Mississippi evening marks the true start of summer in Portland.

There’s the calendar, then there’s the feel.  Friday night felt like summer, so did last night and this morning. 

N. Mississippi Avenue offers a few of the most vibrant blocks in Portland.  From about Skidmore to Freemont, the avenue is packed with restaurants, bars, ice cream shops and people on a summer night. 

This is a change from just two or three years ago.  The vacant condos have been sold, the storefronts have filled in, and some of the less successful operators have been replaced.  Now there is a density of attractive places.  We stopped for a beverage at Interurban, then grabbed food at the Koi Fusion food cart next to Prost!.  Prost! is smart enough to offer an attractive deck with stairs into the food cart pod, and it welcomes people with food from other places, so long as they buy booze from Prost!. 

From that north end, we meandered south, enjoying the warm evening, people watching, and, eventually, some really good ice cream from Ruby Jewel Scoops. 

Saturday morning found us relaxing on our deck with our coffee and tea.  Saturday evening, we joined an impromptu dinner at Gilt with 7 others before checking out the new wine bar called Remedy on the North Park Blocks.  So new, Remedy still had the faint smell of paint.  That commercial condo had been for sale for a while.  Remedy did a terrific job building it out to a very attractive setting.  We ended up at the McSordyl Condo, a/k/a “Party Party House.”

This morning, back on the deck with coffee, birds, flowers, clear skies and the forecast of (1) 90 degrees and (2) work on a Petition for Writ of Mandamus to the Oregon Supreme Court.  Because, after all, all play and no work would make Jeff a dull boy.