Fun and Fitness in Portland, Oregon

This past weekend, I was visiting my daughter and her wife in Portland, Oregon. Portland is a cool and beautiful city with glorious gardens, friendly people, and amazing restaurants. We always find a variety of activities to do in Portland. The only concern we have when traveling to Portland is how often we will find ourselves experiencing the Northwest rain! Many of my trips to this interesting city have found me wearing my raincoat while walking on the great urban trails, hiking in the Columbia River Gorge, and strolling through the Japanese garden. Since rain had been predicted for most of the weekend, I thought it might be wise to consider the different indoor and outdoor options for fitness during the weekend.

One of the best draws of Portland is their creative restaurants, particularly those with brunch. Breakfast and brunch are really popular here, and there are lines at most of the well-known spots. Our first morning found us at a place called Country Cat, where I had a delicious egg scramble with fresh veggies, and an amazing French toast. It was starting to sprinkle outside when I suggested that we go bowling. I could not remember the last time that I had been bowling, but I can tell you that paper score keeping was still utilized! Allison and Megan were much better than Rich and I at the beginning. While Rich did improve his score after a couple of frames, I was at least consistent! Despite my low scoring and poor form, I did really enjoy bowling, and would go again on a rainy day. This particular spot also had good beer, for which Portland is known. We went to several brew pubs while were were there. I even had one very unique stout called "Smore", which came with a toasted marshmallow!

We saw sunshine the second day of our trip, and we took advantage by being out and about most of the day. Brunch at a place called Tabor Tavern, a beer pub, was surprisingly good, with creative egg dishes and yummy breakfast cocktails.  I had one with elderberry syrup, honey, lavender and cava. I always enjoy starting the day with a cocktail when I am on vacation, and this one was perfect. Afterwards, we decided to go to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens, which are housed at Reed College. Fortunately for us, the blooms were at their absolute peak and it was truly a wondrous sight. I don't think I have ever seen so many perfect rhododendron specimens, including the gardens I visited in England. The consistent rain of the Northwest coast is perfect for most plants, and the gardens I have seen in Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver are the best, in my opinion. We visited a beer pub before dinner, and enjoyed our beer outside in bright sunshine! One thing about Portland residents is that they always take advantage of a sunny day - everyone is outside! After dinner, I suggested that we go to a karaoke bar for entertainment. The name of this one was "Chopsticks", and performers sang everything from MJ to Queen. It was hilarious, and next time I am in Portland, I am going to practice an MJ song to perform!

Our last day was a weather mix, but we did a lot of walking around anyway. Our daily brunch was at a Cajun style cafe, Dishes like the traditional shrimp and grits were on the menu along with fried chicken and beignets, a new take on fried chicken and waffles! We spent time walking in the Hawthorne area later in the afternoon. This area is full of vintage shops, book stores, and a great little doughnut shop called Blue Star. Portland's Voodoo Doughnuts has always been the gold standard for doughnuts, but this one is definitely giving it a challenge, which such tasty treats as "Blueberry Basil" and "Mexican Hot Chocolate". I had both of these, and did not regret the calories I consumed!

We had a great time in Portland, as is always the case. Great food, great drinks, and wonderful company make a fabulous trip. And we even managed to get in some exercise, both indoors and out!

Can't wait to go back in July!! Love you, Allison and Megan!!

Zumba Sentao - A different kind of zumba

Several months ago, one of the zumba instructors at my gym explained that she was adding a new class called Zumba Santao. This class, she explained, was a type of type of "toning". Although there were a few light dance moves, she said, you use a chair to help you do this! Although it sounded interesting, I did not think about adding it to my fitness schedule. For one thing, I love regular zumba and did not want to miss a dance class for a toning class. But I kept it in the back of my mind.

When I returned to Asheville, I decided to give Zumba Santao a try. When I arrived for the class, everyone had placed a chair in front of them. We started out the class by basically dancing around the chair, using some of our regular zumba moves to music. Slowly we started using the chair to be a base for us to do leg lifts, squats, balance moves, and even modified push-ups. Then the instructor would tell us to move the chair around so that we could do leg work on each side. I had never used a chair for toning exercises before, so this was a new experience for me. We also used the chair for our stretching session at end of the class.

I found  Zumba Santao to be intriguing, and challenging as well. The hardest part for me was learning when to place the chair in a different direction and being able to follow all of the instructor's unfamiliar moves. I went again and started to catch on to the routines. The last time I attended Zumba Sentao, I actually benefited from the stretching, as it helped to heal a lower back problem that I had noticed a couple of days before. I have been pain free in my lower back since attending Zumba Sentao, and that is always a plus for a toning/stretching class.

The class seems to be popular now, as the classroom is generally full at each session. Before I traveled to Hong Kong earlier this year, I researched zumba classes, and Zumba Sentao seemed to be everywhere!  As for me, I intend to keep going for the toning and stretching benefits. Who knew that a chair could be so useful in my fitness program! And it is fun as well - kind of a modern take on musical chairs, though no one loses their chair!

Fitness and Friendship: Tennis

I love tennis. I started playing as an adult and became addicted to it fairly quickly. I was living in Atlanta when I began playing. Atlanta is truly a paradise for tennis fanatics, with both local and national leagues available; you can always find an individual, team, or social tennis group in which to play. Several aspects of tennis really appealed to me. I like to run and tennis gave me the opportunity to run all over the court. Being outdoors was wonderful as well, as I relished the chance to enjoy nature while I was playing a match. But my favorite part of the tennis world was being on a team with other women. I had never played competitive sports and didn't really understand what being on a team meant until I played tennis.

Several friends and myself formed a team, and gradually we added women from group lessons at our tennis facility. We were at the beginner's level and started slowly. After many losses and few wins, we finally managed to become more successful. To our amazement, we actually made playoffs! Then we won our division, and received what was known in Atlanta as the coveted "bag tag". A bag tag was a tangible way of showing other teams that you were a winner. I was generally intimidated at the start of a match if the opposing team had tennis bags with numerous bag tags attached, as that meant they were probably going to give us a run for our money!

Through this experience, I practiced, took group lessons and played weekly doubles matches. But personally, I was never a great tennis player, my main problem being that I could not hit the ball! If I practiced 3 times a week, I was fairly consistent if the ball came right to me. But I was never a hard hitter, and often became frustrated as I saw my awesome teammates hit incredible shots. In spite of my ineptitude at hitting the ball, I played tennis for over 10 years! I continued to play when we moved to Asheville and even played a short time in Florida. I just couldn't give up the game, as it was so much fun to me!

Five years ago, I finally decided that because of my low skill level, I would get more exercise doing an hour of zumba class than playing several hours of doubles tennis. I couldn't keep the ball in play long enough to get a good workout. As much as I love dancing, I will admit that I miss tennis. The thing that I miss the most is my tennis friends. Friendships that I formed through tennis have lasted through the years. I still keep in touch with Atlanta tennis friends, and see friends socially from my Asheville tennis experience as well. Perhaps it is the experience of playing together on a team that makes these friendships special. But I know that if I had never played tennis, I would have never have met so many wonderful people that I still like!

I think that tennis is a terrific sport, and also one that you can play for many years. It always makes me happy to see men and women in their 70's and 80's on the tennis court and getting exercise. If you haven't tried it, maybe you should! You might find that you are pretty good at the game. Or you may just gain some cherished friendships in the process. My memories of the sport are special to me and I will never forget the early days when team members consoled one another after a loss, the striving to improve together as a team, and finally the victory celebrations! Sometimes after exercising at my gym, I will pass a tennis court and stop to watch people playing. I smile, thinking about my fun tennis experiences. Maybe I will ask them if they ever need a substitute player- you never know!

A Different Kind of Pie - Maple Lime Custard

I had wanted to try the "Maple Lime Custard Pie" out of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds cookbook for a long time. For one thing, we have a key lime tree in Florida, and I use the lime juice to make regular key lime pies. We had a bumper crop of key limes this year, so Rich juiced many of them and froze the juice, which traveled back with us to Asheville. So I decided that I was finally going to try this pie. If possible, I like to try fruit pies when the fruit is at least closely in season.

The recipe is fairly simple, using lime juice, cream, sour cream, and eggs, but the unusual ingredient is maple syrup. The cookbook authors explained that this adds a sweetness to the tart lime flavor. The crust is a pecan biscotti crust, that is basically pecans and lady fingers with butter. This part is made in advance and then refrigerated. In my opinion, the crust is actually the best part of this pie. I could make a dessert of it!

The pie has the usual key lime pie texture - creamy and smooth. However, the maple definitely adds a twist. Problem is that the twist is not exactly an improvement over the usual key lime pie, in my opinion. When my husband tasted this pie, he said "this pie has a very strange flavor". From this comment, I gathered that he wasn't exactly crazy about it. I thought it was sweetly tart and liked the biscotti crust, but wasn't sure that it was worth the calories. Also, unlike the other pies I have made from this book, it was not exactly a great looking pie. (I did not take a picture).That being said, I will admit that the pie is almost gone now! I guess even a pie that is not totally delectable is better than no pie at all, particularly when you are a dessert fanatic like myself, or like my husband and will eat anything in the fridge!