We lounge around while Tom checks us out of the hotel.
A wonderful son! His smile always cheers me.
Ben gave us a mini-tour of the off-beat and interesting things near our hotel. First stop, the Voodoo Doughnut shop, a favorite haunt of locals.
Weird decor, unusual doughnut flavors, and friendly counter-culture employees made this quite an adventure.
So many items to choose from!
We decided to buy the Voodoo Dozen and let the shop pick our selections. (Yes, we ended up with 13. I took this as the guy was loading up the pink box.) We each took bites from every flavor - like a bizarre wine tasting only we didn't swish and spit. Bubblegum (pink one in picture) was gross, but the grape (not pictured) was tasty. The one with the orange frosting in the picture had a nutmeg and orange flavor. Quite good.
A thoughtful reminder that sorrow exists and we who are in good places are better people to remember and honor.
After a quick stroll though the Saturday Market we drove over to Powell's Bookstore, the biggest, funkiest bookstore I've ever been in. I've purchased used books online but have never been to an actual store.
A map is necessary in order to find the topic one is looking for as there are three floors encompassing nine huge 'rooms' Amazing!
"There is simply no place in America like Powell's. No bookstore is so big or so meticulously organized, and none has such a psychic hold on so large a community." ~~ John Balzar, Los Angeles TimesI found good prices on two Italian language reference books and Cassie and Caroline found some children's books written in French for reading practice. We reigned ourselves in, but it was oh, so hard. Getting away with a few language books was getting off easy. Forget the kid in the candy store, man, leaving here was torture!
Loving all things Italian, of course we had to duck into this gelato cafe for a tiny sampling.
Again with the decisions! I went with an authentic Italian sweet cream flavor. Warm day + cold gelatto = MMMM!
The above photos were taken at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) where we'd taken in an IMAX movie and snooped around the museum on Saturday afternoon. The last photo is of the giant projector used for the IMAX movies, the black vertical lines are the huge film ascending and descending as the movie plays. We watched Adrenaline Rush - and it was!
Portland is a beautiful city. Both Tom and I have lived there in the past at different times. Fun to visit in friendly weather.
It's good to be home again in our smaller berg where the air is noticeably fresher, the tempo slower, the green spaces plentiful, and the living easy.
Hope you enjoyed my showing and telling of the adventure!
Now we gear up for our annual Fourth of July party here at home. Friends coming over, Tom's got a new bbq ribs recipe he's going to try out, and more!
Gotta love summer!
6 comments:
OK, I so want to go to that totally awesome doughnut shop! OMG! It looks amazing! And you can't beat gelato!
You'd love the Voodoo, WC. Had to wait in line for about 20 minutes - popular place! Worth it. I LOVE creative places that are out of the ordinary. This one fit the bill perfectly.
And ditto about gelato!
You did the town up right! Portland is the big city I know best and still love. I stood reading pregnancy books in Powell's, only a few weeks pregnant with Victoria, of course more than twenty years ago. Tim worked not far away on Burnside.
I want to get back to OMSI, but I have to pass on the IMAX, or sit through the feature with eyes closed (as I did during field trips). It makes me queasy!
Portland is an interesting city. A city of extremes.
I, too, have to close my eyes on occasion when in the IMAX, Deanna. Some movies are worse than others. This one was a quease-maker as you can imagine, but it was really interesting, even inspiring.
That bookstore looks like heaven!
What a great adventure you all had.
Wow... don't know anything much about Portland, other than that it exists and there is a small seaside town called Portland on the coast of Victoria Australia! Looks like a nice place and great to see you guys having a fantastic time!! woohoo!
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