Saturday Night Church

 Last night we went to Saturday Night Church downtown which is held at the beautiful First Baptist Church. It is such a wonderful, old building and I love the architecture and all the elaborate details. 

The sanctuary is round with walls that are built in sections which are divided in the middle. The top and bottom parts of each section automatically raise and lower to separate or connect adjoining rooms such as the fellowship hall. There is an elegant, curved balcony, colorful stained glass windows, intricate paintings on the ceiling and walls and traditional wooden pews. We met our friends there for the 6:00pm service and afterwards we all went out to dinner which is our tradition when we attend on Saturday night.     

No matter if we attend one of the four Sunday services in Tigard or either one on Saturday night downtown we have to go early enough to be sure and get seats. So, while we saved seats and waited for our friends to arrive I snapped a few pictures.

A fun part of our dinner tradition is trying new restaurants around the city. Several times we have driven across the river to find the perfect eatery, another time we waited for a table at a restaurant located under one of the bridges and occasionally our group is so big we spend a good portion of the evening trying to find a place that can seat all of us in a reasonable amount of time. Last night though, we were a nice sized group of 6 and planned ahead with reservations at Henry's on 12th, the old Blitz-Weinhard Brewery, another historic spot downtown. We chose it because if it's close proximity to the church (6 blocks) but didn't realize how popular it was. Thank goodness for those reservations, it was packed. I think we would all agree that the food was really good but I have to say that my favorite part of the meal, besides our fun friends and great conversation of course, were the PICKLES!!! They were outstanding and unlike any pickle I've ever tasted. I would describe them as sort of a dill with a spicy kick. I would go back just for a side order of their pickles. In addition to the great taste they were cleverly served, sliced in a little, mini canning jar accompanied by a long fork. These are by far some of the best pickles ever, if you like pickles that is! 

I tried to get a picture of Henry's on 12th but didn't have time to take a better one since
I needed to catch up with our fast walking group. I didn't want to be left behind.