were going to be big. Oops.

First up was the mole tater tots with avocado, cilantro, queso fresco and crema. Why? One, because tater tots are awesome, and two because, well, just look at it!

This $5 "bar snack" (according to the menu) would have been plenty for both of us by itself. Super tasty.

This sandwich, a special of roasted pork with roasted brussels sprouts and Russian dressing on ciabatta, wasn't in the plan, but it sounded so good we couldn't say no. And we're glad we didn't, even thought sprouts on a sandwich was a new one for us.

That enough food porn for ya? Click again on that picture if you need more to make it bigger.

The last item we ordered was the egg and cheese on a roll, which we ordered with bacon. Honestly, we didn't even touch it for lunch; we had to wrap the whole thing and take it home to eat for breakfast the next day.

Every single one of these items was excellent. Bunk Bar, just like the original Bunk Sandwiches, produces items with tons of flavors that work very well together. We will definitely return.

Dog-friendly? There is no outdoor seating. But there should be.

Roe: Portland's Best Seafood Restaurant?

Last summer we started hearing a little buzz about a new place from the mind of Wafu chef Trent Pierce. It was to be a seafood place, which was notable because before Wafu he had what was widely regarded as the best seafood spot in the city, Fin. We never made it to Fin but had read many discussions online about how wonderful it was - apparently we missed out.

It's odd to me, but Portland really doesn't have much good seafood. The names that get thrown around are living off their legacies and generally can barely put out a plate as good as I can make at home with minimal work. For a city relatively close to the ocean - not to mention many rivers - the lack of quality fish is, to me, surprising.

Needless to say, because of all of that and Pierce's reputation - and the fact we have enjoyed multiple good meals at Wafu - we added it to the short list. As it turned out opening week in September came at a time when a friend from Chicago was coming to visit, so it worked out nicely.

There are a couple things to know about Roe. First, you must make a reservation. These can be done over the phone or via Open Table, but it's the only way to get in.

Second, Roe is in the back of Wafu on SE 33rd and Division. That doesn't mean behind the building; that means you enter Wafu, give your name to the maitre'd, and then you are led down the length of Wafu to a room in the back, hidden behind a curtain and a door. The maitre'd lets you in and hands you off to Roe people. It's all very cloak and dagger, like you are part of a super secret club. In a way you are, because Roe has only a few tables and a chef's counter, and is only open three nights a week.

The chef's table is the focal point, raised on one side of the room with six seats, but all of the tables in the high-ceilinged room look comfortable. The service is impeccable. If you clicked on their website you will notice the menu is not listed - it changes every week. Pierce picks out the fish each week himself on the Oregon coast. Below was the menu presented to us.

The menu from the day we went.

Our friend came to Portland with the sole purpose of experiencing the food scene and because of that we decided to go light on dinner. Between the three of us we ordered two dishes from the first section and two from the third, then a dessert. First came bread, fresh butter and a selection of flavored salts.

First up was a tuna dish, with tomato, watermelon gazpacho, yuba, lime and basil

Then silver snapper ceviche with corn, tomato caviar, smoked citrus nuoc mam, and edamame mousse.

Then the two main courses came out. This is the butter poached blue prawn with popcorn emulsion, piquillo pepper, grilled padron peppers, and shrimp chips. 

Followed by the salmon, olive oil poached with gin botanicals, confit fennel, edamame, tonic gelee and sudachi ponzu.

And finally, a light dessert of salted caramel gelato, dark chocolate ganache and dehydrated milk chocolate mousse.

Conclusion

Everything was fantastic. Exceptional, actually. The service, the presentation, the flavors - I feel comfortable saying this is the best seafood place in town and highly recommend it to anyone. Our friend from out of town counted it as one of her favorite meals of the trip. The total bill was $81, so it's definitely a special occasion dinner for most (us for sure) and I will admit it may not be what many consider a filling meal for that price. However, the crafting of these dishes make it worth it. We'd go back in a heartbeat.

We aren't the only ones who think this; The Oregonian handed out a relatively rare A- in their review of Roe.

Dog-friendly? No outdoor seating.

Touch Portland's Water!

I was born in Portland, raised in Portland, lived my whole life in the Portland area (apart from my time at the University of Oregon), but I had never been to Mount Tabor Park until this past summer. Considering it dominates the landscape of the southeastern part of the city, that's quite an accomplishment.

Mount Tabor is not a mountain; it's a long dormant cinder cone, a relic of a volcanic eruption centuries ago, and named after a city in Israel. The park has hiking trails, tennis courts, basketball courts, picnic areas and fantastic vistas in all directions as one of Portland's highest points. When I was growing up it wasn't exactly known as very family friendly (probably why I had never been there), but these days - at least during daylight - families gather, lovers walk hand-in-hand and dogs are exercised by the dozens on the city's nicest days.

Also, the park is home to many of the reservoirs supplying drinking water to the City of Portland.

To me, it's a little odd. I mean, a person can literally walk right up to the reservoir (at the fence in the above picture), put their hand through the bars, and do whatever they want. Sure, the water is filtered and purified somewhere between these large pools and your faucet, but still.

And, as you can clearly see, they are completely open to weather and wildlife.

They do provide a nice backdrop for pictures. Even Misaki was impressed.

And yes, there are serious repercussions if anyone is caught messing with the pools. Presumably there is video surveillance as well.

Personally, I think there could be a little more prevention in place. These fences could be further back from the edge of the water, for one.

But hey, that's just me. The water at our house does not come from the City of Portland, but presumably it works out for them.

One of the reservoirs was empty because it was being cleaned and having some repairs done. These pictures do a poor job of really providing reference points for size - they are truly gigantic. Bigger in length and width than a football field, that iron fence is about eight feet high. You can also see the normal water line in this picture below, a few feet below the fence.

Here's a pic attempting to get the entire space. Doesn't that look like something you want to drink out of?

Drinking water aside, the park is a lot of fun and good exercise for people and their canines. And while the park is a fairly steep hill, the trails have been created so people can casually wind their way in circles to the top.

Or, if you are like us, you can simply take the stairs straight up.

The view from the top of the park probably isn't as good as it was 30-40 years ago because the evergreens continue to grow (not that I want to stand in their way). Still, on a nice day, a Shiba can see for miles. So can her humans.

It's a great place for a some exercise and we've been back a couple times since our initial visit.

Pro tips:

On nice days get there early. The parking lot fills up by noon.

Bring sunscreen on nice days because while there are plenty of trees all of the trails near the reservoirs are in open spaces.

Dogs on leash only. As it should be.

There are plenty of restaurants in the area to grab a bite. At the northeast corner of the park is Misaki's favorite, Steve's Cheese. At the east side is all the restaurants on Hawthorne. To the west side is The Country Cat for all meals, Bi-Partisan Cafe for coffee, pie and snacks, and Tanuki for dinner.

Christmas Eve Dinner at Simpatica

It's probably been well established on this blog that Wifey and I are big fans of Simpatica Dining Hall, despite the fact it's a communal dining experience which is not really our thing at all. We had an excellent dinner with a burger as the main course back in 2009, had a great brunch there in 2010, and enjoyed the fruits of Simpatica's labor last summer at the Forest Park benefit we attended.

Each time the food has been at minimum solid and at times spectacular, so this year for Christmas Eve we wanted to do something a little special and chose Simpatica as our dining choice. The meal featured an entree of smoked prime rib and cost $45 per person before tip and drinks.

The first course was a French onion soup with a gruyere crouton (more a chunk of toast than a crouton).

One of the best I've ever had, if not THE best. The broth was thick and rich, and each mouthful of cheesy bread was simply perfect. As you can tell, not the prettiest dish ever, but I'll give it a pass because of the taste. Also, super damn hot. I think I burned my tongue. That's hard to get around when you pull a soup out of the oven like that, but I would think it could have been held back just a few more minutes to let the soup cool. I'm not patient enough - plus I was really hungry at this point - to wait when the food is put in front of me. Save me from myself!

Next up was the salad course - arugula and pear with parsnip crisps and creamy champagne vinaigrette.

It was...fine. Nothing special. The pieces were decent all on their own but didn't seem to make much sense together. And neither of us are big fans of bitter greens. Moving on.

The main course was the smoked prime rib - pecan-smoked Piedmontese prime rib with Marchand de Vin, plus Yukon potato gratin and creamed kale.

The above picture was Wifey's plate, and the one below was mine.

Um, I know prime rib is usually a tad pink, but each of these seemed just a tad bloody to me. Also, look at the flesh of each piece - hers is way fattier, and not in a good way. Much of that was gristle. One would think our dishes were cut in line, but the two pieces of meat don't match up at all.

Plus, OhMyGod those are the biggest chunks of meat I've ever seen on a plate! While it helps add value for the money, it was unnecessary. We took about 2/3 of it home. When the servers brought out these plates jaws were dropping all over the room at the sheer size of the chunk of meat. It reminded me of an episode of Top Chef this current season when a contestant, tasked with creating a dish based on her childhood, served a gigantic ribeye that filled the entire plate because that's how meals were like where she grew up in Wisconsin. Holy hell the size was unnecessary. Give me half the meat and take $5 off each meal price. Wow.

The flavor was actually really good. The smokiness came through very nicely and, the pieces not still bleeding, were really good. The creamed kale was fine, nothing special. The potatoes were overdone and dry, moreso in Wifey's serving than mine, which makes me think they weren't cooked equally.

I will say the prime rib we took home was very good - after it was pan fried to add sear on all sides and then cut into strips. We were able to get five more meals out the leftovers.

The last dish was dessert, an apple tart with salted caramel ice cream.

I would not order this ever again. The apples were dry and overcooked, the crust had no moisture to provide any balance to the overcooked apples, and the ice cream was, well, salty. We both love salted caramels, but now this is two different servings of salted caramel ice cream (the other was at Molly Moon's in Seattle) where the salt factor was ridiculous. Salted caramels taste 95% of caramel - unless they are covered in chocolate as well, then it's a balance - with just a hint of salt. A couple flakes. This was salt ice cream with the flavor of caramel; the proportions are way out of wack. I'd love to see the recipe and how much salt is actually called for - then reduce it to a quarter of the amount. And add more caramel flavoring. We've made caramel ice cream at home - a standard vanilla frozen custard recipe mixed with Alma's caramel sauce - and the flavors are so much more pleasing to the tongue.

In the end we both left a little disappointed. One dish was fantastic (the soup), one was good but had drawbacks (the prime rib), one was just there (the salad), and one really left a bad taste (the dessert). Considering the final bill was three digits (added one glass of the suggested red wine - a 2007 Triennes Vin de Pays from France - to pair with the beef), it seems a little ridiculous, doesn't it? (By the way, if you go to Simpatica for dinner, allow 3-3.5 hours for the entire meal. I thought maybe two, but everyone is served a course at once, meaning you have to wait for everyone to finish the previous one. We typically eat our meals and chat a little bit, so it's not up to our speed. Not good or bad, just something to know before going.)

I'm not really sure what to make of this. Is Simpatica losing their touch? Or were all the inconsistencies and failures in this meal an aberration, perhaps the product of the holidays? Who knows. What I do know is that for the price I expect to see good execution and good flavors in all aspects of the dishes and that didn't happen. If I can get a good meal for half the price or less, even with multiple dishes and dessert, at any number of places around the city - plus not have to share my table with strangers I really have no interest in interacting with - I am much more likely to do that.

A successful meal will make you want to return, especially given a restaurant's reputation and pricing. When you are in the upper tier of both, as Simpatica is, you never want to give a customer a reason to question whether or not you are getting a good value and experience.

Sadly, after some very good meals in the past, I'm left questioning if a return to Simpatica is worth my money and time.

Thanksgiving at The Country Cat

Wifey and I decided to buck tradition a bit this year and eat our big Thanksgiving meal out. We decided on The Country Cat, one of our favorites in Portland and a place we tried to get a reservation at last year but they filled up too fast. I got us a reservation for 2pm on Thanksgiving Day and this is what we got to eat ($45 each for an amuse bouche, salad, entree, and dessert).

First up, the amuse bouche. Starting at the top and going clockwise: truffled deviled egg; whole wheat cracker with beer cheese spread and a housemade pickle; and a toast topped with chopped crab and grilled shrimp.

The egg was nothing special, but the other two were quite tasty. They call the beer cheese "Judy" according to the menu - I'm sure there is a story behind that, but I don't know it. That was our favorite of the three.

For my salad course I chose the red wine marinated beets with blue cheese, candied bacon and rosemary toasted walnuts.

I don't even really like walnuts, but these were excellent. The beets had great flavor and worked well with everything else. I love the blue cheese, but see that huge chunk? Either it was too much or I didn't distribute it evenly enough in my bites, because I had a big chunk left at the end. No, that's not a problem.

Wifey chose the mixed field greens with blue cheese dressing.

This was...a salad. Because of the "field"ness of the greens it was a tad bitter, but the blue cheese handled that nicely. Nothing special.

For my entree I chose the double cut pork chop and rosemary mashed yams with whole grain mustard plum sauce. The chop was served on a bed of braised collard greens and topped with two roasted figs (that's what's on top of the chop in the pic below).

Everything on this plate was excellent. The pork was cooked through evenly with a very tasty crust, and the yams and collards provided great flavor contrasts. The figs felt a tad out of the place just because they were so far to the sweet side of things, but still tasty. I can't wait to go back to Country Cat for their normal dinner menu to try out The Whole Hog.

Wifey chose the more traditional meal as her entree: brined, smoked and braised turkey, Granny Criss's stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, honey glazed carrots, and cranberry sauce.

Both light and dark meat came on the plate. You can see the dark meat in the top left of the picture; it had been shredded and tasted almost like pulled pork. Each of these items were fantastic on their own, and together it was like a perfect symphony of flavors.

I should note, we were also served biscuits to go with our meal and as usual, The Country Cat nailed them. Love those biscuits.

Both of us, trying not to stuff ourselves too much, barely ate half of our entrees to ensure leftovers and to leave room for dessert. My dessert was an apple-cranberry crisp with vanilla ice cream (menu said caramel, but it was definitely just vanilla).

I wasn't sure about the cranberries, but they turned out to be well cooked and not tart at all. Considering it takes much longer to bring a cranberry to the same consistency as a cooked apple that means this crisp wasn't nearly as simple as it seems. The flavors blended nicely, but that caramel ice cream would have added a nice layer of decadence to the dish. Still, really enjoyed it.

Wifey chose the chocolate pecan pie.

We weren't really sure what form the chocolate would take in contrast to a regular pecan pie, but apparently it was mixed in with the normal pecan pie innards, large drops on top of the pie, and then a sauce drizzled over the plate. (This is where I note chocolate pecan pie slices that came out of the kitchen after ours also had whip cream. It wasn't on the menu so I wouldn't think of complaining - not our style - but it's noteworthy.)

Both of the desserts were solid, but not up to the same level as greatness of the rest of the meal. To be honest, were it not included in the set price I'm not sure I would have ordered them - it depends on what the price would be.

Service was generally prompt and not as chaotic as it sometimes can be. Overall we had a great time and a great meal and we'd recommend the Thanksgiving meal to anyone who is interested (you know, next year). Would we go back? Yes, but there are also other places around town who do their own Thanksgiving specials we'd like to try out.

Wafu Isn't Traditional, But We Don't Care

In a previous post I extolled the traditional cuisine at Mirakutei, but a visit to Wafu (like to Portlandfood.org because Wafu's website is just a shell) was a trip to the complete other end of the Japanese food spectrum.

That's not good or bad, it's just different. And you know what? Different can be pretty damn awesome.

I started off with a glass of Rogue's Morimoto Soba Ale. It's a very light beer, but has a nice developing crispness to it. Solid beer, but $8/glass is a bit much for me.

Our food started with a ceviche with mahi mahi, tomato, corn, calabrian chile, cilantro and mint.

This was fantastic. I'm not normally a mahi mahi fan, but these pieces were luscious and tasty - and that sauce I could drink a glass of. See the corn? Freeze-dried, I believe, which added an interesting layer. 

We also ordered an onigiri (rice ball) with grilled prawn, tomato, bacon, and soy mayo, topped with bonito (fish flakes) and nori (seaweed). Since it's rice on the outside and the restaurant was dark, the photo didn't turn out at all. This was a tasty bite, but didn't hold together well. Probably wouldn't get again.

This next dish was the star of the night: tempura shrimp with creamy spicy sauce and with wasabi mayo, plus a daikon palate cleanser.

And a closer look just at the tempura shrimps (wasabi mayo on the left, creamy spicy on the right):

We both liked the creamy spicy better, but it's really splitting hairs - both were fantastic. The daikon - something I don't normally eat raw - was nice between the two different flavors of shrimps, allowing the tongue to fully enjoy the flavors of each.

Our last dish of the night was the reason we went in the first place: Wafu ramen with pork belly and slow poach egg added. The ramen comes with corn, scallions, kamaboko (that's the pink-rimmed thing - a fish cake), and smoked schmaltz (rendered pork fat used for frying).

The pork was perfectly cooked and literally fell apart in the bowl. I liked the corn addition (highly recommended from Japan), but Wifey wasn't in love with it. The egg was nicely done. The broth, though - wow. Awesome. So many levels of porky goodness. I'm not sure it's better than Mirakutei, but it was damn, damn good.

But again, not traditional - none of this was traditional Japanese, but quite obviously Japanese inspired. It was good, very good, and we wouldn't hesitate to return.

Besides, it's right next door to Sunshine Tavern. And a block away from Pok Pok. And just up the street from Taste Unique and Little T American Baker. Maybe we should move closer.

Go To Sunshine Tavern

Sunshine Tavern is an American place over on Division Street in Southeast Portland. Just this past weekend they started a brunch service that also features many of their dinner items. Wifey and I can't stay away from brunch and we had been meaning to check out this place anyway, so we stopped in just after 11am on a Saturday.

Maybe because it was the first day and they just opened, maybe because it was still early, or maybe because it was a holiday weekend, the place was pretty dead when we walked in (it did fill up later). Our waiter was David, who is also the co-owner with his wife, Jenn (also the head chef). They also own Lincoln, a restaurant that has been on our list for awhile but we haven't made it to yet.

The space fronts on Division Street and the entire front of the restaurant opens up to allow in the fresh air. Early on a hot day, this was pretty nice. Pok Pok is just a short distance away and the smells from their outdoor grill wafted in to mix with Sunshine's own smells from their open kitchen. Yes, it was heaven.

David dropped these buttermilk biscuits by the table first. They were complementary for the first day of brunch, and they were excellent. Light and fluffy, but still with a soft crunch and fresh out of the oven, they came with butter and a marionberry (I think) jam, which worked great for dipping. 

We didn't order biscuits and gravy (theirs comes with egg, pork gravy, and fontina), but given how good these were I'm sure it is fantastic.

Wifey ordered the fried chicken sandwich with blue cheese dressing, celery, red onion, and chili mayo. This normally comes with a side of fries, but for $3 more you get those fries topped with the pork gravy and fontina. The fries by themselves were just fantastic - nice crunch, good flavor. Definitely one of the better fries we've had in Portland. (Better than Potato Champion? Need a side by side taste test...)

We felt a little bad because this pile of fries was monstrous and we barely touched the sandwich. The logic was the sandwich would be better reheated than the fries, so we focused on eating those. David asked us at the end of the meal if it was all okay, since we didn't eat it all. David, we promise, it was phenomenal, both fresh and reheated - but we had to save room for dessert.

My entree was the pizza with two eggs, oregano, tesa, and olive oil. David asked if I might want to make that a true bacon and egg breakfast...of course I would, so upgraded from tesa to bacon. Just look at this magnificent pizza (and ignore the fact these were cell phone pictures with too much direct sunlight) - great char on the crust, wonderful presentations. The eggs were just barely done so the yolk could be popped and spread all around. The bacon was thick and smoky, the perfect complement to everything else. In short, the pizza was fantastic.

Just for fun, another view, to illustrate the sunlight.

We only ate about a third of this too; those fries were very filling (and super damn tasty). And, as I mentioned above, we wanted to save room for dessert. And why is that?

Sunshine does soft serve ice cream, a honey and vanilla combination people have raved about all over the internet. You can order it with a magic shell chocolate topping or a hazelnut crunch, but we opted for plain. The conclusion? Excellent. The honey didn't overpower the vanilla, as it can sometimes, and the ice cream has a perfect creaminess. 

The entire meal cost us $32 plus tip, which for the amount of and quality of the food (hey, we had two more meals each out of it at home) we thought was a great deal. We will absolutely be returning to Sunshine and recommend it to friends.

Portland's Rhododendron Garden

The Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in Southeast Portland, not far from Reed College and just off the Eastmoreland Golf Course, was a common place for us to visit when I was growing up. Back then to us kids it was just "The Duck Pond," because that's where we would go to feed the ducks.

We'd stop by the Franz outlet store for a couple loaves of day-old bread (or week-old, I was never really clear on that...) and then go to this park to feed the flocks of ducks and mean geese. I'm sure it meant a decent chunk of time where the kids were entertained and Mom just had to keep an eye on whether or not we would fall in the lake, but we loved it. (By the way, as always, click on the picture for a larger version. Depending on your screen size and browser, you may be able to click it again to make it even larger.)

I remember there always being so many ducks, mostly mallards, with some big white geese bossing the ducks around and honking quite loudly. I remember having bread ripped from my hand by these geese and freaking me and my sister out, since they were bigger than us. I remember realizing years later it was called The Rhododendron Garden because there are literally hundreds of rhododendrons, and in late spring when they are all in bloom it's quite fantastic to see.

But then again, it's usually raining around here then, so we probably never went there when I was a kid and they were blooming.

My favorite childhood memory of this park has to do with a summer day. Maybe it was around the Fourth of July, maybe it was a family birthday party - not sure - but after a meal at grandma's house we loaded all the kids (me, my sister, my cousins) into cars and drove out to the garden with loads of bread. (This was years before we knew feeding ducks bread was a bad idea. Whoops. Sorry ducks from the past.)

I don't recall whose idea it was, but for some reason all of us kids thought it was a good idea to take off our shoes and socks, roll up our pants, and walk INTO the water in that top picture here. Now, generally, I don't think this is accepted practice and I would absolutely recommend parents don't let their kids do this for a variety of reasons, but we had a blast. I distinctly remember - I want to say I was eight or nine at the time - tripping on a rock and face planting in the water.

One of the many reasons to not do this is, as I mentioned, tons of ducks live here. The bottom of this pond is blanketed in a layer of sliminess which, really, should only be referred to as duck crap. And we slogged through, all around the pond, in bare feet.

It makes me nauseous just to think about it, but we had a blast. I'm pretty sure Mom did not have a blast getting us cleaned up to get back in the car; it was probably pretty nauseous for her too.

I remember the Garden being a raucous, kid-crazy place, but recent trips there have shown it has matured. It's a quiet, almost zen-like park now, filled with bird watchers, sketchers, photographers, and poets. Older couples - and young ones - stroll hand-in-hand, sitting silently to watch the water and the wildlife. Feeding the water fowl bread is frowned upon, but you can purchase acceptable bags of feed. And now you pay a fee to enter, $3 most days and most of the year, which I know wasn't around when I was little (no way we would have gone as often). Come to think of it, that's probably a big reason why it's quieter now.

And surprisingly the park is dog-friendly (on a short leash), so we have to go back and bring Misaki.

There are still plenty of animals and birds, along with flowers, so here's a sampling of what we saw on a late April trip to the park.

I think these are azaleas (rhododendrons weren't blooming yet). See the two colors? They were on the exact same branch.

New leaves on sword ferns, growing in the shade amongst the rhododendrons and under the pine trees.

And what do we have here? A nutria! It was still early morning, so this little guy was our foraging for some breakfast. He didn't seem to bothered by us, though still wary.

And then we saw another out, this one just out in a field. They are kind of cute, in a no-flat-tail beaver kind of way.

And here, of course, is a Canadian goose. I don't remember these from childhood, but there were quite a few Canadian goose couples there now. No little guys though.

Goose butts! Not really sure what they are doing when they do this. Getting food from below? Washing their heads? Gargling?

These two were just hanging out in the path. They watched us walk by, but weren't in a hurry to share the space.

Here is the mean gray goose I remember from my childhood (not to be confused with the much cooler Grey Goose). This guy was very cranky (maybe because he was alone?). In fact, he seemed so mean and old, maybe he WAS there when I was little.

See the bird here at the edge of the water? That's a blue heron. Wish I could have gotten a better picture, but this was on the opposite side of the lake and the best my camera could do. Time to upgrade.

This is a red-winged blackbird. They have a wonderful sound they make that I won't even attempt to put into words, but it's very melodic and distinctive. One of our favorite birds for sure.

These are red-winged blackbirds mating. At least, we think. The other bird was gray and they looked nothing alike, but per the link below the other red-winged blackbird picture could have been a female of the species. Or maybe it was a sparrow, we have no idea. Which brings up a good question: Do they know? Will they cross species? I need to know these things.

And this, my friends, is a double-crested cormorant. If any bird you ever come across reminds you of a dinosaur, it will be this one.

And we saw two! I had never seen ONE before.

This is your standard mallard duck. There are still plenty of these in the park, but I remember it being overrun by mallards when I was little. The shiny green/blue of their heads is still one of my favorite colors. (I also remember the disturbing-looking muscovy ducks, but haven't seen any of those around for a few years. They were cranky too - I always thought it had to do with their appearance.)

Duck butts! In tandem!

And here we have, in my mind, the most striking duck of all, the wood duck. I love the lines in his head, the long feathers over the back of his head, and the red eyes. Okay, perhaps they are kind of creepy too, but very, very pretty.

And here is another wood duck, posing just for us on land.

So there you go, a piece of my childhood. This is a great place to spend a couple hours wandering slowly on the grounds, taking time to enjoy nature. It's quiet, well maintained, and not very busy. We definitely need to go back and take the dog. Hopefully she doesn't try and eat a wood duck.