Four across, four letters: Ptown’s after hours pie

Finals are looming in the not-so-distant distance, so when given the task to write what I would do in Portland with $25 in 24 hours, I jumped at the chance to think of anything other than resumptive modifiers and the like.

First things first – coffee and a paper at the Meetro ($1.55, $23.45 left). After a long, hot shower I was off, out into the chilly, rainy, sunless Portland day – perfect for a day at the Japanese Gardens.

Once there, I walked up the trail, with every step leaving one more school-related stress behind. At the gate, I was further eased by the discovery that the Gardens only charge college students $4.00. $19.45 left.

By 2:00, I was hungry. Not wanting to squander my funds away, I drove to Freddy’s for some ramen noodles (25 cents) – $19.20 left. At home, with my dictionary and thesaurus, I proceeded to waste a full hour and a half attempting to finish the crossword puzzle in that day’s paper, all to no avail. Feeling lazy and defeated, I nearly resorted to playing solitaire on the computer.

The phone rang-it was Raven and she wanted to cook me dinner. Sweet! At her house we talked, drank wine, cooked dinner – and drank more wine. It was really a beautiful thing. Best of all, it was free to me.

We continued on to the Mission Theatre (1624 NW Glisan) for the 8:15 showing of “City of Lost Children”. Two bucks gets ya in, leaving me with $17.20 and it was only 10:30 p.m.

We traipsed over to the Matador (1967 W. Burnside), where we hung out in the smoke and dinge that make this bar what it is. One lemondrop: $4.25 (+ tip) – down to $12.45.

We were drawn away by a more socially conducive environ, Ringler’s Annex (1223 E. Burnside). Downstairs, among the candles and always attractive waitstaff, we drank the night away. Another lemondrop: $5.00 (+ tip) – down to $6.95.

When we got thrown out at 3:00 a.m., the only option was to venture down two blocks to the Roxy (1121 SW Stark St.), home of the greasiest early morning food and the greatest slice of Portland’s after-hours pie that any anthropologist could hope for. $4.35 purchased me French toast, and a waiter for a buck fifty tip. I went home with a buck and ten in my pocket – not a bad day.

– Erin Lloyd