Old Home Weekend

Back in Winchester, VA, on the north side of the high school, we had a pretty cool neighborhood in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, a bunch of young couples busy raising families, getting together when we could, drinking wine and beer, listening to music, and just hanging out. And then life happened. I got divorced and moved across town to live with Ann. Chris and Perrin decided to head out west, first to Whitefish MT and then (after Ann and I had decided to retire to the Portland area) to Beaverton OR. Only Billy and Shawn stayed in the old neighborhood.

Now fast forward to 2017 when all our kids are grown and in college or beyond. Ann and I, we packed up and headed for Oregon ourselves, arriving on September 25 and staying temporarily in Yamhill for a couple of months before ultimately settling down in McMinnville. I hadn't seen Chris and Perrin in some years and Ann, though having spoken to Perrin on the phone, had never met her in the flesh. I was looking forward to the whirling vortex of craziness as the two of them got together for the first time. Many of our mutual friends consider the two of them virtual doppelgangers in exuberance and out-there-ness!

Just before we moved, as we were saying our goodbyes, Billy told me that he and Shawn were flying out to Portland the weekend after we arrived. Party time!

Before that, first a little about Chris and Perrin. Chris and I are from the same part of the world: Albemarle County, VA, near Charlottesville. He and I went to junior high school together and played on the same soccer team. Then I moved to Alabama for three years to finish high school before coming back to the University of Virginia, where who should I find living in my very same freshman dorm but Chris?

We lost touch after freshman year as we went our own ways, but fast forward another twenty or so years, after I had moved to Texas, Maryland, the DC metro area, and finally to Winchester, VA some 60 miles west of DC. At this point, I owned the restaurant and a friend told me that she had a friend who made chicken pot pies for her small business who was in need of a commercial kitchen in which to make her pies. So, long story short, I agreed that Perrin could rent my kitchen on Sundays, the one day that it was closed. At this point, I had no idea that she lived just yards away from me, my life being confined totally to the four walls of the restaurant.

Come the first Sunday morning and I am at the restaurant to show her the ropes and give her the key and alarm codes, putzing in my office when I hear the door chime sound. I walk out of the office and looking in the direction of front door, I do a double take in disbelief as I see Chris for the first time in maybe 25 years. At this point, I hadn't put together that he and Perrin had the same last name. And after that "Holy crap!" moment, we reconnected and now we find ourselves both living outside of Portland, Oregon.

So the six of us got together at the end of September at Chris and Perrin's house in Beaverton and pre-gamed it a bit before heading in to Portland to have lunch at Tasty n Alder. It was a circus there as we stuffed ourselves into the tiny bar area with 20 other people and kicked off the day with some decent Bloody Marys. Feeling no pain, we finally got seated after nearly an hour wait and then we proceeded to have an even better time at the table while eating lunch. Servers love tables like ours who come to have a good time and who want to try the entire menu. Our server was a good sport!

Billy, Ann, Shawn, Perrin, and Bloodies

Chris

Shawn, Perrin, and Ann

The Whole Crew with our Server

Lunch concluded mid-afternoon and we made our way back to Beaverton. We had to get back to Yamhill fairly quickly as we had the dogs in the house with no dog sitter. It turns out that Chris and Perrin's daughter Elizabeth, who is a runner in college up in Washington, had a cross-country meet down in Salem south of us the next morning, so we made plans for everyone to meet us at our house in Yamhill on their way back north to Beaverton. Ann and I wanted to take them to one of our favorite wineries in the Willamette Valley, Patton Valley.

Low-Budget Tasting Room,

Excellent Wine

Patton Valley's wines I carried on my restaurant wine list for about 15 years, so I knew them well and was happy to take our friends to see this unpretentious winery up on a hill north and slightly west of Gaston, OR in the very northern reaches of the Willamette Valley. While some wineries in the Valley are now Napa-style multi-million dollars show palaces, Patton Valley's tasting room is a wonderfully utilitarian space devoted to showcasing their excellent wines.

After doing a tasting, we headed outside the tasting room to sit in some Adirondack chairs and look out over the vineyards. It was the middle of harvest, so it was pretty busy in the winery behind us, with trailer loads of grapes arriving for processing.

Sitting out Back, Drinking 10-Acre

Monte and Shotgun, Scaring Starlings

Me and My Harem

It turned out that our visit to Patton Valley coincided with Ann's and my anniversary and these jokers picked up the bill behind my back as an anniversary present. Thank you very much! You are all great friends! But I will pay you back!