Today Brad and I took a break from our busy vacationing schedules to behave like normal adults might behave on a weekend afternoon, flitting around the city, in and out of places with no particular destination in mind. We left Mt. Rainier, arriving in Portland by noon. All of Lonely Planet's budget recommendations were booked up, so we found a generic motel in SW Portland and headed out for the city. Portland doesn't have any major landmarks to visit, per se; it's more a city to live in than to visit, but we luckily were armed with great recommendations from Megan of where to go.
We started out with brunch at Gravy...I normally don't like brunch in general, but all this camping plus homesickness for New York has left me really craving it. The street reminded me of Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, and with the hour-plus wait for a table, it was just like being back home (and it was delicious). We followed that with a trip to the famous Powell's Books, which I'd been anticipating and dreading the whole trip--anticipating because of all the great things I've heard about it, and dreading it because I figured it couldn't possibly live up to expectations. But I'm a total convert, and I could happily spend weeks there. The prices are great (even on new books), and it far surpasses the Strand in ease and organization. Also, they do a great job of recommendations and lists of various prizes and awards to help you figure out what you're looking for when you don't really know. I left with 5 books (about $30 total!!) and had to restrain myself from buying more since I've already bought a bazillion books since finishing grad school now that I have the time to read fiction.
If bookstores are one of my all-time favorite things, so are movies in the afternoon, and Portland has this incredible thing where there are several movie theaters where fairly recent movies are $3, and they will serve you decently-priced microbrews and pizza while you watch the movie, which is pretty much my idea of heaven. I could barely walk from eating too much at brunch, so pizza was out of the question, but it was nice to have the option. We saw Paper Heart, which was decent and certainly much better than either of us thought it would be. Portland had won me over completely by then, but we also made time for a quick walk around the park, tacos at Por Que No, Connect Four and a beer at a bar, and fancy dessert at a down-to-earth patisserie.
Portland's vibe has a hint of Park Slope, with the sort of self-satisfaction that goes along with being into biking and organic food, and Portlanders are clearly into their city (understandably). More than any other place we've been to so far on the trip, it's a place to experience rather than visit, and it was a really nice break to be in such a relaxing, low-key environment with so many choices to spend a great day (or year).
-M
*They were out of sloe gin.
-B
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