In the Portland airport now, heading home after a wonderful weekend. Too many highlights to mention, so here are the highlights of the highlights:

Meeting, at long last, Harry Shearer.

Learning book signing etiquette from Wes Stacey, aka John Wesley Harding.

Hanging out backstage with the “Faces Made for Radio” players at LiveWire, and eating terrific chili puffs made by one of the castmembers’ mother.

The lamb flatbread at Clyde Commons, the oyster hash at Bijou Cafe, the apple fritter at Voodoo Doughnuts.

Meeting Dewey Kelly, winemaker, at his studio-winery in the Willamette Valley, drinking his grappa, eating his wife’s fantastic finger foods.

And: bringing my wife to Mary’s Club, the nicest strip club in the world, which is mentioned (lovingly) in a footnote in The Book of Vice. The hostess, one of the all-woman staff (and who looked and acted far more like a barista at a neighborhood organic coffee bar than a hostess at a strip club) sat and told us the history of the club, pointed out that all the women working (excepting her, and the strippers) were relatives of the club’s recently deceased, but still beloved owner, told us all about the all-staff picnics and cheerful working conditions, and generally treated us like old friends. Best of all, perhaps — if you read the book (specifically, the footnote about Mary’s) you’ll be as thrilled as I am to know that the very same stripper we saw on that night five years ago was on stage again — a little older, a little heavier, but unmistakably her. We came at a good time.

Many thanks to all of you who sent in tips for where to go/what to eat, here and on Facebook. We didn’t get to do everything, but we loved everything we did.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Appearances. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.