The street was deserted, but the burger joint was jumping!

Eric was looking through the blog the other day and asked, "Honey, why don't you blog about our dates anymore?  People are going to think I don't take you out."  Good question.  We'd certainly been on dates.  Lots of dates.  After giving it some thought, I decided it was because, a) a lot of our dates, while fun for us, were probably not too interesting for people to read about; b) there were other topics to write about that I found more interesting to blog on; and c) I had gotten a little lazy.  So, last Saturday we went on a date and I was determined to blog about it. 

 
The famous Helvetia Tavern.  (They only serve RC Cola...who knew they even still make that stuff?)

Eric has been telling me for years that he'd like to go to the Helvetia Tavern with me.  The HT is a "Portland Must-do" according to many, and I had never done.  Since we were going to be driving all the way out to Helvetia from the 'Couv, we decided we'd go a little further to visit the "Street of Affordable Homes" in Forest Grove as well.

I had to laugh at the name of the event.  I've been to the Street of Dreams....I guess this was the Street of  "c'mon, get real you can never afford those luxury homes...you my friend need a dose of reality."  We arrived about 5:00 pm, since we had read they were doing wine tastings from local wineries from 4 to 6.  We bought our tickets passed through the gates and saw....not a soul (except for the wine people and food vendors).  I guess reality isn't a big draw these days.

Oh, well, we walked to the end of the street and sat down to sample wines from Ardiri vineyards.  They just opened this year, and have a beautiful tasting room.  The wine was pretty good, but the appetizers promised in the ads were no where to be found, so we bought a couple bags of frito's from the food vendors.  Wine and Frito's...not a bad combination.

Wine and Frito's...now that's class!

Next we toured the homes.  Nice, but nothing too outstanding (reality check again).  Two of the homes had casitas -  detached guest suites for guests, elderly parents, or those grown children who keep coming back to the nest.  Great idea, and one was even wheelchair accessible.

One house had a really cool fireplace in the great room.  It was backed with glass on both sides and opened to the covered patio in back...loved it. 

 
See through fireplace from the inside....

 
  ....And on the outside.  Cool, no?

Our favorite home was the "Imagine"  The largest of the group, I loved the open floor plan and the multiple "flex" spaces to use however you wanted (for us one area would be a wine cellar and the other would be a reading room).  It was in this home that we met Neil Frederickson owner of Provincial Vineyards.  He was sampling his wine and since the place was deserted, I took the opportunity to talk with him about his vineyard.  Although he works in the technology field, his passion is growing grapes.  When I asked him if growing grapes was more art or science, he pondered it for a few seconds and said...science.  He went on to explain about the soil, the climate (and micro-climates), irrigation (or not..."the vines must suffer to produce the beautiful grape"...in other words, no water!), pruning...and much more.  He's looking to retire in a few years at which time he'll be able to grow grapes full-time.  A neighboring winery crushes his grapes and makes the wine for him..as Neil is a vine-man only, not a wine maker.  We sampled his Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir...both were outstanding, and affordable.

Neil Frederickson from Provincial Vineyards.

After working up an appetite, we headed out to Helvetia Tavern for one of their world famous burgers.  I had read they were the closest thing Portland has to the flavor of In-and-Out Burgers (which are my very favorite), so I had high hopes.

At the HT bar.  Check out all the baseball caps on the ceiling.

We arrived to a parking lot full of cars, both fancy and otherwise.  The HT is truly a roadside beer and burger joint...nothing fancy here, but lots to look at.  Since all the tables were full we bellied up to the bar, checking out the hundreds of baseball caps stuck to the ceiling, the funny signs and odd decor, and the super small menu.  We both ordered the "small" cheeseburger and decided we'd split a half order of the onion rings.  Good choice, the portions were more than sufficient. 

 
  Not much of a menu, but really, do you need any more than that?

We watched the guys behind the grill cook up our burgers (along with about 60 more).  They were served up hot with melting cheese, "special" sauce, lettuce (iceberg, the classic), onions and tomatoes.  The pickles were served on the side (thank you!  I hate pickles or eating anything a pickle has even touched).  The burgers, were, as promised...outstanding.  And, I'm sorry In-and-Out, but these burgers were even better than yours!  We munched down the sloppy burgers, relishing every delicious bite.

 
Burger heaven!

So, now, I have experienced the Helvetia Burger, and it was great!  Only problem is HT is a good 45 min. drive from our house.  I don't imagine I'd make a special trip out there again, just for the burger, but if I'm in the area...clear off a barstool boys, I'm coming in! 

Comments

[Patty Stephens]

that is a fun date!!!! Love walking through all those homes. :)

[Asian Boobs]

OK, that's a great burger!