Friday was the 2nd night of our joint crossdresser club meeting was the official kick off. It started with cocktails. We met in the hotel restaurant Mother’s Bistro. It began with four of us and the number consistently increased until we were around 20.
We moved to the dining area reserved for more room to enjoy our cocktails and socialize before dinner. I tried to chat with everyone but some members of the local group had not seen each other for sometime. That lead to intense conversations I chose not to intrude on. I am not worried though because I think this joint meeting concept is catching on.
Some of the CHIC members were already acquainted with some Rose City people. They met during a cruise arranged by Rose City some years ago. They continued meeting at DIVA Las Vegas over the years and again at La Bella 2024. This Portland trip was a further expansion of the blended group with some new people added in. People attending were from Washington, Idaho, California and of course Oregon. Sadly, some fell ill and were not able to make it or our numbers would have been higher. If they had come, we would have been around 25 people in all.
This event also allowed me to link up with my long time friend Susie from CHIC. She now lives in Southern Idaho so our get together are less often. The picture below was taken in the lobby of the Embassy Suites hotel in front of the fireplace.
Susie resigned when she moved out of California so had not seen Tonya and Nell for a while. They are two of the CHIC members that attended. The photo below shows Tonya and Nell along with Sherri the organizer and local member Anna.
The entire hotel staff was very accommodating going out of their way with little extras to make us welcome. Mother’s closes at 10 PM but they kept serving us until they finished cleaning up which was nice. They also put tables together for us when we ran out of seats at the bar.
I can recommend this hotel to any crossdressers looking for a place to go in Portland. I am confident you will have a safe and enjoyable trip. It has a central location in downtown and is not far from the riverfront area. There are also many restaurants nearby but I would not recommend walking. The staff is very helpful and can assist you with any questions, recommendations or directions you may need.
A special shout out to Sherri who put the whole weekend together. Also her wonderful wife Brenda who jumped in and kept things going when Sherri got sick.
