This signage for the brand new McDonalds, on the corner of Boylan and Peace Street in Raleigh, pretty much sums up my own mental turmoil upon going there. MMMM…fries…no, it’s bad for me….mmmmmm…no I should support local businesses…french fries mmmmm…no!…mmmmm.

“Dirty Dishes” (or “The Girls” as they are titled) Tina, Kim and Kathy – and John Waters of course. I’m not sure I would ever want to eat with these iconic characters, but it could be fun smearing food all over their faces. Get ‘em from Adora Porcelain and various contemporary culture museums.

via Cool Hunting

Asheboro, the town I grew up in, was the largest dry city in the state of North Carolina — until yesterday. Yes, after years and years of the alcohol referendums failing at the polls, people can now actually order a drink at a restaurant instead of literally brown-baggin it.

There were some who were not so happy, however. Dr. John Rogers, opposed to the referendum, said, “This outcome illustrates our war with our culture that is so saturated, particularly with alcohol.”

As for me, I say, “Cheers!”

10. WASHINGTON PARK, the Japanese Garden and the Portland Rose Garden
All three of these beautiful areas are basically in the same spot. Washington Park is a huge 400 acre park with many walking trails and beautiful views of Mt Hood and Portland as well as quiet area beneath the huge trees. The Japanese Garden is absolutely beautiful, with different areas of the gardens coming to life in different seasons. And the Rose Garden has over 6800 rose bushes representing 557 varieties – major wow!

9. SOUTH WATERFRONT PARK
Portland reclaimed it’s Willamette waterfront for the people with this waterfront park. Get great views of all of the bridges, plus a really nice walk or bike or skate along the river. On the southernmost end of the walk, there is a small marina and nice outdoor cafes to enjoy some perfect July weather.

8. PEARL DISTRICT – downtown
ok, this is cheating in my top ten, cause there’s lotsa stuff in the Pearl that you have to see. They are all in walking distance to each other, so you can make a day of it, and then be there in time for Happy Hour!
• POWELL’S BOOKS – the largest independent bookstore in the world. It’s awesome, with collections of basically everything with used and out of print mixed in with the new. You simply cannot go to Portland without visiting Powell’s.
• Museum of Contemporary Craft – they had a great show while we were there. The gift store is impressive too, lots beautiful of glass, pottery and jewelry.
• Tanner Springs Park and Jamison Square – I mentioned these parks in an earlier post. Tanner Springs is a beautiful small natural area, very well done, and Jamison Park is a fun urban kids play fountain

7. a tie for VENDETTA and Rontom’s-
Vendetta = hip yet casual drinks and snacks hangout – great patio!
Rontom’s = mid-century mecca yet casual drinks and snacks hangout – get the Mojito with Cilantro in it – yum!

6. MISSISSIPPI AVE ARTS DISTRICT – see a buncha cool art on “Last Thursdays,” go to the BLACK WAGON for some hipper than thou baby stuff (and cool art), step across the street and have a martini to some cool grooves at Moloko Plus (used to be Mississippi Avenue Social Club), or grab a beer in a much more casual spot, complete with a veggie brat at Amnesia Brewing. And if you are there in July, you can’t miss the Mississippi Ave Street Fair! It puts those cute little town arts fairs to shame.

5. HAWTHORNE DISTRICT - go ahead and get your Stumptown Coffee on Belmont or Fresh Pot coffee on Hawthorne, then peruse the street for all of it’s awesome vintage shops, especially, House of Vintage, check out the Bagdad Theater and Pub, and enjoy all kinds of delicious small restaurants and pubs.

4. Broder – gotta go for brunch – Swedish food, whatever that means. All I know is that for brunch I got this awesome baked scramble in its own teeny tiny iron skillet – so cute – and great! It’s a tiny cute little spot…don’t forget to order the adorable Danish pancakes.

3. Alibi Restaurant and Lounge – totally authentic Tiki – LOVE IT – the cocktails are great and decorated with paper umbrellas, and there is Karaoke every night. One of my most memorable places to visit in Portland.

2. SATURDAY FARMER’S MARKET – If you’re in Portland on a Saturday, you just gotta go. Local. Delicious. Fun. Music. etc. See an earlier post for a larger description.

1. NAVARRE – Portland’s full of great eats and drinks. Navarre is at the top of the list. Navarre is a small place which truly changes it’s menu based on what they received from a local farmer. Everything feels as if it was cooked for you, served casually, family style, and desserts and wines are chosen specifically to pair with the food. this is a great date night, gathering of friends or casual night out for treats. Deelish. (we did a full write-up on Navarre last year. see it here.)

Other fun places:
mod shopping: Hive Modern, Relish, Canoe
chains but worth seeing Portland Style: Whole Foods Portland, DWR Showroom, West Elm, Horny Toad’s Lizard Lounge
other awesome eats: Bay 13 (seafood), Silk (vietnamese), Pok Pok (thai), Beast (euro-portland),
Voodoo Doughnuts, Hotlips Pizza (and homemade fruit soda!), Burgerville

Check Portland Octopus out for a lot of great Portland info.

Chris Harne has an unusual collection: portion control condiment packets such as the ketchup packs you get at a fast food restaurant. The Condiment Packet Gallery site states that in the beginning, back in 2003, Chris realized that he never actually needed to buy condiments, he could just go and get these packs from any fast food restaurant, convenience store or salad bar. Apparently, it was soon after that realization that Chris devolved into full-on OCD behavior, collecting and preserving as many different types of these packets as he could find.

Fortunately for us, he decided to categorize and share them with the public via his website. You can search by sauce type or special categories (usually brand name or restaurant establishment), and you can also donate a packet for posterity to be included on the site.

You can also see each packet at a larger size. My favorite so far, is the grape jelly packet that says “Grade A Fancy.”

USARPS is actually USA RPS, or USA Rock Paper Scissors Tournament.

Sponsored by Bud Light, the USARPS tourney happens in bars across our great land. Worthy competitors are found at each establishment, signed up in NCAA-style bracketing, and then the fun begins. There are strict rules to Rock-Paper-Scissors, including the fact that you “shoot” on the 4th count, not the third. And there are no dynamites or bombs in the official rules, only rock, paper, and of course, scissors.

Winners at each establishment go on to regional tournaments that eventually lead to the national tournament in Las Vegas. The national winner wins $50,000 and goes to the international “olympics” held in Beijing. And it’s harder than it looks. Aly jumped into the competition and was summarily dismissed as he did not win one single “throw” against his opponent.

Excitement.

This stir stick says it all. Put it in your drink yourself and it’s a funny little cocktail addition…receive it from someone else and it seems there might be a bigger philosophical meaning behind it…or maybe not.

Romance and chocolate seem to always go together, but to me it’s missing the fun ingredient. If your relationship isn’t the Ghiradelli, Godiva or Lindt Chocolate kind, how about a Kinder Happy Hippo? They look like they just rose up out of their Meringue chip lake to check out the scene. I’m always a little disturbed to bite into something with eyes, but this little hippo wafer head is worth biting off to get to the creamy cocoa center. If you’ve got a gourmet food store nearby, you might find them there, or you can order them from Kinder Eggs.

…and check out this Kinder Happy Hippo ad on YouTube…

As a Raleighite (not sure if that is the correct term or not) I am always interested in how other people perceive my city and what places they believe are note worthy. I think that Rachel did a pretty decent job when making her list, But I’m definitely not entirely in agreement. They choose:

to describe our “Smart Locals”: NC State University, Global Village, Reader’s Corner, & Artspace I like this list… but lets go ahead and add Cup of Joe, Quail Ridge Bookstore, and Museum Park at NC Museum of Art

to describe our “Late Night Scene”: Velvet Cloak Inn, Mosaic, & Sushi Blues Cafe
Yes, The Velvet Cloak Inn definitely has charm, Mosaic has a unique feel, and Sushi Blues has 1/2 priced sushi on Tuesday & Thursday Nites. But what about places to go that are off of the Glenwood Ave strip? Raleigh Times, Riviera, Five Star, the Rockford, Landmark Tavern

to describe our “Date Spots”: Hi-5, Turkish Delights, Red Room, & Cupcake Shoppe Bakery
I’m ok with the Cupcake Shoppe (though it is a bit too “sweet” for my taste in dates) and Hi-5 (there better be a good game ie basketball on TV and I better be able to sit), but if someone thinks I would want to go on a date to Turkish Delights or Red Room they are kidding their selves, and I might as well head out on my own. Since Everyday’s list kept with the food/drink theme I’ll do the same… Vin, Poole’s Diner, Lily’s Pizza, Humble Pie, the Borough, J. Betski’s

* Raleigh has been receiving notice for the single scene (at least 6 previous times ranked) among other things for years, check out the list here.

Spiritual Water “Do You Believe?” is $13.95 a six-pack.

Bling H2O “Do You Bling?”is $40 a bottle (complete with Swarovski crystals)