Portland, Oregon Travelogue:

November, 2004 visit.

What makes Portland tick? Why the competition between Seattle and Portland. I think of Oregon for the signs they used to post – “Come and visit, and then leave” or something like that, but that was before my daughter went to college there and I started visiting regularly. But last week was the first time in 20 yrs, and what a change I saw. The first thing to strike me was the beautiful airport, which is a showpiece of design, art, and carolers singing in the ‘secure area’.

On arrival, expect fatigue is going to set in, and you head to the baggage area. The bright light at the end of the tunnel, however, is the realization that there’s a great public transportation system, referred to as the Max. The Red Line and the Blue Line have nothing to do with politics. The smart money stays at Lloyd’s Center, because the Doubletree Inn is first-class, easy to reach and only a stone’s throw from the Shopping Center, which is state of the art, with an ice rink, and all the ‘usual’ stores. But the big plus is the Dollar Tree occupying what used to be a Five and Dime Store just behind the center. There is also a retirement high rise home to the East, and a movie theatre complex next to that.

The Doubletree was a cop-out for me, because I was attending a conference there, but I’d recommend it nevertheless. They have several restaurants with excellent food, and even free internet services for hotel guests. The prices were also quite modest. The indoor glass enclosed elevators make the flight up a scenic one, especially at night with the lights of the city. The rooms are spacious and have two lavatories, which is a handy feature. The beds have huge down comforters, which make it difficult to regulate the temperature under them, but the large paneled doors leading to the private balcony help a lot when the thermostat has limits.

My all-too-brief visits into the city were also so pleasant. It’s nice to be driven around, and on this occasion, my friends drove me to their home on Terwilliger Blvd. Now, this is a long street that changes its name every few miles, but I was familiar with it, as it leads to Lewis and Clark College. But I never realized it was a wooded area of 5 miles or so en route south. All of a sudden, in the middle of all this, stands a lone house, and it belongs to my friends who have lived here for 40 years. It was delightful to find such a private spot in the middle of the rustic setting. It was a short drive to Beaverton, where we settled on a trendy restaurant for dinner, called Saylor’s Country Kitchen. Altho’ they have a free meal if you can eat their 72 oz. steak, I didn’t chance that, and selected a modest 6 oz. tenderloin. But the big attraction there is their onion rings, you must order!

My other venture was to visit one of the two American Youth Hostels there, which is the NE/ Nob Hill section of town. This, too, was a well kept part of town, with older homes that showed gentle caring. The streets are alphabetical, so Glisson Ave. was easy to find, and the next street, which I suspect started with an “H” has many shops and restaurants on it, not unlike most University avenues. Very trendy, but warm and welcoming.

There was not time to visit some of the regular places I used to frequent, but I would mention some of these … John’s Landing is an arcade right on the Williamette River with many nice arts/crafts/shops. Also, Powell’s Bookstore is quite famous, and a treasure to visit, however, they now have several branches all over town, including Beaverton and Gresham. The Arts and Graphics supply store is also a big, well-stocked store, and the nice feature is that everything is within walking distance of the Max public transportation system.

This is a fleeting view of Portland, but next time you have the urge to go somewhere special for the weekend, I’d recommend you fly on down to this lovely city of the Northwest.

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