Courthouse
We stopped at the Portland Visitor's Center to get a map and some information on what to see and where.
Then we headed to THE RIVER. Portland is dominated by the Willamette River. With all the bridges, a river walk, a boat cruise, parks, bike path, and trees it is a wonderful addition to this city.
Portland is known as the "Rose City". They just had their festival this past weekend. The roses were beautiful.
Of course, Marsha had to see all the monuments and take pictures of all the interesting buildings. At least it's pretty level here.....not like our walking tour of San Francisco. It's actually a pretty easy city to get around. We parked the car in one of the city lots and walked all over the downtown area.
The architecture is lovely.
We stopped at Powell City of Books. It covers an entire city block, four-stories high and is HUGE. If you can't find a book in there, it hasn't been published!
They have color-coded rooms to help visitors find that special book.
This is the first bookstore that offered a color-coded map. They have 100 sub-divisions of books.
We stopped at the historic Portland Library. An architectural pleasing building with gorgeous stone work and unique stair cases.
We had a delicious and inexpensive lunch at Henry's Tavern. We HIGHLY recommend this place. It is right by Powell's. There are 100's of places to eat including an area packed with food wagons.
Portland is famous for their “Bubblers.” There are 52 four-bowl Bubblers and 74 one-bowl bubblers. Simon Benson donated the money for the original 20 bronze drinking fountains in 1912, and they then became know as Benson Bubblers. We did not sample the water though.
While we were walking in the artsy district, we notice a ton of people in the park. Marsha walked over to one of the guides who was stopping walking traffic and asked him what was going on. They tape the show Leverage in Portland. It is on the TNT channel. We know NOTIHING about the show. We watched this one guy do the same walk a dozen times. No wonder it takes so long to make a show.
Ever see a sidewalk wine tasting kiosk? Portland has them, and the people were lined up for free tastes. Need to do this when we get back downtown.
We were told that Portland is a very liberal city. By doing a bit of people watching, we got a taste of the liberal side.
Our signs for the day come from Portland, OR, in front of the park area.
Just a quick update. The noise from I-205 is much better at night (Remember we are camped at the Elks bordering I-205.). There is still traffic but not quiet as much. YEA!
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!
So glad to 'hear' the overnight noise wasn't so bad.
ReplyDeleteWow...what a bookstore. Really proud that you could tear yourself away to see the rest of the city.
Free wine tasting on the streets of Portland? What a thought...which goes well with the bubblers...which would be the reading of that sign pose a challenge.
The roses in the International Rose Test Garden were beautiful when we were there. The view of Mt. Hood from the garden was breathtaking.
Glad you are having some good whether and seeing the sights. Portland does have some beautiful areas. Tried a Voodoo donut yet?
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ReplyDeleteBTW...We enjoy Leverage. What fun to see them filming...filming...filming...filming...zzzzz. Leverage follows a five-person team: a thief, a grifter, a hacker and a retrieval specialist, headed up by former insurance investigator Nathan Ford, who use their skills to right corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens.
ReplyDeleteBased on the sign from the book store, I would spend my time in the 'gold room'. Great post...thank you.
ReplyDeleteGreat post...need me some of that green hair!
ReplyDeleteI knew you'd like Powell's Book Store. In addition to the main one you visited, there are also other little branches of special interest books close by. Downtown Portland is an easy to get around in. The Max takes you right to Old Town too. Glad you finally got a chance to warm up and take off those cute rain jackets you just bought.
ReplyDeleteBut did you know the river is pronounced WIL LAM ETTE. Took us years to know that.
ReplyDeletePortland has beautiful architecture!..we have only driven through on the I-5 and never stopped..we may have to make a stop one day!..
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour around Portland. It looks like a nice city and quite interesting. Love the wine tasting kiosks on the street. We are doing lots of people watching here in London too, boy there sure are some interesting ones to say the least.
ReplyDeleteKevin and Ruth
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com
When we went to visit our friends, who lived in Portland at the time, we had time to just go see one of the rose parks ... beautiful, and the aroma was heavenly. Thanks for showing us more of the city.
ReplyDeleteI just realized something. Lots of your blogs are about various cities. It made me realize we never take walks through cities and seldom even though small towns. We always look for Wildlife Refuges, etc. Perhaps we are missing some great experiences. Something to think about.
ReplyDeleteWe love our State of Oregon and it seems like you have experienced quite a bit of it. We also like Central and Eastern Oregon. Maybe next time you can experience a little bit of those places also. Glad the weather finally started cooperating with you.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the signs. Seems like you can get most anywhere from there. :)
ReplyDeleteWouldn't you just love to get a wrench and twist that sign pole about 90 degrees!! That would sure start some conversations.
ReplyDeleteGreat tour of downtown Portland. I think too often in our travels we forget about all the great things there are to see in the cities and towns we travel through.
I enjoyed the city of Portland. My nephew, who is like another son to me, works in Beaverton, but lives in Portland. We went to Powell's and ate dinner in a restaurant that allowed Jack in.
ReplyDeleteMy nephew works for Nike and he took us on a tour of the campus. INCREDIBLE! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take cameras with us.
The restrooms for the employees are like 5 start hotel restrooms.
They have "thinking rooms" for the employees.
Walking through the building was like walking in a museum. The grounds rival the best known gardens in the world.
Tributes to athletes are out of this world.
Yes, Portland is a great city. All of Oregon is great.
I visited Oregon in August. John was not with me (I was there to find a good stud for our llama girls.) I fell in love with the Bend area and tried to talk John into moving there. Now look at us, we can live all over Oregon and anyplace else we choose....Starting two weeks from Monday!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pics of the older buildings in Portland. Glad you had such good weather for the visit.
ReplyDeleteGotta get some of that green hair!