Congress Street (part 2, The Walk Home)

Mini Restaurant Row at Monument Square

Once you leave Monument Square for the walk down Congress Street to the West End, one enter a unique world - one that at its essence is pure Americana.  It is a picture of contrasts.  It's got a combination of some of the best and worst of what Portland has to offer from successful businesses and great restaurants to homeless (and often mentally ill) people, pawn (and porn) shops and second hand stores.  If the Old Port is for the tourists, this part of Congress Street - the Arts District - is for the locals and the more adventurous visitors. This is the real Portland, complete with all its blemishes.

It's about seven or eight blocks from Monument Square to Longfellow Square.  Mr. Google says it takes about 3 minutes to drive that length of Congress St.  In that 3 minutes, you will pass about 26 places to eat, 5 coffee shops, many art galleries, a college, 5 live music venues, a few jewelry stores, a florist, several places to get your hair done, a bridal shop and even the childhood home of America's most famous poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  That's a lot of stuff.

The first thing I notice during my stroll along Congress Street is the people.  This has changed over the past few years.  About a decade and a half ago, after leaving the immediate vicinity of Monument Square and it's business people you would quickly notice mostly a hodgepodge of what at first glance looked like street people.  Yeah, there were a lot of street people although most of them actually lived in the surrounding buildings, many existing on small social security benefits, whether from retirement or some type of disability. Like you would see in many cities, we had (and still have) many people talking hands-free as they walked, but unlike other places, ours do so without the benefit of a blue tooth.  These people were supplemented by some transient younger individuals just, well, passing through. There were a few eateries that stayed afloat by feeding the lunch crowd and those brave souls going to Civic Center events.   As an aside, making note of how just about everyone tries to avoid people talking to themselves, TA and I now use this as an anti-mugging strategy.  When we see a potential mugger/rapist heading towards us at night, we start talking to ourselves. The greater the perceived threat, the more elaborate our own show sometimes culminating in a full blown argument with a non-existent adversary, complete with swiping at legs and arms while yelling "...get it off me!  Get it off!".  So far, so good.  The theory: even bad people don't want to deal with crazy people.

Cutting hair for over 50 years in the same location.  You want stories?  Hang with this guy for a bit.

And then things started to change.  David's moved from the Old Port to Monument Square which was a ballsy move at the time. The City Council designated this stretch of Congress Street the Arts District which had a pretty big psychological effect on the area. At the urging of the Libra Foundation, LL Bean moved in as did Olympia Sports (both now gone).  Local 188, originally at 188 State St, joined Cafe Uffa at Longfellow Square.  The State Theater was transformed from porn movie house almost back to its original grandeur with legit national touring bands.  555 brought us some real upscale dining and a tipping point was reached.  The Maine Collage of Art (MECA) took over the abandoned Porteous department store building which brought new life to a too-long desolate section of the street. People who only a couple of years ago feared walking down this stretch of Congress Street started to make it a destination and that's where I now find myself walking several times a week.

I still walk past plenty people talking to themselves or sitting against a wall not looking too good but they are now only a small percentage of the total.  There are real life tourists at the Longfellow House.  I know this because I see them when I sometimes grab a sandwich and eat it in the open-to-the-public garden behind the house.  It's a hidden gem that I try to hit if only for a walk-through once or twice a month to see how the garden changes with the seasons.  Continuing up the street you pass MECA with its freak show of a student body - I say freak show in the most affectionate way possible because I think these kids add so much to the vibrancy of the area.  Sure, to an old(er) guy they may have a few more piercings and tattoos than I like to see on otherwise attractive young people but I probably had a bit too much hair and wore too much tie-died clothing back in my day.  I really like walking past MECA and often step into its galleries for a look around. Talking galleries, there are a ton of them - some you have to look hard to find as they're often on second floors like the one that shares space with the florist.  The biggest gallery of all, of course, is the Portland Museum of Art (PMA) which may not be the Louvre but it is a pretty darn good museum.

Port City Music Hall

Then there's the music.  I've not made it into Port City Music Hall or Geno's (I won't add a "yet" at the end of that statement as I may have to grudgingly concede that I might actually be too old for these places) but have been to shows at the State and One Longfellow Square.  I've seen some interesting music at Local Spouts where I'm certain I could wear some of my old Grateful Dead tee-shirts and fit right in.  Blue is another favorite even if my aging eyes say it's a bit too dark for me inside.  The place has the feel of somewhere you would go to in the Village (Greenwich that is) in the 60's where you would snap your fingers instead of clapping your hands.  Even Otto has live music once or twice a week and, even though Empire has exchanged it's B, B, and B (the always popular burger, beer and bourbon all for $6) for dim sum and dropped the "dance" from it's name, you can still get your groove on upstairs.

The change that has made the biggest impact on the street has to be the food. Wealthy people sampling tasting menu's at 555 and David's or grilled octopus and ouzo at Emilitsa.  Budget minded students grabbing a slice at Otto.  There's great vegetarian fare at the Green Elephant.  Bacon dusted fries at Nosh.  You want ethnic?  How about 4 Japanese places, a few Thai restaurants and throw in some Greek, Indian, Mexican, Chinese and French just to keep it interesting.  Did I mention this is all along a seven block stretch that only a few years ago was on its way to becoming a mini Detroit?

"Hank" Longfellow (I assume his friends called him Hank) sitting in front of LFK, Pai Men Miyake and Petite Jacqueline

It's not all Monet and foie gras on Congress Street just yet and hopefully it will never get there.  We still have used furniture shops.  We have Joe's Smoke Shop and Paul's (Quality Foods!).  There's the Senior Citizen Barber Shop - yes, I've been and am happy to report that I'm still a couple years shy of my discount but the guy cutting hair has been in that spot for over 50 years.  Now here's a guy with some really good stories. There's still the porn shop which baffles me in this day and age of the internet.  What can you get in that place that you can't get from your home computer?  Wait a minute, don't answer that because I don't think I really want to know.  And the people. Sure, there are now middle aged couples out for the fine dining.  There's the hipsters with their tight jeans, tight jackets and bowling shoes.  There are your rougher biker types and your preppies as well as the art students all in search of something that can be had on this little section of downtown.  Then there's the classic failure of urban design that is Congress Square.  And there are still the retired and the ill, both physically and mentally in the same numbers as in years past, only they've become outnumbered by everyone else.  Yeah, this is the land of freaks and misfits.  I fit right in and I love it.