4th of July Party & Hospitality

We originally booked two nights at Edgefield hoping they’d host a concert that weekend. Unfortunately no such show materialized. We decided to stay for our anniversary and cancel the additional night, but we weren’t able to find an RV park on the coast with availability for the Fourth of July. We had no place to go…

I texted a friend from high school who lives in Portland and asked if she might host us for a night. With carefree abandon and copious enthusiasm she graciously agreed to provide us shelter for the night. Further, she’d throw a party and prepare succulent dishes to share with her us and her friends, and if we were lucky we’d be able to see the fireworks from her deck.

We looked forward to meeting Celena and her family and friends. After our morning of golf we gingerly maneuvered ourselves out of the Edgefield parking lot and drove the mere 20 minutes from Edgefield to Celena’s home in the Sandy neighborhood of Northeast Portland.

Navigating the narrow and winding streets of Sandy we parked and found Celena outside her beautiful 1917 home inviting more neighbors to her party. It wasn’t 30 seconds later we seated in the terraced yard with cold and frosty beerverage in hand.

The weather cleared up in the early evening just as the guests were arriving, each bringing a dish more delicious than the last. The appetizers were punctuated with a twist on the French ’75 – the America ’76! It was a combination of gin, brandy, and champagne with fresh strawberries and perhaps other things. Whatever it was, it was as tasty and dangerous as the country it celebrated and complemented well the smoked pulled pork, and Celena’s transcendent marinated, slow cooked, and then grilled chicken (that apparently took 2 days to make).

After dinner began the traditional neighborhood fireworks for the kids followed by glimpses in the distance of Portland’s downtown fireworks as darkness encroached. We didn’t need the downtown show as the neighborhood show of mortars and rockets assualted our senses into the night. It was a grand 4th-of-July with an old friend and some new friends as well. Thanks Celena! Happy Birthday ‘Merica!