Portland day 0: In search of a destination

Well, I found myself doing last-minute odds and ends for a few hours, so I didn't get much sleep after all. Arrived in Portland after an uneventful flight. The airport is kind of funky: blue, green, and purple carpeting; gold mobiles of mountains and such; benches shaped like fish, and a floor map of the area rivers.

I arrived at the hotel before check-in time, and the room wasn't ready yet. They stored my luggage, and I went off to get some food. I decided to go to Pioneer Place, which is a small, upscale mall that reminds me of Water Tower Place in Chicago. I didn't plan to shop, but I found a shirt that I liked, although I decided that I was too tired to make a decision about clothes. (There are several clothing stores nearby that interest me. I might do some shopping, but that's not what I came here for.) I ate and came back to the hotel. Got my key and retrieved my luggage.

By that point, I was so tired that I was tripping over myself and my luggage. <redface>A lesbian couple helped me wrestle with my suitcases when we were going up on the elevator. (I did manage the suitcases perfectly well in the San Jose and Portland airports. Honest. I think that the suitcases know when there's an audience.)</redface> One of the women eyed my stack of suitcases (roughly half my height) and cracked, "You're staying overnight, right?" I laughed and said, "How'd you guess?" She said, "We do that too." I said, "Well, one of the suitcases mainly has books, never mind the fact that Portland has good bookstores." "Oh, that one must be heavy then." When we got off of the elevator, she pointed out the direction to my room. I have no idea how she picked up my room number.

The hotel is across the street from a park along the river. My room has a view of the river through the trees. There was a festival going on in the park with live blues music. The music was great when I was unpacking, but then I wanted to take a nap. Eventually I tried anyways, but kept on drifting off and waking up. When I got up, I was dancing around the room as I was getting dressed. (Hmm, I've heard of a strip tease; I'm not sure what that was -;))

I'm fading fast. I'll finish this up tomorrow.

Portland Day 0 continued

I had planned to go check out the large, famous bookstore, Powell's City of Books. I was dismayed though to learn that it was over a mile away. I wasn't certain if I should walk over there at night or not.

I never feel so vulnerable as when I travel alone. (It doesn't stop me from going though.) Generally I try to avoid long walks in a strange city at night by myself. I was lecturing myself, telling myself Adrienne, you're from Chicago, but that's part of the reason that I'm paranoid. I know the rules of walking in a strange city by yourself (walk briskly, look like you know what you're doing even if you don't, and don't wave maps or guidebooks around). On the other hand, Erik and I got into a slightly nervewracking situation up in the City, and after we got out of it, he turned to me and said, "You've lost your big-city attitude!" It's true.) Anyway, I told myself that I should go, and if I felt uncomfortable, I could turn around. The one late-night restaurant was close to Powell's too, although an online description said that it was kind of a punk place and "if you're middle-aged, you'll feel out of place." Another online description pegged the area that Powell's and the restaurant was in as "the Glamour district", so I was thinking nightclub/gay? If so, a good place to walk at night.
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Portland Day 1: Waterfront Park

I was still feeling tired, so I decided to stick around downtown today. I have a book of Portland walks that's similar to the one that I used in Raleigh, and I picked a walk along the river.

First, I wanted to get lunch. I picked out a restaurant online (how do people travel without laptops?) and headed out. However, the restaurant was closed (because of Labor Day?) and I saw other restaurants that were closed. I decided to go back to the Burger King of the Surly Security Guard and see if it was open. It was, and I had lunch.

Then I headed to McCall Waterfront Park. It's a park that runs along the river in the downtown area. It was a perfect day for the walk; it was a little hot, but the sky and the water were bright blue. The park was packed with people walking, bicycling, and rollerblading. There were a lot of people hanging out. A woman had an ice cream cart attached to a bicycle, and was calling out "ice cream!" A group of guys responded "you scream!" Another guy was trying to sell his bicycle.

Partway down is the Japanese American Historical Plaza. It honors the Japanese-American citizens who were sent to internment camps during World War II. It's shaped like a crescent. At one end, there is a plaque explaining about the internment camps. At the other end, there is a copy of the Bill of Rights. In between the plaques, there are stones with poetry and quotes from people who were in the camps. I was particularly moved by the one in the picture.

The music festival was still going on in the park, so I detoured around it by crossing the street. As I continued to walk down, I was jolted to see some buildings that were identified as a Portland branch of the World Trade Center. I looked to see if they had some sort of acknowledgment of 9/11, but they didn't.

The walk ends up near the Riverplace Hotel and shops. I would like to stay at the Riverplace Hotel sometime. I checked out the shops, and then decided to head back up to Pioneer Place to look at the shirt that I saw yesterday.

I bought the shirt, and had dinner in the food court of Pioneer Place. The stall for the Paradise Bakery and Cafe promised "a taste of Paradise" and they weren't kidding. I had a sandwich with chicken salad and walnuts that might be the most delicious sandwich that I've ever had. Their carrot cake was very good too.

Walking about four miles in the heat had really wiped me out (or I'm getting old -;). I thought about going to a movie, but decided that I just wanted to go back to the hotel. The music was still playing up to about an hour ago, so I've been updating LJ.

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