PEARL TAVERN, JOEY HARRINGTON, GERDING THEATER

What makes a baby boomer date night better than the Pearl Tavern, Joey Harrington, and a play at the Gerding Theater?

Not much. At least you’ll start out knowing one of the three is a good bet.

All boomers love looking back and remembering the good old days.

Since we already see Joey Harrington in the dim glow of greatness, just hope his Pearl Tavern and The Gerding come through as well as he has.

If it all works out we’ll crank up the nostalgia machine like we’re dragging something out of the mysterious fogs of history.

Aging millennials do the same thing.

Except it’s a clear evening?

First, The Pearl Tavern:

Up the block and around the corner to NW 12th between Everett and Davis. The one story half block building of Pearl Tavern.

It’s on the corner of NW 11th and Everett in the top pic. You’d would fly past if you were on a green light bike ride to the river.

Get a window booth to see riders coasting the street ahead of cars.

Sitting on the corner of a single story half-block building between Davis and Everett, 11th and 12th, PT is a low lit treasure.

On the intersection of Fame and Food in a drinking man’s paradise, add this stop.

Instead of resting on a name like Vince Young Steakhouse, Dan Marino’s Fine Foods and Spirits, Brett Favre’s Steakhouse, Joe Theismann’s Restaurant, or Elway’s, it’s just the Pearl Tavern.

There’s something sweet about not hanging your name on things when all the self-hyping branding business goes overboard.

A tavern without exploiting naming rights? A blog not named after the blogger? Go figure.

Joey Harrington’s chain will never shut down the way Dan Marino pulled the plug.

Like Oregon, Pearl Tavern will fly by it’s own wings.

Just another quarterback? Not so fast.

Going long.

Oregon Duck Harrington started for the Detroit Lions. Let it sink in.

The Lions were an NFL team whose best players hated it enough to retire early.

It’s still happening.

Once run by a group misled by angry former linebacker Matt Millen and head coach Smiling Steve Mariucci, Harrington landed in the proverbial NFL meat grinder.

What do meat grinders do? They grind.

After years of grinding away with the Lions, Harrington toured the NFL version of the SEC.

Dolphins and Falcons, and Saints, oh my.

For outsiders, instead of playing any sports in Florida, Georgia, or Louisiana, just try to walking around in Southern air. I don’t know how they do it. I could barely breath the so called healing mountain air of North Carolina.

No one says Harrington would have been a Troy Aikman or Tom Brady or Aaron Rogers.

But,

In 2005, NFL analyst and Hall Of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman wrote that Harrington “can still be a really good quarterback in this league,” and does not deserve the blame for what happened in Detroit: “The focus on Joey’s play has given every other player a hall pass, and that’s not right.”

Phil Simms, a CBS Sports analyst and Super Bowl MVP, said in 2006 that Harrington got a bad rap in Detroit. “I am not a Joey Harrington basher,” “The quarterback can’t overcome bad coaching and bad players.” Former Miami Dolphins quarterback and television analyst Dan Marino said that he did not believe that Harrington had the necessary pieces around him in Detroit to be successful.

Some say dreams never die.

The Gerding.

Walk toward the river on NW Davis, cross 11th, and you’re at the Armory. Go inside the center doors to the Will Call window to the right for season tickets with the best seats in the house. Not too close, not too far away.

BoomerPDX readers know my reviews don’t drag places through the mud, kick ’em to the curb, or throw them under the bus.

Not my style, shouldn’t be yours, but recent plays at The Gerding, the one-shot no intermission work, needs a word: I heard better dialogue at the Pearl Tavern.

“Could we have a window booth? What do you call these two seater tiny tables.”

“Let’s try this. Oh, I see umbrellas. Have you been out exploring?”

“Yes we have. This is an amazing city.”

“Where are you traveling from?”

“Chicago. It’s a different scale. You’re so lucky. What’s your favorite place here?”

“I’m new to Portland, too. Graduated from college and had friends here. Decided to see what living someplace else feels like.”

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Things to hone your Portland homer talk:

Forest Park?

A Sports in America Portland feeling?

A Portland place you’ll call home?

Stay anywhere long enough and you start getting it right.

The Pearl Tavern has that feel.