Nieces in Portland!

click to enlarge photos

What to do in Portland, the Disneyland of Food?  Well, eating is one thing. 

Let’s see. . .  We poked our heads into the following: Daily Café in the Pearl, Blue Star Donuts, Pine State Biscuits, Stammtisch, food cart on Alberta, 3 Doors Down, Lovejoy Bakers, Koi Fusion, The Hazel Room (great breakfast),  Secret Society, Toro Bravo, Piazza Italia.

Other activities / sights:  Pittock Mansion, Rose Garden, PediTaxi, Comedy Open Mic (where Rachele was the class of the night), pedicures, and vintage shops.  Neighborhoods of Alberta Street, Hawthorne Blvd., Division Street (n/k/a “D Street"), Clinton St., West End, The Pearl.

Rachele Friedland Comedy Tour Kills in Portland.

Other activities / sights:  Pittock Mansion, Rose Garden, PediTaxi, Comedy Open Mic (where Rachele was the class of the night), pedicures, and vintage shops.  Neighborhoods of Alberta Street, Hawthorne Blvd., Division Street (n/k/a “D Street"), Clinton St., West End, The Pearl. 

But most important, some quiet times for conversation and sharing. 

Bretzel at Stammtisch

Some more photos here.

Good Bye to Summer

Saturday was the last night of summer, 2013.  Considering how summer flew by, watching the Vaux’s Swifts swirl around Chapman School served as an appropriate good bye to summer.

Swifts congregate in large groups for their winter migration to Central America and Venezuela.  Thousands and thousands of them pass through Portland.  Several years ago, the Swifts decided the old chimney at the Chapman School, in Northwest Portland, was a good Motel 6. 

When people first noticed it, they had to work out what to do.  Do they fire up the furnace?  How can they manage the school and be kind to our feathered visitors? 

Years later, people congregate for the show.  The atmosphere is like any of the other free summer events – concerts in the park or movies in the park.   Some people bring blankets, chairs and food.  We all wait in eager anticipation. 

Then, the birds arrive. A few, at first.

The swifts fly around ana around.  Some look like they are about to descend into the chimney.  But, not yet. 

More swifts arrive.  The fly ‘round and ‘round, clockwise.  First, it’s a wider circle, like a carousel.  At the end, the circle tightens like a tornado.

Just like when people sit for fireworks, an occasional “ooh, or ahh” erupts spontaneously.  Last night, that happened when the peregrine falcon sped toward the chimney looking for a quick snack, scattering the swifts for awhile. 

The swifts fly above and behind the falcon, for safety, I suppose.  Then, they form up again, and swirl into the chimney until the falcon takes another run at them and they scatter again.

As the Chapman Chimney proves, once swifts find a good rest stop, they return year after year.  Once the humans find a good free show, we return, too.   

Mississippi evening marks the true start of summer in Portland.

There’s the calendar, then there’s the feel.  Friday night felt like summer, so did last night and this morning. 

N. Mississippi Avenue offers a few of the most vibrant blocks in Portland.  From about Skidmore to Freemont, the avenue is packed with restaurants, bars, ice cream shops and people on a summer night. 

This is a change from just two or three years ago.  The vacant condos have been sold, the storefronts have filled in, and some of the less successful operators have been replaced.  Now there is a density of attractive places.  We stopped for a beverage at Interurban, then grabbed food at the Koi Fusion food cart next to Prost!.  Prost! is smart enough to offer an attractive deck with stairs into the food cart pod, and it welcomes people with food from other places, so long as they buy booze from Prost!. 

From that north end, we meandered south, enjoying the warm evening, people watching, and, eventually, some really good ice cream from Ruby Jewel Scoops. 

Saturday morning found us relaxing on our deck with our coffee and tea.  Saturday evening, we joined an impromptu dinner at Gilt with 7 others before checking out the new wine bar called Remedy on the North Park Blocks.  So new, Remedy still had the faint smell of paint.  That commercial condo had been for sale for a while.  Remedy did a terrific job building it out to a very attractive setting.  We ended up at the McSordyl Condo, a/k/a “Party Party House.”

This morning, back on the deck with coffee, birds, flowers, clear skies and the forecast of (1) 90 degrees and (2) work on a Petition for Writ of Mandamus to the Oregon Supreme Court.  Because, after all, all play and no work would make Jeff a dull boy. 

Three Perfect Days In Portland: What are the Best Things To do: Intro.

What to do with three days in Portland?  It’s a challenge to set an itinerary for a visitor because there are so many wonderful things to do.  Tonight, brother Scott arrives. 

Outdoor adventures and tours can include the Pacific Coast on the far west and hikes around Mt. Adams on the far east.  Both only about a 90-minute to 2-hour drive.  River rafting the wild and scenic White Salmon River?  What about the wind surfing capital of the United States at Hood River, Oregon, 60 minutes away.  Closer still are the hikes up, around, and under waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

But the city is great, too.  Which of our favorite restaurants and coffee houses? Or food cart pods?  Which neighborhoods?  Alberta St.?  Pearl District?  The Farmers’ Market in the South Park Blocks is a must for Saturday Morning.  

Any sights worth seeing? Pittock Mansion for the overview?  Rose Garden (the garden, not the basketball arena)?  Maybe the current exhibit at the Portland Art Museum?

Maybe a jaunt to the nearby wine country.  But again, which of the 100+ wineries to visit?  How can I only pick 4 or 5 of them? 

Tonight he arrives.  Tomorrow, we start making these difficult decisions.