Can't afford Hawaii? Then head to the Alibi !

"Mom and me doing an interpretive dance suggesting our love of tiki bars"

Whenever I have had friends visit, they often remark about my ability to find drinking establishments that have lots of....well, "character", for lack of a better word. What can I say, it's a gift.

Now, with friends, I can really stretch my legs, taking them to the ends of the temporal planes, to dive bars that haven't seen a cleaning since the Johnson administration, pushing the very limits of time, space, and alcohol. But with parents....well a modicom of tasteful discression is required. Don't get me wrong, my folks are cool...they like to tip a few as much as the next (probably more than the next :) but it takes subtle art to keep my reputation intact without offending their midwest sensibilities.

My folks came out for a few days to see me off and since they have been here before and seen the many sights, we basically hung out and shot the bull for five days....and went to alot of gardens (HEY! it is springtime in Portland after all). I took them to some of the cool places I go but I really needed a capstone on their visit, so off we went into the wilds of North Portland and arrived at 'The Alibi'. Alibi is a tiki lounge/restaurant that has kareoke at night and plays nothing but big band music during the day. My folks loved it!

My dad says it reminded him of the bars he used to go to when he was young and my mom loved the music. We talked about their time growing up at the tail end of the depression and through WW2. It never ceases to amaze me. Older people have such a wealth of knowledge and perspective that we younger folks often lack. If they apply their wisdom without bitterness, those experiences can be a wellspring of information that transcends generations.

I'm so very thankful for my parents and all their support throughout the years for their "Wild Goose".

All the Best,

John