Day: 34
Mileage: 5250
Going to Portland was like coming home. Or more accurately, it was like coming home and finding it to be somehow better than when you left it. I felt like I was meeting Minneapolis’s cool older sister. I had heard Portland described as ‘like Minneapolis but better’ and, as a Minneapolis girl, I thought, Well, that’s not very nice. Minneapolis is a very cool city. And it is. I love Minneapolis. But Portland’s cooler.
Our first destination was the Hawthorne neighborhood in Southeast Portland. Walking down Hawthorne, the storefronts went something like this: vegetarian friendly cafe, independent bookstore, vintage shop, pub, vegetarian friendly ethnic food cart, repeat. We stopped in a boutique dishware shop (I’ll let you guess whether it was me or Curt who chose to go into that one) and the woman running the shop first assumed we were locals and then, learning we were not, spent about 20 minutes giving us the lowdown on the area and writing down her suggestions of where to go (all of which turned out to be excellent recommendations). It was a wonderful and welcoming introduction to the city (and I have to admit I was flattered to be mistaken for a local - which hadn’t happened in any city up to that point, but happened three more times while we were in Portland).
The Hawthorne district was what Minneapolis’s Uptown could be if the new stores coming in were fair trade import shops and creperies rather than The North Face and Columbia (next freaking door to each other, by the way). It was lovely. We were staying at the Hawthorne Hostel, which felt the whole time like we were staying at a good friend’s house, minus the good friend. I have never been so comfortable in a hostel. I can confidently say that if you’re going to Portland and you don’t have a friend to stay with (or - depending on the friend - even if you do), you should stay at the Hawthorne Hostel. There just can’t be many places better than that. And certainly not for that price.
While you’re staying there, you should walk down the street to McMenamin’s Bagdad Theater, where you can see a second run movie for $3 while you drink a beer for about the same price. The Bagdad is cheap, fun, and you can have a drink without sneaking it in a Nalgene bottle like you’re underaged and going to a college party. Why there aren’t more theaters like this is beyond me. The McMenamins, if you haven’t heard of them, have bought up and renovated a whole slew of old buildings in the area and turned them into legitimately cool places to hang out, while also preserving some local history. At first you feel a bit like you’ve entered McMenamin Kingdom rather than Portland, which is a little weird, but once you realize what the McMenamins have done with their apparent scads of money, it’s pretty cool.
Okay... I’m having a bit of a hard time writing about Portland because nothing negative, uncomfortable, or embarrassing happened there. Which is great for us, but it makes for a fairly boring blog entry. My apologies. Blame Portland for being comfortable, invitig, and consistently cool. And on that note, I forgive you, Oregon, your mediocre coastal towns and your tweakers in the mountains for the artsy, eco-friendly, make-you-feel-like-a-local-in-the-first-20-minutes haven that is Portland. If you can produce a city like that, then whatever you want to do with the rest of your state is just fine. You can even insist on pumping my gas. I will gladly wait in the car, daydreaming about Portland’s many microbrews and bookstore coffee houses.
I have no funny stories for you, so we’re going to do this a little differently this time:
The Cup & Saucer - On Hawthorne, kickass little breakfast joint. Good food and a good atmosphere. The kind of place every neighborhood should have but few actually do. The waiter almost spilled a pitcher of water on us, dropped several menus on the table, and seemed generally confused throughout our meal, but the rest of the experience was so good that he just added charm.
Stumptown Coffee - A Portland staple. You can find their coffee beans all over Portland, and in other cities as well, but they also have a few coffee shops. The one I went to was on Belmont and it lived up to my coffee shop expectations, which are generally high and particular. I didn’t time it right, but there are also free daily coffee tastings next door.
Japanese Gardens - Surprisingly expensive, but beautiful. Strangely, my favorite part was the view of the city from the gardens, with Mt. Hood behind it. The perspective made it look like the mountain was floating in the sky above Portland.
Rose Gardens - Not as beautiful as the Japanese Gardens, but free. Plus, any time you can be in a city and walk through row after row of roses, it’s a nice thing.
Vintage Shopping - So, so many cool little vintage shops that are set up like boutique stores with pricing like thrift shops. Surprise bonus - there’s no sales tax in Oregon.
Doug Fir Lounge - In East Burnside, this bar/music venue is a must see for the decor alone - a perfect log cabin/modern architecture hybrid. The band we saw there was crap (heavily influenced by Three Doors Down and Creed, with an overzealous bassist and a keyboardist in his 50s with gut-length curly red hair), but, in Doug Fir’s defense, it was a Monday night and the cover charge was about the price of a beer.
The Farm Cafe - Also in East Burnside. This great little restaurant specializes in local, farm fresh ingredients and was a perfect birthday dinner for this tofu and produce-loving vegetarian. Plus, their coffee ice cream/fudge brownie dessert was a molten bowl of heaven.
Alberta - A neighborhood that is much like Hawthorne, but a bit quieter, which makes it a delightful little surprise when you find its incredible little art galleries, vintage shops, food carts, and coffee shops - especially...
Barista - In Alberta neighborhood, on Alberta. Minimalist but stylish decor, serious coffee. While in Portland, I also learned that Intelligentsia - which I recommended in LA - is based in Chicago. So, go to the one there too, I guess.
Lucky Labrador Beer Hall - Good local beer, decent food, and a dog-friendly patio. Excellent for two road-weary travelers who miss their family pooches.
Cargo - A huge store in the Pearl District where you could spend hours finding strange little knickknacks from all over the world, as well as some incredible antique furniture pieces. Walk around long enough, and you’ll convince yourself that what your apartment really needs is a collection of vintage typewriter keys and a mannequin head.
Best Overheard Quote in Portland (in an urgent voice, heavy German accent): “Hello! My name is Gunther! I come from Germany! I am looking for a room!”
Relax, Gunther, you’ve come to the right place. Portland is the best American city this girl’s been to thus far.
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