Thursday, May 23, 2013

Really Random, 5/23/13: Portlandia

Mark and I were in Portland last week for quilt market. There are lots of market-related posts already up, showing everything from fabric lines coming out in fall to pictures of booths, fabric and pattern designers, book writers, etc. I decided instead of posting my pictures of mostly the same things, I'll give you a little snapshot into our days in the beautiful city of Portland, pretty much in the order I took them.

For you Beatles fans, I really liked the name of this bead shop, just around the corner from our hotel.
The first evening, we had happy hour at one of our favorite places, the Portland City Grill, which is on the 30th floor of a bank building just a couple of blocks away. Beautiful view.
(this is one of my favorite pictures...)

They definitely know how to recycle in this city. This was in the lobby of the bank building.
Pioneer Square is known as "Portland's living room." Our first grandchild, Caleb, was born in Portland. If you are regular reader, you know that he passed away after three days. Aaron and Christa had a memorial brick installed with his name. It's always nice to find it, and spend some time in reflection.
I always wonder why people spend the money on a brick, only to misspell a word.
(right there in the center, "your" so cool?)
One of my favorite statues. I should have taken a picture of all the people who stood next to him holding an umbrella, trying to duplicate his stance.
We need one of these in our shower at home. So handy to have it mounted on the wall.
If you have watched the TV show Portlandia, you may be familiar with the expression "put a bird on it." 
While asking a random stranger about whether I was on the light rail train going in the proper direction (we took the light rail everywhere--no need to rent a car), it turned out she wasn't a random stranger after all. She was Anna Griffin, THE Anna Griffin. And I got to chat with her almost all the way back to our hotel.
Lunch at Deschutes Brewery where they have over 100 beers on tap. Even though neither one of us are beer drinkers, we sampled...
Back to Portland City Grill, this time for a nighttime view.
Our hotel, The Benson, is over 100 years old.

Beautiful lobby.
The Benson "bubblers" are in lots of places downtown, iconic drinking fountains with an interesting history.

Portlanders like to support local businesses. We had breakfast three mornings at
The Original, where they had ketchup (sorry, I just can't call it "catsup"--that always seems weird to me) made locally.
Need directions to someplace?
Okay, though we tried to get donuts at Voodoo Donuts, where they are open 24 hours a day,
the line was always like this (even at 11 p.m.!) Oh, how I wanted a bacon maple bar.
Meanwhile, back in Minnesota (yes, I digress), they had tennis ball-sized hail.
However, we were able to get some yummy chocolate at Moonstruck Chocolate:

And when it was (sadly) time to take the light rail back to the airport, we saw this guy, all silver, probably waiting for the next train to take him to.....well, I'm not sure. Where do you go when you are all silver?

Your turn.









24 comments:

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Susan said... #

It sure looks like you had a great time! And Portland appears to be a wonderful city - fantastic bubblers and Pioneer Square....a beautiful tribute to Caleb.

MB in MI said... #

thankyou for taking us along to Portland--really enjoyed your pictures and post...

Mary said... #

Wow! Looks like fun! We know a band my cousin plays with once in a while and they are located in Portland. I would love to go and see the sites and the band! I didn't realize what a lovely city it is.

Lee said... #

Great pictures of Portland, Cindy - I'm sorry we couldn't hang out more! The misspelled brick is hilarious, although I will say that we bought a brick for my oldest daughter at a playground. It says "Down on in the slide!" because for some reason that's what my daughter always said about slides when she was about 18 months old. People probably see that brick and think we screwed up somehow, when in reality it's a direct quote. LOL.

Needled Mom said... #

I loved seeing the other side of Portland. It is such a great city and it is fun to see how you captured it in photos.

Svetlana said... #

oh, how totally fun. Wonderful pictures and I love reading all your fun commentaries.

Lucy | Charm About You said... #

Fabulous post, I love all your randomness. That bead shop has the best name!! I think the brick is a lovely idea xx

Terri said... #

How fun that you got to go to quilt market again, AND visit Portland. I've always wanted to visit Portland, and now I do even more. Love seeing all the statues and fun places you checked out.

Vicki said... #

I love your picture journal! It must have been wonderful to be in that beautiful city. Your 'really random' blogs are wonderful. Just a peak into the life of you two. Thanks!!

Linda in Calif. said... #

What a wildly entertaining post. My mother lives about an hour from Portland, yet I've never been there. After this post I think I should. I really don't know where I would go if I were all silver, maybe to Voodoo Donuts. It would make the wait seem shorter.

Celtic Thistle said... #

Sounds like a great trip, that mis-spelled brick would drive me mad!

Karen W. said... #

My best friend and I are going to Portland to celebrate her birthday. I may have to relive part of your trip! "Put a bird on it" is hilarious. You guys should come up for Art in the Pearl someday. An amazing art festival in the Pearl District on Labor Day weekend. It was lovely to see you!!

Susan at TheBoredZombie.com said... #

Looks like an awesome vacation! I've never been anywhere near there so I enjoyed your pictures for sure. Thanks for sharing!

Mrs Flying Blind... said... #

Oh you Americans and your Donuts!
Glad you had a great trip xxx

Katy Cameron said... #

I'd love to get to Portland eventually, maybe in a couple of years I'll try the drive up the west coast from LA. Love your random stranger too, why do I only ever find the weirdos?!

Janine @ Rainbow Hare said... #

Looks like an amazing trip! Thanks for the virtual vacation :)

JHNickodemus said... #

What a great trip! So jealous!

Betty said... #

Thank you SOOOO much for this wonderful tour of downtown Portland. While I've enjoyed all the other market pics, you brought us the really cool stuff! I've been to Portland a couple of times, but always on business and, unfortunately, I didn't get to see it's best features. Someday, again!

OPQuilt said... #

Cindy-as usual, I learned a lot from your blog. Didn't know about the name for those 4-way drinking fountains and now I do. I forgot you had a brick for Caleb at Pioneer Square--I'll have to have you give me directions next time I go there. (Boy, these comments are random, but you know why.) And I love that you had on your very cool raincoat! But the only thing you didn't explain is why the expression "put a bird on it" relates to Portland--is it because they have a lot of birds? (I'm completely in the dark, here.)

I quoted you today on a blog post I wrote (to publish next Tuesday). You are a fab quilting partner!

Elizabeth E.
opquilt.com

lindaroo said... #

What a fun tour of Portland! Of course, when asking directions, you would meet the very talented Anna Griffin! I would have gushed, surely you were more sophisticated!
My daughter lives in Portland, and we've enjoyed our visits there so much. The food carts! The hikes! Powell's, music shops, and amazing craft boutiques! The coffee, and so many great restaurants. I think I'm ready for another visit!

Mama Pea said... #

I missed posting this Thursday. Sorry. I loved your post about Portland. Very cool that you got to meet Anna Griffin! The wine glass photos is one of my favorites, too. I had fun reading this!

Kelli said... #

I loved your view of Quilt Market by showing us what we missed outside of the Convention Center. That wine glass photo is amazing and how sweet to visit Caleb's brick.

Carla said... #

Thanks for sharing your Portlandia experience with us, Cindy! I think that the brick idea is so sweet...you should make a brick quilt in that pattern someday. The wine glass photo is soooo clever!

Pieced Brain Quilt Designs said... #

Love your blog... :-)