That Special Place

Everyone has places that evoke certain emotions or memories - places they want to go back to, places they will never go again.

I was turned off to Philly when my tour bus in high school drove through the ghetto on the way to downtown. All I have to say is whoa. About 10 seconds after the guide pointed out Temple University I had crossed them off my prospective college list.

Sorrento, a small town on the Mediterranean coast in Italy, south of Napoli, is a place I only spent a few hours but will always have fond memories of - the beach, the food, wow...

Las Vegas...don't get me started on Las Vegas. If I never set foot in that town again I'll be happy. And no, it has nothing to do with gambling, alcohol, or strippers - it's just a pit of hell.

I love Vancouver, British Columbia for the marina, the food, the natural surroundings - all of this despite getting a window broken in my car the first time I was there. That's saying a lot for the city.

We all have these places, whether we spent days in the place or merely were passing through. The places we talk about to our friends when our eyes suddenly start focusing just a little bit distant, reliving the smells, sights, and textures of our memories. They are never the same for everybody - Vegas can be my hell but it might be someone else's Nirvana.

So today's post is about a place I hold dear: Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Cannon Beach is a small town on the northern Oregon coast, pretty much straight West of Portland. It's about 70 miles on a mostly two-lane highway through the coast range and if I'm lucky with traffic I can get there in less than an hour and a half. It's one of those typical beach towns which has little industry to speak of other than tourism, which comes mainly from Portlanders getting out of town for the weekend.

That is to say, going during the week is best, because you have the town almost all to yourselves.
There is one main street through the town, filled with little artsy place, restaurants and cafes, tiny inns and bed and breakfasts, and a couple larger hotels. Everything is walking distance to the wide, soft, sandy beach. For those of you who have never been to the Oregon coast, it really does have some of the best sand I have ever experienced. It's very finely ground from millenia of being ground by the Pacific waters - which, I must say, are ice-freaking-cold - and is great between your toes. You know, unlike those pebbles they call sand in Hawaii...but they have warm water, so I'll forgive them.

The main attraction is something we call Haystack Rock. It's right off the beach, a short walk from the "downtown" area. And while it looks very cool, the reality is it's just a big rock that happens to look like a haystack (although, you might never say that unless someone told you it did). It's also a haven for birds - like puffins, which I had no idea we even had until last week - and the base of the rock is full of tidepools, replete with a menagerie of starfish, mussels, sea anenomes, and tiny, tiny fish.

The beach itself is miles long and wider than the length of a football field, so it's not one of those skinny ones like in Hawaii or Florida. (Again, cold water...) There is plenty of room for people to spread out, even on the busiest of weekends - not that they do...if you take the time to walk a quarter mile either way from the main beach access points you will have the beach to yourself.

Like with all parts of the Oregon coast, the weather can be spotty. It's hopeless to plan something dependent on the weather more than a day or two in advance because chances are it will end up foggy and a possibly a tad wet (more on that later). However, unlike a lot of the coastal towns Cannon Beach rarely is super windy, which can make some areas on our beautiful coast miserable.

If you drive out from Portland, get up early. That ensures you get a parking spot, which is really the main reason. We usually leave by 8am if we are driving out - if you leave at 10 you won't get there until noon and parking will be just about impossible.

There are quite a few places for food, but honestly very few of them are any good. Mo's is there, at the south end of town, and we used to eat there every time we went. They are known for their chowder and various other seafoods, but to be real honest I can't stand their food anymore. It might be a product of my tastes changing and becoming more refined - I can blame that chowder place in Pike Place Market in Seattle - or they could just be going downhill.

We've eaten at just about every place in town and while none of the eateries are horrible, or even bad, they sure aren't worth a special trip - or the cost that goes along with a meal at the beach.

Cannon Beach is the home of Sleepy Monk Coffee, a small roaster that also has it's own store. This place I like, but interestingly enough I think other places that use their coffee actually make better mochas and the like with it (kind of like Stumptown in Portland).

The main place is Waves of Grain Bakery. We always park at the Tolovana Wayside parking lot, which has beach access (and where Mo's sits on the beach). Usually our first stop - you know, after using the facilities post-drive - is to walk the two blocks here, get a mocha, and see what they have in the case for fresh goodies. The coffee is good and usually there isn't much of a wait (though we were 10 deep last week), plus the bakery has a nice variety of cookies, tarts, breads, and all the fun stuff you find in a bakery.

Besides, isn't that half the fun of going to the beach - eating junk food? It always has been part of my beach experiences since I was little, mainly ice cream, caramel corn, and saltwater taffy. However, little boy tastes grow up - now I need complicated pastries and high quality caffeine, preferably with chocolate mixed in to both.

Waves of Grain is not the best bakery in the world, but it's absolutely the best one in Cannon Beach and it's better than the vast majority of what's out there.

So, you might be thinking, what do I like about it so much? The weather is iffy, the sights aren't super great, the food is only so-so....how is this a special place?

Well, to be honest, it's difficult to quantify. Part of it is the location. The quickest places to get to on the coast are here and Seaside, and since we don't want to be around a bunch of kids, Seaside is bad. Convenience is a good thing - and the drive is nice, going through the Cascade mountains and forests.

But it can't be all about the places and convenience and things like that - more of it is about the experiences you have, the people you are with and what you do and remember about the place.

Cannon Beach was the first beach trip my wife and I took. It's the place where we have taken Ruby for long walks on the beach (though not at sunset, that's cold). It's the place we have walked hand-in-hand talking about all things - big things like our futures, our dreams, and small things like what movie we want to watch next. It's that place where the rest of the world doesn't matter, at least for a few hours. For someone who carries a phone with email so people can get in touch with me all the time, it's nice to just ignore it for awhile to enjoy some quiet time with my beautiful wife in a beautiful setting.

We've walked the beach countless times, looking back inland at some of the amazing houses that line the coast, filled with windows for magnificent sunset views, and picked out our favorites. We've criticized others, noting what changes we would make to make it more suitable to our tastes. You know, if we had that kind of scratch.

And we stop at the rock and look around the tide pools every time when the tide is out, even though they are usually the same. Why? Because you never know when you will see something different or figure out something new (Oregon has puffins?!).

Cannon Beach is also where I proposed to my wife over five years ago. I couldn't think of anywhere else more appropriate, given our love for beaches and all the good times we had had there.

I had planned the little trip for a couple weeks, which, if you remember from above, is not a smart thing to do for the Oregon coast. And no, I wasn't going to shift my plans because of the weather. I was hoping it would be a surprise (which, of course, it wasn't - she figured it out :) ), but we walked out towards the north end of the beach, in the foggy, damp afternoon, and I proposed, she said yes, all that good stuff.

It's just one of the many great memories we have of this small town, and it's one of the millions of reasons we keep going back, and will continue to go back, probably forever.

See, that special place doesn't have to be perfect. The food doesn't have to be perfect, the surroundings don't have to be perfect, the weather doesn't have to be perfect - though all of that could help to be sure - it just has to give you a good feeling, raise your spirits, bring a smile to your mouth. It has to give you that faraway look in your eyes when you talk about it, the one that lets your listener know you are reliving past good memories as you speak.

For me - for us - Cannon Beach is that place.

This and That - While Loving Air Conditioning

Funny - I just got an email from a friend who lives in the Phoenix area, telling me he feels sorry for me. Why? Because the Northwest is getting hit by heat the likes that has never been recorded. Oh, and he'd like me to note it's supposed to be 114 in his fair town today.

And he feels sorry for Portland?!

Well, there is no other way to put - it sucks in Portland right now.

Monday was 103 - broke the record for that date.

Monday's overnight low was 74 - broke the all-time record for any date.

Tuesday was 106 - broke the record for that date (was "only" 101).

Tuesday night's overnight low was projected to be 75 - yep, another record. (Apparently it only got to 71...oh well.)

Today (Wed) was originally projected to be 108, but has dropped to 107. 107 would break the record for the date, but 108 would be the hottest Portland temperature ever recorded. (The actual temp only reached 106 - how sad! I have to deal with this hell and we don't even get an all-time record for it?! Hell, 107 was the day's record, so we hit 106 and got nothing but misery...)

If current models hold true Portland will be over 90 degrees through Monday or Tuesday, which would be a string of nine or 10 straight days. Only once in recorded history has Portland had a string of eight such days.

And in other news, it was 126 in my attic yesterday. I think that's a record - though I might have to update that this evening based on today's heat.

I think it's safe to say I'm happy the air conditioning was fixed last week. Even though it is functioning perfectly now, it's just too damn hot. I was getting worried when my downstairs was 78 last evening (instead of the set temp of 74), but the cold air was blowing. It's just too damn hot outside for the air conditioner to keep up. Thankfully once the sun went down the temperature inside the house started to decrease as well. At 9pm last night it was 87 upstairs in the office. Fun times.

I'm blowing the max AC in my car on the way to work. At 7am. That's insane.

My mother-in-law is staying with us through this heat wave because her house doesn't have air conditioning. She went home to water some plants last evening and her thermostat registered 88 - on the lower floor of the house.

Yep, it's a scorcher. In the words of the weatherman: "This will be the kind of heat wave you tell your grandkids about."

Well, I won't be telling MY grandkids...I think you need kids for that to happen, if I remember correctly. I could be the old guy telling someone else's random kids at the park...but that probably has no good outcome. Plus, what kids care about weather anyway?!

There is one good thing about being stuck at home because walking outside - even to the car - has me dripping sweat off the end of my nose, and that's getting caught up on my favorite kind of pursuits. That's right, the sedentary kind!

What I'm Reading: Just finished up Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue. While to most people a history of the English language and how it got that way doesn't seem that exciting, it was actually really interesting to find out how words came to be, and how they morphed over the years. Plus, Bryson can make just about anything interesting, and he can make the normally interesting hilarious. If you have never read him before, check out A Walk in the Woods or The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Or any of his other books - you can't go wrong.

Next up is Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour - based around his first television series on The Food Network. Two chapters in and I'm loving, just like all his other books. Interestingly enough, I never saw this show but it apparently has no life at all on DVD, possibly because of how much he disparages the Food Network. No Reservations - one of the best shows on TV - is all over the place, but not A Cook's Tour. If you like Bourdain's show you must read Kitchen Confidential.

Oh, and after that, who knows? I have some newer books I'm on the waitlist for at the library, plus the 50 or so of my own books I haven't read yet.

What I'm Watching: We watched Revolutionary Road on Blu-Ray last week, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett. It was a pretty well done movie - the acting was good - but I just didn't find the story all that enthralling. Horribly depressing yes, and I can see the pathos in the characters, but that doesn't mean the story is automatically a must-watch. The movie we watched before that was The Reader, a movie that was acted just as well but the story was more compelling. Yes, apparently it was a Kate Winslett phase.

Netflix has since sent us The Watchmen, but we haven't carved out 3+ hours to watch it yet.

On TV we are watching the aformentioned No Reservations and America's Got Talent, plus Mental and Better Off Ted. Superstars - lame but oddly compelling - and the Terrell Owens Show are being grabbed by the DVR as well.

Maybe by the end of the summer we'll get to some of the HBO shows we have on DVD...The Wire? Entourage? The Sopranos? Have Season 1 of all of them (and Season 2 of The Wire), we just haven't gotten to them yet.

Maybe I need to take a vacation to catch up. :)

We also tried a couple of food places last weekend, neither of which merit their own post. We drove west out Baseline Road towards Hillsboro from a place we stop at regularly - more on the Mutt at some later date - and found a coffee place called Insomnia and a pizza place called La Bella Vita.

Insomnia was fine - got a mocha, my staple - but nothing special. They serve Sleepy Monk Coffee, which can be found in Cannon Beach, OR, and they do a decent job of it - it's just not special enough for me to go out of my way for it. Also, we picked up a cookie as well, one of the fresh baked goods they carry (from a local place whose name escapes me now). It was, well, not that great. Wifey can do a better job with her eyes closed.

At La Bella Vita we picked up a personal sized BBQ chicken pizza. It was mid afternoon on a hot day, but it was also completely dead. I mean completely - as in no one else in the place. I think our purchase barely justified paying the two employees working for the time it took our pizza to cook. If you click on the link you can see users on Yelp loved the place, but we weren't that sold. The crust was good - nice taste, good thickness - but it wasn't better than Pizza Schmizza, another local chain. The toppings were solid, but it wasn't as good as Pizzicato. Both of those places are closer to my house, so you can see where I'm going with this. Plus, neither of those places get better than three stars our of five for me, so that must mean La Bella Vita gets a max of two.

And yes, you should get a taste of what comes out of the home oven - we actually made pizza on Monday, and it was roughly a hundred times better with homemade crust, high quality meats and cheeses, and fresh veggies.

So if you happen to be driving by and need pizza or coffee these two places aren't terrible, but there is little reason to make a special trip.

Mirror, Mirror - In My Glass

If you have been paying attention you know by know that the Black Butte Porter XXI from Deschutes Brewing is probably my favorite beer of all time. When I first picked that up at the store (everyone with me now - "For $12!!!") there were actually two reserve beers from Deschutes, the other being called Mirror Mirror (yes, also $12).

So I had bought one of those as well.

For those unfamiliar with Deschutes, Mirror Pond Pale Ale is just that - a crisp, clean ale that goes great with just about anything. Mirror Mirror is an aged barleywine based on the Mirror Pond recipe. But while Mirror Pond is crisp and clear, Mirror Mirror seems to have lost a little bit in translation.

By doubling the malt and adding in flavors of raisin and citrus - which I didn't find at all - Mirror Pond has been completely lost. Instead what Deschutes Brewery created was a heavy amber ale. Now, perhaps this is what they intended, but my point of contention is it has very little resemblance to the recipe it's based on.

That's not good or bad, just perhaps a bit unexpected.

Whereas BBP XXI took all the good things about Black Butte Porter - the chocolate and coffee tastes, for sure - and embraced them, strengthening them proportionately for an amazing taste sensation, one would be extremely hard-pressed to find Mirror Pond in Mirror Mirror.

Well, at least, my taste buds couldn't see it. To me this special $12 beer really just taste like a heavy amber, something like a McTarnahan's or even Hammerhead from McMenamin's. That is to say, it didn't taste special, it tasted like an overly strong version of a couple beers I do like, and it sure wasn't worth $12.

Oh well, now I know - and I have three more bottles of BBP XXI waiting in my cupboard, so it's not all bad.

Amazing When You Think About It

I'm not against anyone making a buck, and I'm not against anyone protecting themselves in order to make that buck, but if there is one thing I simply don't understand it's the business of doctors and medical insurance.

I mean, I understand the concept of insurance. For my car, if I crack my windshield I take it in to get it fixed, pay the $500 deductible, and everything above that insurance covers. I pay $850 a year for this service, which I think I have used once in 15 years of driving. I understand why I keep doing it as well - besides the fact it's a legal requirement; the one time something bad happens, you want the insurance.

See? Auto insurance is black and white. I cover x amount, the insurer covers the rest. Homeowner's insurance is the same way. It's up to me to decide if I want to make that claim or not, because of how it could impact my rates - which is another whole joke in and of itself.

But the business of medicine is not so clear.

Here's an example, taken from what happened to me a couple weeks ago when I stabbed myself with a steak knife. I paid a co-pay amount of $75 for that ER visit. I fully expected I'd have to pay a little more, but I had no idea how much. Well, now I know - another almost $700!!!

Trust me, when I opened the explanation of benefits from my insurer I just about went through the roof. Seriously, what the hell for? What exactly did anyone do that was worth $700? Let me walk through this.

1 - I entered the ER and spoke to the sign-in nurse (or whatever they call them), who put me on the list. I then waited for a bit.

2 - Then I got called to see a triage nurse (might have been a doctor, I don't know, but I doubt it), who checked the wound to make sure it wasn't bleeding all over the place, gave it a new wrap, checked my blood pressure, and asked a couple questions. I then waited some more.

3 - I talked to the billing/insurance person, so they could get that information into the computer system. Then I waited some more.

4 - I was taken back to an actual room by another nurse. Then I waited some more.

5 - Still another nurse came by and asked a few questions, promising a doctor would be in soon. She then gives me a tetanus/whooping cough shot, because I couldn't recall when the last time was I had one. I waited some more.

6 - I finally get to see a doctor, who when I tell her I have no primary care physician (my insurance doesn't require one and I very, very rarely go to the doctor) tries to sell me on her practice, because she doesn't actually work at the hospital. She then, using her finger, applies pressure to my cut finger from various directions, presumably to make sure there is no ligament or nerve damage. She then proclaims that I don't need stitches, another nurse will come to clean it, and I should be good to go. She then explains about the tetanus/whooping cough shot and says I should have it. I mentioned I already got it. And she gives me her card, for her actual practice. I then wait some more.

7 - The nurse from point 5 comes back with a puke bucket (the U-ring things), fills it with a mixture of iodine and alcohol, and asks me to keep the finger in it for five minutes.

8 - 10 minutes later she comes back, wipes my hand all up, and wraps it in a bandage. At this point I am free to go.

As far as I can tell there was maybe 20 minutes total of a nurse's time, 5 minutes at best of a doctor's time, 10 minutes of administrative work, some bandages, a shot, some iodine and alcohol, and that's pretty much it.

That's $700+? Really?! On what planet?And they call Microsoft a monopoly? I had no other options, not after 8pm (when all the Urgent Care facilities are closed) and on a Sunday (when they aren't open at all anyway). My only choice was the ER, or deal with it myself. Sure they have to pay for malpractice insurance and all that, but I'm literally blown away.

I understand why insurance didn't cover it - I'm a sickeningly healthy person and I never get to my annual deductible, so according to my plan that's it. But just because I understand it doesn't mean I have to accept it as being okay. I mean, I have no choice but to accept and pay it, but I won't like it.

I can't fault the insurance company. I have choices at work with my medical plan - that's the one I chose. Presumably after I hit the deductible having this particular plan will be a good thing. That doesn't make it any more logical or easier for me to digest.

So the question must come - if I had known how much it would have cost, would that have changed what I did at all? I mean, I did have a bloody finger and all, right?

I think it would have, for sure. I would have waited longer before deciding to go to the hospital, though hopefully not too long. By the time I sat in the car the wooziness was all gone, and by the time the triage nurse checked me out the bleeding had stopped. Presumably I could have cleaned it out with iodine and alcohol at home, wrapped it up with Wifey's help, and been good to go. That may have cost me $20 for supplies at Rite-Aid, if that.

Next time I'll just go sit in the car and wait for it to stop bleeding. That way if I pass out or something, Wifey can just drive to the hospital without having to hoist my heavy ass into the car (down some stairs - I'm heavy). Or have to call an ambulance - I'm sure that would be cheap.

And this kind of thing isn't my only gripe with the business of medicine. Did you know when you go see a doctor, the last person you should talk to about cost is the doctor? They have literally no concept of how much their own procedures bill at. In fact, depending on where you go no one in the office might know.

I went to see a nutritionist a couple months back at the Portland Clinic. This was entirely elective on my part, and I knew my insurance wasn't going to cover it. When I made the appointment I asked for a ballpark figure on how much this would cost. "About $100 or so?" I asked. I got a general affirmative.

I thought at that price the visit would be worth it, just to see from an expert's point of view if I was on the right track with making changes I need to make, or if maybe there was something glaring I was missing. Truthfully, it was nice to hear I was on the right track, but the whole visit was somewhat disappointing because I had learned everything I was doing correctly from the internet. (There's a tip right there dear reader - research, research, research!)

Still, I had decided $100 was worth the confirmation, whether I was overly pleased with the results or not. So imgaine my, ahem, dismay when I got the bill and it was $240. Perhaps dismay isn't the right term - I tend to prefer more colorful terms, but Mom might read this, and she thinks I'm her little angel. Or so I think she does - maybe she's wised up.

So I called up the Portland Clinic just to see what the deal was. The woman I talked to in billing asked me where I got the about $100 information, so I explained it to her. The response? "They're not supposed to give out billing information, because they don't know." Oh really? Well, perhaps then, that person should know what they are and are not supposed to do, and directed my inquiry to the appropriate party, which it turns out had some group name I have never heard of, nor can I recall it now.

So there I am on the phone, utterly flummoxed (that word needs a comeback!). I told her if I had known it would cost that much I probably never would have booked the appointment - that's why I asked for a dollar amount in the first place. I didn't bring up the fact I got little or nothing out of it - figured that's not their problem, that's mine.

So what are my options? She said I could file a complaint (they call it something else - again, that's not important to me) and she could mail me out a form. So I said sure.

I got the form a couple days later, filled it out with all the same information I have here, and mailed it back. That was two weeks ago and I haven't heard a word. But, in the meantime, I did get a second bill, so that's fun. This most recent bill still had me in the 30 days window, so I'll ignore it. I don't have to really worry until it gets to 90 days anyway.

The money isn't really the issue here, though I think it sucks I have to spend this much. My really issue is with being misled and being given bad information, which in turn led to my making an apparently misinformed decision. And for that mistake - which is not my own - I now have a $240 bill I'll probably end up paying anyway, because I have little faith the Portland Clinic will make any changes whatsoever.

Fun times. This is another reason I never go to the doctor.

Doctors are fine - having doctors is a blessing, because the human body is so infinitely fragile it's a wonder we make it through the day if you think about it, with the weakness of our skins and how easily a bone can break or a tendon can snap. Nurses too. They very rarely are as upbeat as they are on TV, but they absolutely know their stuff and they want to make sure you get fixed.

But this business of medicine? It's legitimately fucked up. (Sorry Mom.) I don't know if nationalized healthcare is the ultimate answer, but it has to be a step in the right direction. And if in doing so we can get rid of some of these ridiculous layers of cost, I'll be happy.

Feeling Simpatica...

I tried to come up with a snazzy title for this post based on the subject, but I'm just not feeling that creative today - so this is a play on the Italian word simpatico, which means friendly, sympathetic, in synch with one another, et cetera. It's basically a catch-all for good vibes.

Which, once I think about it, makes a ton of sense for the latest restaurant we visited. The subject is Simpatica, a caterer and dining Hall in southeast Portland. This place had come to our attention through various food blogs and websites, but to be honest it scared us a little. It's a place where you make a reservation and pay your fee for a set menu - if you don't like something, too bad, don't come.

It's ironic that's a bit imposing to me as a diner, because if I ran a restaurant that would be 100% ideal.

Simpatica is a caterer in the daytime and this one-menu style of restaurant on Friday and Saturday nights (reservations required), then open from 9-2 for brunch on Sundays (no reservations unless you are 8 or more in your group).

It's kind of a crazy setup, but it's apparently not that uncommon - other Portland restaurants (like Beast to name one) follow roughly this same format.

It's an odd way to get into a restaurant too - very cloak and dagger. First you can call for a reservation or send an email. If no one answers, you leave a message. Then someone calls you (in both cases) and you give them your credit card number for your party, essentially holding your spots. If you don't show up they charge you, but will give you a gift certificate for the cost.

The cost is also variable, depending on the menu.

Some of the menus in the past have been very exotic and we aren't necessarily exotic eaters, though we are expanding our horizons. No tripe or other untraditional meat items for us just yet...

Last Friday the menu looked simple, yet tasty. Three courses, $30: a salad, their signature cheeseburger, and then brownies and ice cream for dessert. This seemed like a good time to jump in with both feet to this style of dining, and the price wasn't too bad. So we made reservations.

We were told to show up between 7 and 7:30pm, so we of course got there are 6:45. After wasting some time listening to tunes in the car we walked in and happened to be the first ones there.

The dining hall is not a large place by any means - if full it may hold 40 people. This was not a full night and there ended up being only 19 of us. The tables are a mix of picnic table style and regular dinner tables, but grouped together to give a community feel. Part of the kitchen is open to the dining area so you can see in if you have the right angle from your seat (we did not). There is a mix of concrete and black and white brush paintings on the wall, with reserved lighting to give it a slightly modern but still homey feel.

Starving, I ordered a Black Butte Porter to take the edge off. While we didn't order any, Simpatica seemed to have a pretty decent wine list as well as a few beers and a couple non-alcoholic drinks.

Before the food was served the chef came out and explained the menu a bit, telling us where certain items came from and some of the thoughts behind the planning of the courses. I suppose it was interesting a bit, but to be real honest my stomach was caving in - bring the food!

The first course was a Romaine salad with green goddess dressing topped with local Dungeness crab. I have to admit, this was one of the best salads I have ever had. The crab added some nice saltiness to the leaves. I had also never had that dressing before, but I'm looking for a recipe.

The main course came out next. Served on a nice roll, the burger was a good size and came medium rare. For me that's nice, but Wifey likes her's cooked a little more. They were accomodating - we asked when we came in if we could get it medium well and hers came our perfect for her. We struggled with whether or not to ask - the last thing you want to do is annoy the chef by asking for something special, especially a change to his creation and how he wants it presented, and especially in a place like this where the menu is set. Still they did it and did it well.

The burger came with housemade bacon (thick and excellent), aioli on the side (creamy and yummy), zucchini pickles (honestly, couldn't tell the difference or even really taste them), and aged white cheddar. The cheddar as very good so we asked where it came from. Turns out it's a Wisconsin cheddar that is cave-aged locally, but not available to the general public - some brand I have forgotten. I tend to do that with things I can't have.

It also came with fresh french fries on the side - not too crispy, not soggy at all. Just right.

By the way, we thought about taking pictures, but in that group environment I felt a little weird doing that. Maybe if we had our own table. Or maybe I just need to get over myself. Maybe next time.

By this time I'm getting full - and Wifey only ate about half her burger and she's full too - but dessert was coming. And it was fabulous.

Two triangles of a chocolate brownie - which we think was flourless, but weren't told that - served with wild strawberry ice cream they made on site. I'm not exactly sure what made the strawberries wild, but they were pretty damn good with big chunks of berry mixed with a very creamy vanilla ice cream.

I'll be honest here - it was very good, but I think either there was too much brownie or not enough ice cream. I must be getting old to be complaining about dessert, but I could honestly have gone for slightly more salad and half the amount of brownie.

Not that I needed more food or anything - I rolled out of there. Hard to do upstairs - getting out of the building was tough.

I will say, that was the best burger I have had in a long-time and we had a great time. Will we go back? Absolutely. In fact, our next brunch may be right back there. It's a nice place for a group of people because of the atmosphere too.

Though, it will be a couple weeks at least. The two pounds I gained overnight need to come off first - and take some of their new friends with them.