- September 20, 2024
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With a rare Friday and Saturday off from band gigs during the Memorial Day weekend, I spent much of my two-day mini-vacation with my wife Amy. Being home on a Friday and Saturday night also allowed me to assist my neighbors Jess and Nick Grise in their preparations for a cross-country move to Portland, Oregon.As fellow-dwellers in the Heron's Run apartment complex, we’ve known Jess and Nick for a couple years now, sharing conversations in the parking lot, chit-chatting when walking Mellie Dog and getting to know each other better with each passing discussion.
Exchanging music on occasion, Jess and Nick turned me on to their favorite band, South Culture on the Skids, and later Sallie Ford, while I hooked them up with some Rev. Horton Heat.
Over time, I learned that Nick was a highly-skilled mechanic, working in a supervisory mechanic’s role at SMR Farms, a large farm located east of I-75, founded by the family that once owned the Schlitz Brewery in Milwaukee.
With a degree in accounting and human resources, Jess worked at Suncoast Workforce.
Our neighborly friendship never evolved too far beyond the apartment complex perimeter in terms of the four of us going out together, but Jess and Nick would occasionally wander up to JR’s Old Packinghouse Café when I was playing there---and Nick was an OPC regular, often dropping by during his evening travels.
At a recent OPC gig, I invited Nick to join me afterwards for a couple beers at PT’s Sports Bar, a Detroit-themed neighborhood sports bar on Palmer Boulevard that we’d be passing on our way home.
It was around that time that Nick told me about their plans to move to Portland---a place they visited last summer and fell in love with, and a place they almost moved to before coming to Sarasota when they left the Columbus, Ohio area some years back.
Nick said he had a new job lined up at Gresham Transfer, in the city of Gresham, just east of the Portland city limits. News of the impending move heightened our budding friendship and increased my appreciation for our organic-minded neighbors in the building next door.
As the loading of the moving truck commenced Friday afternoon, Mellie and I dropped by every couple hours to see how things were progressing. Saturday morning I found myself joining the effort, hauling stuff down from their third-floor apartment as we helpers tried to get Jess and Nick and their three cats hit the road for their anticipated four or five-day journey.
When space in the truck became scarce, Nick offered Amy and me their CD rack, a sewing table and a funky barber chair-like stool that wasn’t going to make the cut.
Later that afternoon, assuming they would be leaving soon, we exchanged hugs and handshakes and said our farewells. I handed Nick two Blind Pilot CDs as a going-away gift, explaining that Blind Pilot is a Portland-based band that will be the support act for the Florida leg of the Dave Matthews Band Summer Tour that hits Tampa and West Palm Beach in July.
Later that night, when I took Mellie for her evening walk, I smiled when I saw the truck still sitting there. Nick and Jess soon arrived carrying another load of stuff, explaining that they were in dire need of rest and were now looking at a Sunday morning departure.Throughout the weekend, I found myself researching Portland online, curious about my friends' soon-to-be home, including the “Keep Portland Weird” movement bumper stickers I noticed on two of our other neighbors’ cars.
Having attended the recent walkability forum hosted by the City of Sarasota, I knew Portland was considered a model city in terms of walkability, bike paths, light rail and land use planning that limits urban sprawl and traffic congestion, making it one of the most environmentally-friendly cities in the United States.
I learned that Portland is known as “The City of Roses” because it is one of the nation’s foremost producers of the classic flower.
Located 70 miles east of the Pacific Ocean and across the Columbia River from Vancouver, Canada, the Portland map reveals numerous scenic gardens, parks and natural attractions.
In addition to Blind Pilot, Portland has produced many notable bands, including The Dandy Warhols, The Shins and The Decemberists.
Portland is also known for its coffeehouses, microbreweries and outdoor markets, making it a perfect place for two kind-hearted, neo-hippie, bike-riding vegetarians in their early thirties who will surely contribute to the Keep Portland Weird movement---a movement based on the Keep Austin (Texas) Weird movement that preceded it. Keep Portland Weird pertains to supporting local businesses in an effort to maintain Portland’s unique homegrown commercial and cultural feel.
Portland is also a rarity in its choice of city government, using the city commission governing style as opposed to more popular council/commission-city manager or the strong mayor forms of government.
The city commission style eliminates the city manager position and makes the elected mayor and each of the four at-large commissioners responsible for certain aspects of city operations, with a city auditor providing a system of checks and balances. In 2007, Portland voters rejected a proposal to switch to a strong mayor form of government.Before Jess and Nick finally hit the road early Sunday afternoon, I gave them one more CD: Ted Stevens and the Doo-Shots’ Dead End Drag Strip---so they’d have some Sarasota rockabilly to listen to while living in the Pacific Northwest.
Sunday, the cross-country travelers made it to Dalton, Georgia before stopping for the night. In the days that followed, Jess posted updates, commentary and photos on Facebook, providing a live travelogue of a transcontinental trek that took them through Atlanta, Chattanooga, St. Louis, the state of Nebraska and Green River, Wyoming along the way.
Thursday night, around 7 p.m. Florida time, Jess and Nick stopped at Subway for a late lunch/early dinner in Pocatello, Idaho, leaving them about 10 hours away from Portland and putting them on a pace to arrive in their new hometown at some point Friday.
Watching Jess and Nick embark on their excellent adventure has reinforced my desire to take my own cross-country road trip so I can cross that off the top of Joe on the Go’s travel bucket list. When we do, we'll definitely swing by Portland to visit our friends and former neighbors.
