Cartin' Around

In my youth in the land of the Pennsylvania Dutch, back in Pennsylvania don't 'cha know, the word "cartin'" was used in two specific contexts:

Do you really want to be cartin’ that around?
And
Sorry, but I’m not cartin’ you along.

Truth be told, it has be more than a few years since I’ve heard the word cart used as a verb, or outside of the context of shopping; but in Portland, it is back with a delicious vengeance.

For those of you who live in the greater Portland area, you already know that food carts have exploded on to the PDX foodie scene. They’ve even organized themselves into clustered semi-permanent pods with names like Cartopia, Lot 91 and Ala Cart. However, in the well-heeled land of Lake Oswego, there is nary a wheeled food vendor in sight willing to step off the food cart cliff. So my daughter and I jumped into the Beetle, dropped the top and ventured forth to do some Carting...Portland style.

If you’re new to carting and want a sure bet that will thrill the entire family, we strongly recommend you begin at the Grilled Cheese Grill on NE Alberta, across from the Alberta Public House. Who can argue with an entire menu of nothing but variations on our favorite comfort food. There’s hardly a red-blooded American without fond childhood memories of those crunchy, buttery, gooey morsels of high fat and sodium deliciousness.

We decided to be a bit adventurous in our choices. I had the BABS: Bacon, Apple, Brie and Swiss and my daughter had the Jalapeno Popper with cream cheese and jalapenos. They have lots of other choices for your own cheesy morsels. Needless to say we were so thrilled that we hopped back in the car and proceeded to troll Portland for some of the better known pod locations to see what they had to offer, in spite of the fact that most are closed on the weekends.




All this Cartin’ Around got me to thinkin’. I wonder if Lake Oswego would be willing to embrace the food cart culture. As I mused I thought of the food vendors at Saturday market. They’re almost like food carts…without the cart, that is. But then I reflected on our trip to the pods…





I tried to imagine a place where we could replicate this by the lake and remembered...the slogan is Keep PORTLAND Weird (and make sure the food stops in Lake Oswego are without wheels and four on the floor). Thats the version of the slogan too long for the bumper sticker

We may not see any converted Airstreams with funny names and yummy smells in LO anytime soon, but I'll encourage my fellow Lakers and Pacers to make your way North and indulge in a little food slumming. You won't be disappointed.


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