I got the call that my father had been in a bad accident sometime around noon on Sunday. In the next few hours, Sally and I made arrangements to travel to Boise that evening, and we ate in the Laurelwood Brewpub in Concourse A at PDX on our way out of town. I enjoyed a fine IPA, which helped dull some of the anxiety that was rising in me.
Dad, it turns out, will probably be fine. There are a few asterisks and caveats, but it may well be that by August, he'll be roughly where he was a week ago.
Last night, I had my second beer of the trip, in the lobby bar of the Doubletree Riverside. (In what I consider a short-sighted gesture, the hospital cafeteria failed to offer beer.) It followed four grueling days of watching dad in the ICU, and man, was I ready for a frosty one. The Doubletree had four beers on tap: Fat Tire, Bud, Bud Light, and my choice, locally-brewed Table Rock WhiteBird Wheat. It was the same color and clarity as the Bud, and not much more interesting--very dry, and mildly wheaty, once I got the glass warmed up. Taking the phrase too literally, Boise's the kind of place where they serve you ice cold beer in a frosty glass. Ah well. When Cleveland collapsed in the fourth quarter, I decided to forgo a second.
It's great to be back. Boise, city of my birth and first fifteen years, has certain charms I suppose, but they're lost on me. Tonight I'll find a real beer.
Thanks again for all the nice comments, folks--
Glad to hear your pop's probably going to be ok. Welcome back to Beervana.
ReplyDeleteHope your Dad is on the mend and I wish him the best. It's pretty ironic that I just went through a very similar experience. Mom and Dad were on the way to Oregon for a visit and were in a serious car wreck and I traveled to Boise for a few days of worrying before I was able to get them home. My experience in Boise though was quite a bit different. I stayed in the Grove Hotel downtown and had nothing but good experiences finding lots of food options and when I finally came down from all the anxiety and was able to have a dinner with a couple beers I found a great selection of beers on tap including a local IPA that really hit the spot. My thoughts were that downtown Boise has a lot to offer in the way of food choices, all within walking distance of the hotel I was at and several places had good beer on tap. In addition I was liking the general cleanliness and upkeep of the downtown area. I found myself comparing it to downtown Portland and my thought was it had a lot of similarities but was much more cleaner, kept up, and did not have all the, for lack of a better term, freaks and bums, that litter every street corner of Portland. I for one was much more comfortable there and was impressed with so much to choose from considering you are in the interior west. Just my 2 cents.
ReplyDeleteSending positive thoughts for your father's complete recovery! Maybe he needs a good beer, too.
ReplyDeleteHey Jeff, I'm glad everything turned out all right. Cheers!
ReplyDelete