No problem there! Portland is very weird. But, I love it! It seems like a town where you can be you, no matter who you are. One problem with downtown Portland, however, is that it smells like pee everywhere. Sometimes it smelled like poo too, but I didn't want to dwell on why that was. Colin was on to it when he said, "Boy, there's lots of hobos here." Yep, there are a lot of hobos here.
Indeed, the best tasting donut in the most quirky and eclectic place. When we actually went there for our treat, it was nighttime. It's the optimal time to go because the dark showcases their creepy decor, funky mood lighting and music, not to mention it's bohemian employees. But seriously, it's about the donuts. I got the "Portland Creme", Matt got the maple bar with actual bacon on top and Colin enjoyed a chocolate-iced donut covered in M&Ms. I'm amazed we didn't succumb and get a dozen!
On our way to the Thirsty Lion Pub & Grill for beer & bar food - yes, with Colin because in Portland kids can be in bars during mealtimes (ingenious!)- we stumbled across the 2009 3-on-3 Street Soccer Tournament. I never even knew there was such a thing. The players were actually from all over the world. The pitch is quite small, set up right on the street and the goals were just cut outs in the wood-panel fencing. During the match we saw, the guys were getting pretty scrappy and would often smash into the sides pretty hard. Colin said, "Cool, I'll play that kind of soccer. You don't have to run a lot!"
Here's the real reason we went to Portland for the weekend... we came to see the Tacoma Rainiers play the Portland Beavers at PGE Park. It's a really nice stadium, maybe not as a cool as the Safe, but way better than Cheney Stadium I'm sorry to say. However, Tacoma is the better team.
Not sure what the rubber band face sculpture is trying to say art wise, but it makes a silly picture!
Their mascot, Lucky, the beaver. I'm pretty sure that Rhubarb would kick his a**!
Even though Colin was cheering for Tacoma, he did buy a Portland hat. And, it was free cheep, plastic "made in china & probably poisoned with lead paint" bat and ball night!
Love taking Max to get around town. We took the Cascade Train to Portland and with not having a car, the light rail made it super easy. There is a station right across from PGE Park and one not far from Union Station. You can almost pretend you're in Europe, except when aboard Amtrak, of course. Riding the rails in the U.S. is nothing like riding in Europe or Asia! Did you know that Amtrak actually will often oversell their routes by 10%? But, unlike the airlines, they do not bump passengers and give them free tickets when everyone shows up. Instead they just pack everyone on the train. We learned this piece of trivia on the way down. We had to luck out on finding a dining car table instead of getting our reserved seats that we paid for.
Hmmm... Pizza Schmizza! A must-have when in the Rose City.
Stumptown Coffee - our new must do while in Portland. (Although there's one in Seattle too.) Excellent coffee, both prepared and beans. Wonderful artsy coffee shop atmosphere. And, tre' cool people watching. I can totally understand why Mike Doughty likes to hang out here when in Portland.
Matt and Colin had gone to Ground Control, a classic video arcade, and I instead hung out at Stumptown being the non-gamer noob that I am. It was great to sip my Americano, write in my journal and play a new game I made up called, "Homeless or Just Dressed Like One?" In some cases, it was quite difficult.
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