Beaches Report

Well this is my report from your favorite Restaurant in downtown Vancouver. I ate at Beaches tonight.

It’s really hot here in the Portland area today (about 96 degrees). Even so I sat outside on the patio overlooking the Columbia River. I really enjoy watching the boats and everyone playing on the river. It was so hot the poor birds were panting. I can’t say I knew they did that before today. They all had their little mouths open and some you could even see the deep breaths.

I should have taken my camera. I never have it when I want it the most. They have a pay phone up on posts out in the river with a sign to call in your order. Of course the phone is way too high and there is not enough room to pull a boat in. But it was one of those cute things I’ve never noticed before.

I had the Beaches House Salad which is wonderful. Then I had the Blackened Pork Chop with mixed grilled vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes.

I really like the waitresses at Beaches. They ask your name when you are there and from that point on they call you by name. I know they have to write this down somewhere to keep up with all the names each night. It’s just a really nice touch to the customer service. Then at the end of the meal they bring you a notepad with things people have written about the service they gave.

Beck this was a great suggestion you gave me all those months back.

A Day of Changes

Well it’s been a while since I’ve updated everyone on what’s going on in my life. So I’ll start off with where I’m at! I’m in Vancouver, WA again. This is one of my favorite areas of the USA. I really love the Portland/Vancouver area.

Monday was the day of changes. I flew from Myrtle Beach to Atlanta and we were pulling up to our gate D22 to park when they changed our gate on us to C36. I had it all planned out because I was supposed to depart from E33 and I could walk it from the D concourse. I got off the plane and confirmed my gate of E33 and then when I got to the train I thought you might need to look at this again. Good thing because they moved the gate to T6. So that’s on the opposite end of the airport so off I went to the new gate.

I got there and I looked at the plane and I knew it was much larger than the 757 I had picked my seats on. So I asked the agent and sure enough they had changed our aircraft to the larger plane. I asked to be moved to a window like I had booked and the system had already done it. This was a fantastic change because I had been upgraded to First Class and this is the type aircraft they send back and forth across the Atlantic. The seats lay back farther than my recliner at home. I would say about 80 degrees. To get to the seat back pocket in front of me I had to unbuckle and get up. I was loving life.

Monday I got up at 3AM Eastern time to start my journey. I got to Portland at 11AM Pacific. I headed to Multnomah Falls first thing (it’s one of my favorite things to see up here). I then went to my motel checked in and took a nap. About 3:30 PM I got up and headed north to meet a few friends for dinner half way to Seattle. We had a nice dinner then I came back to my room last night and got to bed about 20 hours after my day started.

Now I’m on a scavenger hunt for a Dove candy bar that my client gave me today after lunch. I put it somewhere and can’t find it. I looked all through my laptop bag and it’s not there. So I figure it’s in my jacket pocket down in the car in the garage. So I’m going to need to head down there and see if its there. I sure hope not because it’s plenty hot here and I’d hate to think it’s in my nice suit coat melting. Then again.. I do really want this chocolate bar. Darn that sweet tooth..


Beck – I’ll have dinner for you at Beaches tomorrow night..

Beck this post is for you… Beaches!

Well I told you I was going to go eat at your favorite place in Vancouver, WA this week. And that I did. It was a great suggestion and I’ll give you the blow by blow you wanted.

For those of you not familiar with this area there is a Restaurant called Beaches that sits right on the Columbia River. You can watch the boats going up and down the river as you are having your dinner. It’s a beautiful setting and the food is good too.

I walked in wearing my snazzy outfit with my PINK tie. Of course the hostess was right on that telling me how nice it looked. I reminded her it takes a real man to wear pink and pull it off. She assured me I did it. Least to say she won me over right there.

They sat me on the window where I had a beautiful view of the river. I guess I should have taken my camera in with me. Oh well I was not going to go back to the car and get it.

The waitress came to my table and the conversation went like this… Hey my name is Alisha what’s your name? I replied it was Bennie. From that point on she called me by name like a long lost friend.

I could not make up my mind what to eat so Alisha asked the types of food I liked. I told her anything that didn’t swim. Her suggestion was a Greek Chicken and a few other things. I picked the chicken and it was a really good pick. The sides were spaghetti squash with carrots and zucchini and garlic mashed potatoes. I was very pleased with the meal – Beck you were right it was great.

As I was eating the place got busy and the table next to me had a kid about 7ish. They brought him a kids meal in a sand bucket like you would have on the beach. The bucket was filled with toys to entertain him until his meal came. It was fun to watch his face light up and it worked he played quietly until his meal was delivered.

At the end of the meal Alisha delivered my check in a notebook. She asked me to write any comments in her notebook. She left this notebook with many customers and I read a few of the comments. It was something I have never seen done before but what a nice way to get feedback. Of course all of it was positive, so someday she will get to look back at these nuts that wrote in her book.

So Beck… That’s the blow by blow for you! Great suggestion too.

Home away from home...

I can already tell this is going to be a great week. The weather here in the Portland area is Sunny Skies mid to upper 70's. The trees and flowers are all in bloom. Hertz upgraded me to a Cadillac DTS and Hilton put me in my standing room (549).

Here are some pictures I took today. The tree below was at the hospital and greeted me when I drove in the parking lot.


When I checked in at the Hilton the kids were all playing in the water in the park across the street. All you can hear are joyous laughs and screams from excited kids.



Another picture of the park.

I love looking out at these trees from my room. Everyone is in the park today on blankets, reading books, having picnics. Seeing this you know that Spring is officially here.

The flowers in the park were stunning in the sunlight. I so love the tulips, and they have already faded at home. It was nice to see them again.

It may be a boring post... But it's so nice to see spring...