It was May 4th, 2001 and I was a couple weeks away from moving from Minnesota to Oregon by way of Alaska. I was crashing on the couch of my long time friend (and secret crush) Michelle. She was taking vacation time off work to drive with me to Alaska on a farewell trip.

Someday maybe we’ll put more of our backstory into a post, but today is about our anniversary date. Back in 2001 I was 23 years old and asked M to meet me at a local hotel bar. Some St. Cloud State University professors were playing light jazz and I had gained some liquid courage via a couple of Manhattans (my drink of choice at the time). I asked her to be my girlfriend (M says I am oversimplifying this part of the story and what I actually asked her was to be my long distance girlfriend over the summer while I was living in Alaska and she was still in Minnesota and then also move with me to Oregon in the fall). M said “Yes!” (M remembers saying something like “Why don’t we see how this road trip to Alaska goes”). Regardless of which version is accurate, this started our wonderful journey through life together and that’s the important bit of that night.

One year later we were both working in Oregon at Sprint in the customer service department (a horrible job by both of our accounts) and I asked a coworker where they would take someone for a fancy date. Fortune smiled on us because the recommendation I got was to go to a place called New Sammy’s Cowboy Bistro. Chef Charlene Rollins and her husband Vernon ran this tiny, nearly hidden, restaurant that had deservedly garnished lots of attention from West Coast foodies. HERE is a great article about some of the history of both the restaurant and the owners.

I’m pretty sure Michelle kicked me under the table when I tried to tell Vernon that I didn’t like onions and I’m sure he had a chuckle when I asked for a buttery white wine for under $20. Thankfully I followed Michelle’s advice and just ate what I was served and also learned to wholeheartedly trust Vernon in the wine cellar and Charlene in the kitchen. Vernon always brought us the perfect wine and never made us feel silly or unwelcome.

I clearly have a penchant for tangents today because this post also isn’t about our journey to becoming foodies. But, maybe that’s what it means to be together for 25 years. One quick blog post about a very nice celebratory night out can spin and twist into nearly infinite stories about our intertwined lives.

On our dating anniversary (May 4th) this year we got dressed up and caught a train into Porto. As always it was a fast one hour trip with excellent people watching. We always pack books and crossword puzzles to help pass the time if necessary. I had made reservations at a fancy sushi restaurant called Tokkotai but we were famished when we got into town and decided to stop for a pre-meal snack.

We stopped at a snack bar called Picota that sits near a busy square where some of the very best street performers play. We enjoyed listening to a musician while sipping some beers and nibbling calamari. It was a great start to the night!

Except I continue to struggle with selfies.

Tokkotai was a two minute walk away and we arrived just before they opened.

We tried to selfie again. I think that if you merge these two pictures you’d have a really nice couple shot of us.

We had chosen a tasting menu in advance and decided to pair it with sake. It was absolutely amazing. Get ready for a fish-tastic photo gallery!

We were pleasantly full but decided to have a post dinner cocktail at a bar across town. The night air was perfectly crisp and we were having a great time being in the moment and reminiscing about our lives together.

We arrived at the The Royal Cocktail Club and almost left since it was full, thankfully we waited and each enjoyed an excellent nightcap. I was lost in the moment and only took one quick shot of a drink before forgetting about my phone for the rest of the night.

I’ll end things with a final selfie (taken on our terrace about a month after our anniversary) because one of our faithful readers (Hi Aunt Peggy 👋) is always happy when we post them. I know that I jumped around here and there so if you would like to hear more about anything I brought up just mention it in the comments and we will try to work up a more detailed post.

Cheers to many, many more years together!