As we arrived in our fated land, we immediately felt as if we had left someone at home. Yes, our new (to-you) Subaru would feel completely at home in this amazing new world-- Portlandia. As would our Dog, where people value their dogs more than their children and love standing in line. It was a strange mirage to go from Detroit to one of the Whitest cities in the USA. But we managed to become accustomed to the culture shock. Immediately we immersed ourselves in the land where young people go to retire.
Monday night started out late as we got in to Portland at 10pm, but we were told by our lovely friend Emily that the main band had not yet gone on and we still had time, Phew! So we made our way through barbar to Mississippi St. Studios where the whitest crowd stood and slightly swayed (but not too much!) to the tunes of Agesandages (all one word), a new local band I would compare the styles to Of Monsters and Men or Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I tried to dance with Carl but he immediately put a kibosh on my shenanigans as we were in a Portland bar, where being too cool for school is cooler than dancing to the fun music that is playing. Carl fit right in.
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| So Zen |
On Tuesday we contemplated our belly-buttons at the Japanese Gardens in Washington Park. It was so Zen, and no you cannot take wedding photos there or have your wedding there-- they are so over weddings. But the view of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood are super gorgeous from there. We later stopped at Powell Books, did you know there are these places where you can get pretty much any book you are looking for, all from one store??? So we bought the Zinester's Guide to Portland, among other things because--well, when would we have the opportunity to do that again? I mean, who really buys books anymore anyway? Portlanders do! And we capped off the evening with one of Portlands 40 plus Brew-pubs.
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| Sad tale, closed sorry for the convenience.... |
Wednesday was our gateway to the outdoors as we traveled to Multnomah Falls and hiked up to the top. It was a great hike and then we realized once we got to the top that the passage to the top of the falls had a cave in and was currently closed.
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| Multnomah Falls |
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| Above Multnomah Falls |
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| Do a little dance... |
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| Ahh, The Shining |
But it's cool because we got our daily ego boost for hiking up the mile and a half vertical hike. After that we traveled to Mt. Hood to have lunch at Timberline, I don't know if you know this but that is where the outdoor scenes from The Shining were filmed. So we ate a late lunch, including some Moscow Mules (if you have to ask, you don't deserve to know) and soup and bread bowls. The St. Bernard was chillin' in the office per usual. When we got back we attended Trivia at Quizzissippi and placed happily along the median. Did you know that He-Mans' cat's name is Cringer/Battle Cat? Because Carl did. In the end we topped off the night with some Old Dirty Bastards and Cock-n-balls, and if you didn't already know, those are doughnut flavors from Voodoo Donuts. The worlds best and most creative donut shop.
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| ODB and Tang! |
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| Yes, there is real bacon on that doughnut |
On Thursday we had the pleasure of a meetup with the Conklin family, we went on a short hike and saw a little bit of the Arb/Forest Park. Then we ate at a fun Vegan place that came highly recommended by Mira and Goose, and ended our day of fun with some more doughnuts from Voodoo...did you know they make Vegan Doughnuts? Mira did! And she got a discount due to her participation in the Rose City Rollers Rec League! We got home in time to celebrate Paloma's birthday and then hit the hay.
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| Conklin's trying to make sense of the bjorn |
Friday Carl and I decided we would see Portland the way it was meant to be seen-- By Bike! So we rented bikes, drove around town on all the bike lanes, headed over to distillery row for a tasting. And I swear I did taste a little of those Fennel notes that she was talking about...but other than that it was way over our heads (or taste buds). But we left with a big bottle of White Dog to enjoy once we make it home. Emily met up with us and we had some smoothies at Prasad, a Yoga studio that is sooooo00ooo much more than a yoga studio. And then we drove our bikes back up to N. Portland during bike rush hour...man, those people are serious about their bike commutes! Tweet Tweet, I'm BIKIN' HErE! On our way we stopped to check out "In Other Words" the feminist bookstore seen in Portlandia, and I almost got a copy of the feminist mystique but realized I had a copy already at home waiting for me. In the evening we met up with Mira and Auggie at the Hanger for a Bout between the Rose City Rollers and the Denver Bruising Altitude. It was fun and I think we actually learned the rules, among other things.
Saturday was a day full of Markets, we went to Farmers Market so that we could stand in a long line and wait 10 minutes for coffee and 25 minutes for biscuit sandwiches (worth it). And then it was on to the Saturday market to view some art, and if that wasn't enough we made our way over to Crafty Wonderland-- which it was, I wanted a little of everything but managed to take hold of my inner impulse buyer. Saturday evening was spent with Emily and Adam in the Portland Underground. We learned the true meaning of what it meant to be Shanghaied! And we also learned that some folks are more excited about this part of Portland's history than others. It was interesting to see this side of the city's history, though. We ended the evening (or so we thought) with Pok Pok, and some really yummy thai. But as we were trying to sleep we were distracted by the party that was occurring a few houses down from the back of Emily's house. It escalated to a fight that ended in wailing and a police officer saying in a calm voice "So, your party got a little out of hand, did it?" And no, it was not us who called the police.
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| Portlanders love waiting in line for food |
Sunday we traveled to Cornelius to see Eric preach and hang out with the Conklins again, then in the evening after a nap we headed up to Mt. Tabor for a picnic. How can one city have so many awesome large parks?
Monday was the last day in town for us...so we did what anyone would do. We went to Goodwill and a few other vintage stores. And we went to see The Lorax at St. John Theatre and Pub. Carl thought it fitting to see the anti-establishment movie at such a time as this, and in Portland no less. And afterwards, after one last Fresh Strawberry shake, Emily took us back to the airport to fly home on the red eye. As we woke up on the plane coming into Detroit it was as if it was all a dream. The place really is too good to be true.
