The highlight of the last week, and Scott and Esther's visit? Definitely the ghost hunting tour of Portland on Friday night. And, umm, what happened right before...
So, I'm driving downtown, crossing one of the bridges over the Willamette River. "Portland's a very pot-friendly place," Scott said. A perfectly innocent comment, right? I agreed with him that, yes, the City of Roses is quite liberal and tolerant. "You've never smoked it in your whole life?" he asked next.
"Nope," I replied. "But I'd try it."
"You would?" he said, clearly excited. "Well, tonight's your lucky night!"
Oops. Somehow...and quite deliberately, it seemed...I had been railroaded into agreeing to smoke marijuana. It felt like an ambush. I could hardly back down now. And the truth was, I didn't want to back down. All my life I've said "no." I'm at the point now where I want to start saying "yes" to things.
Which is how I found myself smoking pot with Scott and Esther in a parking lot on a busy Portland street corner on Friday night. I still can't believe it happened. Mastering the bong took some doing, but at least I didn't cough as I inhaled the hot smoke into my lungs (yes, Mr. Clinton, I did - what would be the point in not doing so?). Talk about a surreal experience. "Are you high?" Esther asked after a few minutes. As weird as it may sound, I wasn't sure. I didn't feel any different, not really. But my whole body felt very relaxed, which I guess is what the high is like. After awhile we exited the car, and it was like one of those scenes in the movies, the three of us stumbling out of a smoke-filled car. Unbelievable. The relaxed feeling - the high - lasted about half an hour for me. I can definitely see the appeal. It's different from drinking alcohol or taking, say, Vicodin - but a good kind of different. And no, I didn't have "the munchies." How cliched would that have been?
When we arrived outside Old Town Pizza for the Beyond Bizarre Paranormal Walking Tour, I was paranoid that Donna, our tour guide, would smell the marijuana on us, but if she did, she never let on. Hell, she was probably high herself, lol.
The tour itself was fantastic. There were 13 of us in the group - appropriate, no? We walked down to the near
by Max station and boarded the light rail train for our first stop of the evening, the White Eagle Saloon. This is a former bordello that is now a McMenamin's. Talk about progress. Anyway, it's supposed to be one of the 5 most haunted places in America, and for me was the highlight of the tour. There's a tavern downstairs, and upstairs, a hotel. It is here that Sam died in one of the rooms, grief-stricken over the murder of Rose, a prostitute and resident of the bordello whom he was quite fond of. Both their spirits allegedly haunt the place. Donna had passed out real, working EMF meters on the Max train, and we broke them out here and started investigating. One girl next to me was getting some good spikes on her meter, interestingly enough, outside Room 4 - Rose's room. I had the closest to a personal experience here myself; coming down the stairs where one woman was supposedly pushed by a spirit, tumbling to the bottom, my EMF meter spiked about halfway down. Briefly, anyway. A passing ghost? Who knows. The whole place felt old-fashioned and creepy. I loved it.
by Max station and boarded the light rail train for our first stop of the evening, the White Eagle Saloon. This is a former bordello that is now a McMenamin's. Talk about progress. Anyway, it's supposed to be one of the 5 most haunted places in America, and for me was the highlight of the tour. There's a tavern downstairs, and upstairs, a hotel. It is here that Sam died in one of the rooms, grief-stricken over the murder of Rose, a prostitute and resident of the bordello whom he was quite fond of. Both their spirits allegedly haunt the place. Donna had passed out real, working EMF meters on the Max train, and we broke them out here and started investigating. One girl next to me was getting some good spikes on her meter, interestingly enough, outside Room 4 - Rose's room. I had the closest to a personal experience here myself; coming down the stairs where one woman was supposedly pushed by a spirit, tumbling to the bottom, my EMF meter spiked about halfway down. Briefly, anyway. A passing ghost? Who knows. The whole place felt old-fashioned and creepy. I loved it. 
After that, we hopped back on the light rail and got off at Oak Street. The rest of the tour was spent walking around the streets of Portland, mostly in the Old Town/Chinatown section. We passed various haunted places along the way, including a relatively new spot that Donna said has seen a lot of activity only in the past few weeks - a parking lot across from the old police station and jail. Sure enough, a lot of us were seeing EMF activity like crazy there, myself included. Not sure why, and I'm not convinced it was necessarily haunted, but something was setting our meters off. Other stops included V
oodoo Doughnut for a lecture on the art of voodoo (and free samples - whoo-hoo!), a building that was built over a clearing that was essentially an Indian burial ground, the high-water flood mark of 1894 across from Kell's Irish Pub, Hoodoo Antiques - home of an object manifestation - and, finally, into the basement of Old Town Pizza, which was also creepy and haunted by Nina, another prostitute, who was killed on the premises. Again, a couple of people were seeing some EMF activity, though mine was quiet down there. I did pick up some orbs in photos I took there, though - the only place I captured any. Interestingly, Scott and Esther took pictures down there too, and none of theirs contained any such images. Hmm, go figure. One cool thing down there was a section of the underground Portland "shanghai" tunnels. They've all been walled over now, but it was interesting to see, and I couldn't help but marvel over the history that took place there.
oodoo Doughnut for a lecture on the art of voodoo (and free samples - whoo-hoo!), a building that was built over a clearing that was essentially an Indian burial ground, the high-water flood mark of 1894 across from Kell's Irish Pub, Hoodoo Antiques - home of an object manifestation - and, finally, into the basement of Old Town Pizza, which was also creepy and haunted by Nina, another prostitute, who was killed on the premises. Again, a couple of people were seeing some EMF activity, though mine was quiet down there. I did pick up some orbs in photos I took there, though - the only place I captured any. Interestingly, Scott and Esther took pictures down there too, and none of theirs contained any such images. Hmm, go figure. One cool thing down there was a section of the underground Portland "shanghai" tunnels. They've all been walled over now, but it was interesting to see, and I couldn't help but marvel over the history that took place there.The tour ended at midnight, and we piled back into my still-reeking-of-pot car. Jill, Scott's GPS, guided us home effortlessly. I had a great time, really enjoyed the tour, and saw a slice of Portland nightlife that I never knew existed. Let's just say the people out and about - and there were a ton of them - were rowdy, boisterous, and heckled us a lot. But Donna knew how to handle them, and we all had fun, so that's what really mattered.
Saturday I had everybody over for dinner at my place. I cooked chicken cacciatore with fettucine, bread, and a salad. Mom brought over a peach pie for dessert. There was wine, naturally. I said goodbye to Scott and Esther, hugged them both, because they are leaving early Monday morning and today I was on my own. It was good seeing them. I spent more time with my brother than I have in, literally, years. We definitely bonded, in ways I never would have imagined. Ha.
Now the kids are back with me (after being away for 9 days). I'm looking forward to a more normal week...I'd say quieter, but what I really mean is, more routine.
Well you knew that Facebook tease was going to send me over here right away. I'm happy for you! It just didn't seem right that someone your age had never tried it. Brian (Michael) laid in quite a stash for his sister's recent visit, and gifted me with a large amount, so I've been indulging a lot more than usual and I have some set aside for the Oregon trip. Peace out.... lol
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