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Passing Lane, originally uploaded by Ed Karjala.

Another beautiful picture of Portland Head Light.

After settling in for a few weeks, one of the big items on our “to find” list was a gym (the other was a church, more on that in a later post). Unsurprisingly for a “large” metropolitan area, Portland offers a mix of franchise fitness centers and small local joints. I am a fairly regular gym-goer, working out 2-3 times per week usually, but She needs some additional motivation to put on the spandex and hit the treadmill. Thus, cost was a large factor in our decision. We’d like for Her to be able to work out when she wants, but paying for a full second membership is not particularly cost effective.

Thus, we selected the Black Card membership at Planet Fitness on Marginal Way in Portland. The location is very convenient at a short 3 mile drive around Back Cove. It’s just down the street from our grocery store, so I’ve been able to work out, shower at the gym, and do the groceries on the way back on a few occasions. The Black Card is nice because it allows me unlimited guest privileges (meaning She works out for free when she wants to go), and I can work out at any other PF in the country without paying a guest fee. There is also PF location in Westbrook, so if I’m ever out that way, I can work out without needing to drive all the way back to Portland (unlikely for someone who works from home, but hey, you never know).
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She and I have birthdays a day apart. I turn “just shy of 30″ today, and she turns “I’ve still got some time until I hit 30″ tomorrow. As our birthday gifts to each other, we’ve reservations at Fore Street for dinner tonight. This is one of the more difficult restaurants in Portland to get a table (unless you go as a walk-in at 5:00 and are ready to wait for several hours), and we’re excited. In 2002, Fore Street was named Number 16 in Gourmet Magazine’s Top Fifty Restaurants of the United States. In 2004, Chef-partner Sam Hayward was named Best Chef: Northeast by the James Beard Foundation, so expectations are high.

We’ve eaten at one of its sister restaurants, Street & Co., and were quite happy with the experience. There is no set menu, as the chef’s choose the best ingredients available on a given day to create the dinners for the evening, so we’re not really sure what to expect. Everything we’ve heard has been positiv, so we’re looking forward to it. You can be sure I’ll share our impressions in an upcoming post.

A few weeks ago She and I had the best lunch we’ve had so far in Portland at a tiny little place on Munjoy Hill (89 Congress Street) called The Blue Spoon. This tiny little restaurant (I think there were maybe 6-8 tables total) is an absolutely perfect place for an unpretentious meal. As we were there for lunch and not dinner, we could not try their most popular dish, roast chicken under a brick, but the sandwiches and salads we did have were wonderful. We certainly plan on getting over there again for dinner some time soon.

She and I went with another couple and everyone had a drink with lunch (hey, it was a Saturday). The ladies had prosecco, the other gentleman had a red wine, though I don’t recall which, and I had beer. We split an antipasti platter that ad some very good meats and cheeses, and each ordered an entree. My turkey sandwich was great with melted cheddar and provolone cheese. She had a goat cheese salad which was very well received. The other sandwiches, a hangar steak sandwich and a vegetarian sandwich featuring squash and apples (I think) were also excellent. All four of us were simply wowed by this little restaurant. Of course such good eats are not without a moderately large check (though we did have drinks), so I wouldn’t say this was an “eat there every day” sort of lunch stop, but for an occasional treat it can’t be beat.

For a recent “date night” She and I agreed that a hockey game might be fun. Having gone to a college where the hockey team was specifically blessed during our class convocation, I grew into a pretty big hockey fan. She and I had seen a handful of River Rats games while living near Albany, so the Portland Pirates, the AHL affiliate of the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks, was right up our alley.

We’d never been to the Cumberland County Civic Center before (having sold our tickets to a concert there when we learned the friends we were to go with couldn’t make it), so we were somewhat unsure of where to sit. She went down to the box office the day of the game and picked up a pair of tickets in Section G for $18 each (a dollar more than if we’d bought them in advance). These turned out to be pretty much perfect seats. We were high enough off the ice to have a great view of the action, the Pirates shot on the goal in front of us for the 1st, 3rd, and 4th (OT) periods, and yet we were close enough to be able to hear the players shouting to each other on the ice. Pretty cool. The game itself was pretty good. After trading pairs goals in regulation, Pirates center Andrew Ebbett scored the game winner on a 2-on-1 break in the first minute of OT, bringing everyone to their feet.

As far as something to do for a date, this was a pretty good one (if your S.O. likes hockey). We were able to park just down the street, across from Brian Baru, for $5. We got there early and had a few slices of pizza at Portland Pie Company before the game. The concession stands at the CCCC were typical stadium prices–we got a few Gritty’s Best Bitters for $5 each. Not bad, but then, who really likes beer in a 12 oz. plastic cup? All told the evening cost us about $60, including the pizza. If you’re a sports fan, especially a hockey fan, I’d highly recommend checking out the Pirates. You’ll be glad you did.