When I Am Older, I Want To Be Walking Tour Guide
I believe I have found my retired calling. I want to be proud of where I live. I want to still be exercising. I'd like to still hangout outside. Hmm, why not work for or start a walking tour company? I've always enjoyed showing people around who visit. This past weekend, I had the perfect opportunity. Jeff and Mark came from the East Coast. Neither had previously been to Portland, so I devised a slick little jaunt.
Let me preface our Saturday with a few facts:
- We spent Friday night at the Concordia Ale House. We spent too long a night at the Concordia Ale House.
- Weather wise, Saturday was the nicest day since we moved from Maryland.
- Pioneer Courthouse Square
- South Park Blocks
- Riverplace
- Gov Tom McCall Waterfront Park
- Voodoo Doughnut
- North Park Blocks
- Powell's City of Books
- Washington Park/Arlington Heights/Kings Hill Stairwalk
- NW 21st & NW 23rd
- Pub Crawl
Our first stop is "Portland's Living Room" or Pioneer Courthouse Square. Most Portlander's loathe the term. The square use to be a parking garage, but it is now a large open space the size of a city block. Since we are in the middle of the PDX Jazz Festival, free Jazz was featured in the square all afternoon. We caught the tail end of a classic set.
Our next stop was the South Park Blocks. This park runs West to East the length one city block. It continues North to South four about four city blocks. This area of the Southwest is considered a cultural center. Just off the park and coming from the square, we visited the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Dubbed the The Schnitz by locals, this building features the famous green Portland sign. The area also features the likes of the Portland Art Museum.
At the South end of the South Park Blocks, we jumped on the Portland Street Car. Our destination was Riverplace. Since our origin and destination were both in Fareless Square, the ride was free. Fareless Square is a 30 year plus Portland tradition that provides free public transportation to riders in the City Center.
Our Street Car ride wound through Portland State University toward the Willamette River. Riverplace is located on the South Waterfront. It is mostly new and comprised of apartments, hotels, shops and restaurants and a marina. The walk along the Willamette is beautiful. Near the end of the marina, you enter the South end of Gov Tom McCall Waterfront Park. This park lines the river on the West side of the city. It's name for Tom McCall because he commissioned the park. It use to be the location of I-5, but the interstate was moved to the East side of the river. When the weather is agreeable, you'll find the park buzzing with walkers, runner, bikers, picnickers and the like.
The park basically ends at the Burnside Bridge. The time of year was unfortunate. We crossed directly through the closed Saturday Market grounds to reach Old Town. Our next destination was Voodoo Doughnut. It is an extraordinary doughnut shop. Their slogan reads, "The Magic is in the hole." I choose a maple topped with acutal bacon. Awesome. Jeff was the only other person to grab a doughnut. He had bubble gum. They don't disappoint, but maybe that is due to the high content of sugar.
At this point, everyone was becoming weary (read: i was in a doughnut comma). A break was due, and Old Town has plenty of options. We decided upon the Thirsty Lion Pub & Grill. The pub features soccer, so we were sold. The food wasn't bad either. Chicken fingers helped me gather strength. Unfortunately, we decide against the Stairwalk. It was already late in the afternoon, and we didn't want to try and accomplish too many activities.
Leaving Old Town, we walked through the North Park Blocks. Its nowhere near as nice as the South Park Blocks. We continued quickly to Powell's. This bookstore is a Portland landmark. The staff can be iffy, but it is general an inviting place to look for and find reading material. Jeff snapped a black and white photo of the Kurt Vonnegut section. I'd like to see that one.
Just across the street from Powell's is the Buffalo Exchange. It is a used clothing store that always has gems. Mark almost bought a pair of bright blue Adidas. I haven't had any luck lately, but have scored some good pieces in the past.
At this point, the sun was starting to set. We headed toward NW 21st and NW 23rd on W Burnside. At the corner of E Burnside and SW Stark sits Ringlers Annex. This building is shaped in a triangle. McMenamins purchased the property and transformed the place with their signature style. With seats on SW Stark, the upstairs Annex Bar is a perfect spot for people watching the lively surroundings. I thoroughly enjoyed this moment. The sun was streaking the sky with soft colors. I was drinking a tasty Nitro Cream Ale. Friends were circled around the table. It was genuinely relaxing and exciting. As the sun began to completely set, we decided to walk downstairs to the Cellar Bar. It turned out to be a cozy pub; the bar was intricately decorated with inlaid glass. The rest of the pub featured hardwood. It is a sight to see. We had begun our Pub Crawl.
After few rounds of McMenamins Ales and even a few PBRs, we climbed up the stairs to street level. I wanted to visit the New Old Lompoc. Its all the way up NW 23rd, so we caught a cab. The cabby was generally angry at the world and not very nice to us. It seems to me this attitude permeates the Portland service industry. He did know the way, and we made it to the pub. Our experience was decent, but the waitress was a bit dicey. My burger hit the spot. I do enjoy a nice pint of Nitro LSD. Everyone else liked the brews and food. It wasn't anything too exciting, but we did have a good dinner.
After exiting the New Old Lompoc, we walked South on NW 23rd. The guys got to see all the boutiques. Its more of a girl centric street, so we quickly crossed over to NW 21st. 21st is lined with pubs, restaurants, coffee shops and even a small movie theater. We choose the Gypsy Restaurant and Velvet Lounge as our next waterhole. I've read good things in the Mercury. Unfortunately, I don't wholeheartedly agree. The non pool hall side looked like an office party from 1985. Someone thought a country western and hardcore rap mix was a good jukebox choice. They even seemed to be out of three of the five taps. I will say this, the pool is decent. There was plenty of room to shoot a few games.
Our next stop on the tour was the Rogue Ales Portland Public House. I've always loved this pub. The staff is courteous and helpful each and every time. Not only is this contrary to many other places, but you need the help when deciding from the extension selection of craft brews! However, I had ulterior motives for tonight's visit. Rogue was hosting Scrambled Ape as part of the PDX Jazz Festival. The band was setup in the main dining room corner. We had to wait a round or so for seats, but it was well worth it. I am now a fan of "Cartoon Jazz" even though I am still not sure what it is.
The night was waning, so we tried one more stop. A few blocks from Rogue is the BridgePort Brewing Company. It is too bad we just missed last call. I really like their beer, and I think they guys would as well. Lucky for us, Slabtown hadn't closed its doors. You can see their orange sign for blocks and blocks. It wasn't crowded. We took up residence at the air hockey table. Its so cheap for a game. Just 50 cents! I played fairly well, but I can't remember the last time I played. We closed the night down with one last PBR.
What a very long day! I can't believe we pulled off even part of the schedule. We had started in the hole from Friday night. I hope everyone enjoyed the walk! I know I had fun. Portland is a great town for walking. Its not too large, but its packed with fun. Of course, we have a few pubs. I hope my choices didn't disappoint. I think my favorites were Ringlers Annex and Rogue. You just plain couldn't beat the Ringlers Annex atmosphere. This visit was my first time--I will be back. Rogue continues to impress. I really liked the intimate musical style of Scrambled Ape. I know I'll need to brush up on my history to become a walking tour guide. I probably won't be able to take guests to five pubs. Besides these points, I'd like to think I picked out a good route. I know it was an awesome day for me.
Comments
Simeon, Part I of my two part Portland experience comments: For Part I I'm mostly going to comment on what we did on this post. First of all you and Teresa are great hosts - thanks again for having us. Secondly, the walking tour and activities (can't believe I just said that) you scheduled for the weekend were great and really provided a great feel for the city, I think. I have to say, after a day of work/travel I think both Mark and I were really craving a beer at an actual Portland watering hole, so I don't regret Friday (though maybe we could have just had a couple). The walking tour was great; I enjoyed seeing live jazz in the tent and pioneer square was one of the few places in portland that felt like an east coast city to me (with buildings and real live people all around). Voodoo was a cool/unique experience and I'm glad I tried something other than glazed. Powell's was intimidating and i'm curious to see how ALL my film photos came out (i think some of them will be indistiguishable due to the film I was using and the settings I was accidentally using. Ringler's Annex was just a great bbar as far as ambiance/decor as well as a place to catch up with friends. Cabby was most certainly a dick (methinks someone got there a$$ kicked quite a bit as a young boy in south philly). New old lampoc was ok - food was good (in a pub food way), beers were tasty but it felt like a restaurant. I thought our waitress was nice there but mark reminded me that she grabbed his water out of his mouth...so, yeah, i guess she was rude. there was a "different" kind of service in portland. I actually liked the weird side of the gypsy lounge. This is kind of what i expected portland to be like. Divey bar with all walks of llife there. it was part hipster, part office party, part granola, part i just climbed mt. hood. it was weird, but i like weird. Rogue Ales Portland Public House: loved the jazz band, beer, and bartenders were nice (remember talking uncle tupelo with one of them) but i hated the layout/ambience. I felt like I was sitting in a dennny's. I'm not sure i've ever been to a bar with carpeted floors before. That combined with sitting down while listening to music (without the option to stand cause it was all tables) just didn't do it for me. I had a blast playing music and playing air hockey at slabtown. It seems like it could be a fun place with more people there. I'll write up Part II when I can. Sorry for the random thoughts/ concise review but if i don't get this up now, it's not gonna happen.
