May Musings

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Thebeerchaser

After doing recent posts on two wonderful Portland bars – the historic Huber’s and the iconic Sandy Jug, I’m going to skip around and cover a few miscellaneous topics after a farewell to a Portland landmark for years. (#1.)

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos at the end of the post and so the narrative isn’t clipped or shortened. External photo attribution at the end of the post.(#1)

Farewell to Quintessential Dive – The Jolly Roger

I visited this Portland eastside landmark in January, 2023 with my friend, Hillary Barbour, knowing that it would be both the first and last time I would raise a mug in this watering hole which has been a prominent feature on the block for about the last sixty years:

The Jolly Roger Will Become Affordable Housing

“After much speculation about what would become of Buckman dive bar the Jolly Roger, WW has confirmed it will become an affordable housing complex helmed by recovery and low-income housing nonprofit Central City Concern. The property was bulldozed this fall and is currently an empty lot.” (Willamette Week – 1/16/2024)

Although there was a smidgeon of hope for a reprieve in 2023, one year later, it was razed and the irreplaceable sign visible for blocks is now relegated to the scrap heap:

“Of the landmark sign—which WW once called ‘a majestic freestanding pylon sign shaped like a ship’s mast at a height no longer sanctioned’ ….it was trashed.

‘It was too large to be used in the building or anywhere else, she says…Efforts were made to see if any signage, restoration companies or collectors were interested in it, to no avail.'”

Farewell to a long and prosperous voyage!

An Informed Perspective

I had lunch recently with a friend of the conservative bent who was bemoaning the current US policy on climate change and energy. He had witnessed the 2017 total solar eclipse when he was at the Oregon coast and took in the same event again on April 8th this year.

Although Oregon was not in the path of totality. His comment:

“Don, this provides additional evidence of the lack of dependability of solar power as a future energy source….” (#2 – #3)

Another Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter Update

The last update was in February when I related the recent award of Portland environmental attorney, Jay Waldron (Rugger, Rafter and Rider and Lawyer).

Well, one of Jay’s Portland lawyerly colleagues – who is also in the esteemed ranks of Beerchasers-of-the-Quarter, Jim Westwood – was involved in another significant victory, although this wasn’t as one of the premier players in the Oregon Appellate Courts.

westwood bow tie 2

Jim, who has accompanied me on more Beerchasing events than either one of us would want to admit in the last thirteen years, is also a fellow Oregon City High School graduate (although several years ahead of me).

As I have stated previously as evidence of my longevity, his mother Catherine, was my Latin teacher for two years in the mid-sixties. The photo gallery below provides evidence of Jim’s affirmation of Beerchasing as a venture although it should be noted that both of us also have an affinity for single malt beverages.

Clockwise: The Tanker Bar – 2013, The Yard House – 2016, The Independent Sports Bar – 2017, The Standard – 2018, The Sandy Jug – 2024, Howell’s Tavern – 2022, Yur’s Bar – 2020, Rose City Book Pub – 2019, TC O”Leary’s Irish Pub – 2017 and Kelly’s Olympian 2015 and The Goose Hollow Inn – 2012.

(You will recognize his mug – so-to-speak – in each of the photos below:

Beerchasing at the Goose Hollow Inn in 2012 with the late Portland Mayor Bud Clark and John Terry of The Oregonian

Below is an excerpt from my 2013 post when I named him as a Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter. I mentioned his extensive civic activities including coaching high school Constitutional teams:

“Jim has volunteered for 11 years as a coach for ‘We the People’ high school Constitutional law teams for Grant High and De la Salle North Catholic High School.

Marilyn Cover, Executive Director of the Classroom Law Project (CLP), stated, ‘He’s a great teacher, a great coach and a great model citizen.’ He was honored last year as the 2012 Legal Citizen of the Year by the CLP.”

The historical figure he most admires is George Washington and when he received an annual award from the Multnomah Bar Association in 2013, they gave him the caricature shown in the photo below.

The Grant High team won the National Championship in the Washington DC competition in 2013 and then repeated in 2015. Westwood fulfilled his promise to get a tattoo if they achieved that victory.

The picture below shows the George Washington theme continued as 1783 was the year Washington bade farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern and resigned as Commander-in-Chief.

They won in 2018 and his second tattoo followed although at time of publication I could not ascertain where it’s located or the content. He retired from being a full-time coach in 2019, but as Jim, with his characteristic modesty, stated this month:

“I intended to fade into nothingness, but as has happened with other retiring coaches, Grant Con team is the Hotel California. You can never leave. The best description of me is ‘involved volunteer.”‘

My involvement varies, in 2024 I was involved about twice as much as last year….This year, for the first time since retiring, I went to DC with the team and the coaches. although it was more of a vacation for me than it was for the others.”

He thus shared in the incredible accomplishment of 2024 Grant High’s Constitutional Team when they again won the National Championship in April. As reported by the Center for Civic Education on April 16th:

“Students from Grant High School of Portland, Oregon, placed first in the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution National Finals, an annual competition that brings together high school students from across the nation to answer difficult questions about the U.S. Constitution...

More than 1,000 students participated….The competition results were announced at an awards ceremony Monday evening before an in-person and online audience of more than 3,400 people…A total of 48 high school teams from 28 states and the District of Columbia participated in this year’s events.”. (#4 – #5)

2015 Winners – Westwood in back row with bowtie

In a time where civics is almost a forgotten course offering in high schools across the United States, teacher advisor, David Lickey; coaches including Andrea Short, Tim Volpert, Shelley Larkins and Westwood (many of whom are lawyers) and the parental volunteers deserve accolades for their commitment to preserving democratic institutions.

When I asked about a third inking, he responded:

“I’ve been in contact with Ximena, my personal tattoo artist, about the tattoo for this year’s win. The ink will flow later this month.”

There’s speculation whether it will be a cherry tree, the words “Valley Forge” or “1791” – the year when the Bill of Rights was ratified which Washington called for in his first inaugural address. Stay tuned…..

There’s a Crisis, However.

Even back in 2021, an article in Harvard Magazine showed evidence of the Crisis in Civic Education:

“…..The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s survey on civic knowledge found that barely half of American adults can name all three branches of government, and 20 percent cannot name any rights protected by the First Amendment.

This state of affairs follows prolonged disinvestment in the fields of history and civics: today, a new report reveals, federal spending per pupil in these subjects averages $0.05, whereas STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) per pupil averages $50—a thousandfold difference in funding allocation.” (#6)

A document needing more attention

But Have Some Moderation…!

While efforts to enhance civic education are to be encouraged and applauded, one Oregon Circuit Court Judge in Clackamas County – just south of Portland – went a step too far when in a criminal trial for hit-and-run (State v. Varvara) last week:

“….(she) decided to give a hands-on civics lesson to a class of visiting second graders, inviting eight of them to serve as jurors in a hit-and-run trial, swearing them in, allowing them to sit in the jury box and giving them supplies to take notes.”

Now this was a bench trial – meaning the judge, not a jury – makes the final decision. The Presiding Judge, however, was evidently not impressed with the judgment of Circuit Judge Ulanda Watkins. He intervened and the second-graders were ushered out of the courtroom.

Judge Watkins was appointed to the bench in 2017. She is, at least up until this point, running unopposed in the 2024 Oregon Primary Election. (#7)

“In the end, Watkins delivered an acquittal without consulting the students — the 7- and 8-year-olds left before the trial concluded. But the judge’s off-the-cuff overture to the school children became the talk of the courthouse in downtown Oregon City.” (#8 – #9)

The Clackamas County Courthouse in Oregon City.

There have been no reports on whether the eight second graders selected for the jury have requested the $10 daily juror pay or whether the school district has submitted the 20 cents per mile reimbursement for the school bus.

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Sandy Jug Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=122100957092143158&set=pb.61554294744173.-2207520000&type=3).

#2. Wikimedia Commons (File:Christmas Eve Sun (31460091150).png – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Paul Stewart from Timaru, New Zealand – 24 December 2016.

#3. Wikimedia Commons (File:Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, from Hot Springs, Arkansas.jpg – Wikimedia Commons). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. Author: Kevin Payravi – 8 April 2024.

#4. Oregon Live (Grant High’s U.S. Constitution Team represents Oregon in national tournament – oregonlive.com).

#5. Center for Civic Education (Release: Portland’s Grant High School Places First in Center for Civic Education’s Nationwide Competition on the Constitution – civiced.org).

#6. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:United States Constitution Bicentenial Commemorative Dollar Obverse.jpg – Wikimedia Commons. This image is a work of the United States Department of the Treasury, taken or made as part of an employee’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain in the United States.Source: US Mint 19 May 2022.

#7. Oregon State Bar (Judge Ulanda Watkins (osbar.org).

#8. Wikimedia Commons (File:Scale of justice 2 new.jpeg – Wikimedia Commons). This work is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or any later version. Source: Scale_of_justice_2.svg: DTR – 28 July 2009.

#9. Wikimedia Commons (File:Clackamas County Courthouse, Oregon City – DPLA – 13cd2d986b77594222b11d38c0491c08.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This file was contributed to Wikimedia Commons by Oregon State Archives as part of a cooperation project. The donation was facilitated by the Digital Public Library of America, via its partner Northwest Digital Heritage. Source: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives – 6 August 2013.

Jug or Not???!!!

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Thebeerchaser

The number of iconic Portland bars along Sandy Boulevard on Portland’s east side is notable. The recently renovated Sandy Jug at 74th and Sandy rejoins two classics I’ve reviewed – the Sandy Hut, (“Handy Slut”) and the Slammer.

The Jug, until mid-2023, was known as Pirate’s Cove – a well-known Portland strip club!

In addition, there are some lesser known, but great watering holes from the Rum Club, Sheridan’s, Park City Pub, Lift-off Lounge, Ace’s Tavern, Katie O’Brien’s, Wedgehead, My-O-My to the Escape Bar and Grill.

The Sandy Blvd. bars are not quite as concentrated as the dives in the infamous Barmuda Triangle in Southeast Portland. (The Urban Dictionary – pinpoints the BT as “an area of bars that collectively saturate the SE Hawthorne Arts District at the base of Mt Tabor.”).

However, one can have his or her own focused and lengthy Beerchasing journey just along the 4 miles of Sandy Boulevard from the Slammer to the Escape.

The Auspicious History

The Jug because of its history and distinctive structure is known not only in Oregon, but throughout the US as a place to see. As stated in a 2013 post of RoadsideAmerica.com:

“Pirate’s Cove — built in 1928 as a tire shop and auto repair garage (the Orange Blossom Jug service station – Waymarking.com) has been a bar, strip joint, soda shop… a jug with so many uses.”

Pirates’ Cove closed in 2023, but two Portland entrepreneurs, who have been labeled “bar revivalists”, Marcus Archambeault and Warren Boothby, resurrected it and The Sandy Jug reopened in January 2024.

The pair has transformed other failing Portland older bars and failing dives into thriving establishments in the last ten years, including the Alibi, the Double Barrel, the Vern, the Sandy Hut, Holman’s, the Bantam Tavern and Gold Dust Meridian.

Cheers to Portland’s Bar Saviors – Some of Their Resurrections (#2- #4)

Stripped to the Bone…

Now this is a blog about bars and breweries and not nudie bars, but Pirates’ Cove is integral to the history of the Sandy Jug. For context, a little over ten years ago, an urban myth circulated about the Portland’s ranking in the US strip club hit parade. Willamette Week’s 2013 article gave insight:

Does Portland Really Have the Most Strip Clubs of Any City in the US? (#5)

Bus_Paradise (1)

As one can see from the excerpt below, the answer is “yes” with a disclaimer:

“Turns out Portland, with one strip club for every 9,578 residents, is indeed the leader among the 50 largest U.S. cities, narrowly edging Tampa at 10,813 and blowing Las Vegas’ 33,002 out of the water. Myth confirmed.” (per capita and not total number)

And Pirate’s Cove, evidently had a good reputation, if you use the term loosely, among its peers as documented by this article in Here Magazine – an online international travel guide to cities:

Your Guide to Portland’s 6 Friendliest—and Punkest—Strip Clubs (#6 – #7)

Pirate’s Cove was listed first with this description:

“Pirate’s Cove is kind of a staple in Portland,” says Cloud, a dancer here. ‘It’s not very popular in that it doesn’t get all of the attention, but it’s been in town for a long time. It’s one of those places where locals really dig it.’

Not convinced? The giant sign outside the establishment has been known to say ‘We Care A Lot.’ Who doesn’t love a neighborhood dive with heart?”

It was also listed in a 2023 Time.com article as one of the “10 Strangest Strip Clubs in America”:

“Jack Sparrow himself would love – the outside of the club is shaped as a large jug of rum.” (#8)

Aargh!!! Rum….

Grading the Transformation

The physical transformation is not remarkable, but positive:

“Inside, Boothby and Archambeault have opened up the ceiling, revealing the impressive woodwork inside the jug….the tavern isn’t very large inside, but a new patio will add additional seating, especially once warmer weather returns.” Oregon Live 1/25/24

The only remnants of the strip club are a chandelier outside the woman’s restroom and a wall filled with pictures of the former dancers in the men’s restroom.

But the most “tangible” (so to speak) change is in the atmosphere. From the stereotypical strip club “ambiance” of dim lighting, cheap perfume, worn carpet and lonely desperation, it has evolved into a wonderful neighborhood bar pervaded by a welcome and energetic vibe.

I visited twice – both within six weeks of the January opening. The first time I was accompanied by my long-time friend, Hillary Barbour, a Reed College alum, who now works at the Oregon Beverage and Recycling Cooperative as Director of Business Development.

This follows six years as Director of Strategic Development for Burgerville LLC and many years as a Director on the staff of Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer. (#9)

Hillary is no stranger to Beerchasing, including a trip to the Vern – another of the Boothby -Archambeault retrofits. She declined my suggestion to change her name for this trip since the bar has a clever offer – valid every day: patrons with the first name Sandy get their first drink on the house.

Some might question the aura generated by my drinking buddies on the next trip since four of the six are or were lawyers. (clockwise starting second from left in teal jacket Steve Schell, Jim Westwood, Larry Frank and John Kelly). Lawyers have a tendency to school….

On the left is Tom Kelly, retired owner of the Neil Kelly Co. and on the right is Dr. Doug Walta, founder of the Oregon Clinic and retired CEO of Clinical Services for Providence Health and Services in Oregon.

Besides being smart, personable and good at drinking beer, I’m proud to say that each of these guys (and Hillary) have contributed untold hours to civic and charitable activities which have made Portland a better community.

Tom Kelly, Steve Schell, Jim Westwood, John Kelly, Larry Frank and Doug Walta

The Staff and the Trappings

Both of my visits were on weekday afternoons and the place was hopping. The weather precluded the patio being opened, but most tables and the bar were filled by the time we left and it was an amiable and enthusiastic crowd.

Jenna, the Manager and our bartender, was personable and excited about the future of the bar and her staff was efficient and friendly. Take a look at this message from Management on Facebook.

Jenna

“Not sure how it’s been 2 and1/2 months since we opened our doors, but one thing is for sure…we are so happy to be here. Thanks so much for all the love and support during the last few months. We couldn’t have done it without you.

And a heartfelt thanks to our staff for being just delightful, hardworking people that make it all worthwhile. We appreciate each and every one of you.”

The walls are filled with good stuff and great mementos and bar relics fill the idiosyncratic space – there are some neat nooks and crannies and hanging lights brighten up the place..

Economical?

Both of my visits were during Happy Hour which is 2:00 to 6:00 every day and what a deal! You can get a domestic draft for $3 and micro-draft for $5 and a well drink for $4 plus some limited food offerings.

During regular hours, prices are also very reasonable with the standard burger at $11.99 and sandwiches from $10 to $12. I considered a shot of a Blueberry Kamikaze for $8, but feared going down in flames on the way home. (#10 – #12)

Happy Hour Prices

We didn’t eat either time, but the Yelp reviews on both the food and the overall experience are overwhelmingly positive. The only negative features mentioned were a sound system that needed some work and making it more clear to patrons that they have to order from the bar:

“Went tonight to check it out and had a chopped cheese sandwich, fries and a couple of beers. Everything was literally cooked perfectly, seasoned perfectly and tasted amazing!! Friendly service and a great laid back vibe definitely make this a place to check out!! Will definitely be back!” Mar 19, 2024 (and this from a guy from Peoria so as the old saying goes….).

and

“I’ve been driving by this place for years. It used to be a strip club and recently new owners have transformed it into a pretty cool neighborhood bar. Decor is funky and eclectic. Music is mostly 70s/80s. Drinks and food are tasty and affordable. Staff is friendly. I’m giving 5 stars because I’m rooting for this place to succeed”. Feb 14, 2024

You should pay a visit to this historic Portland watering hole and support the continuing efforts of Boothby and Archambeault. I’ll be looking forward to their next project. (#13)

Cheers