Category: Portland

After a leisurely Sunday morning, we took an Uber to Cargo, a fun import store on Yamhill St. Cargo has a mix of antiques, gifty stuff, art supplies, clothing, and Japanese food. Right after I discovered this cabinet of old Japanese books and papers, I had to sit down. I was blown away. We decided to go get lunch and come back.

Around the block was a highly rated restaurant named Shalom Y’all. I was intrigued with how they might combine Mediterranean and U.S. Southern cuisine, but that wasn’t the deal at all. We ordered takeout and it was brought to us at a covered picnic table on the street. It was one of the best meals we had, and it was vegetarian. Roasted beet tahina spread, hot puffy pita bread, fried cauliflower atop a salad with hazelnuts, olives, and fresh mint tea. If I ever go back, I will definitely go here again.

I realized the potential for me to go completely nuts over these Japanese papers so I limited myself to a $30 budget. I picked out three small books, and two of them had bookworm holes and tunnels, which made me ecstatically happy. The holes in the accordion book looked like snowflake or paper doll cutting. The open book on the right bottom is full of illustrations and maps on very thin paper with lots of fold-outs.

We noshed on the leftover olives and Japanese snacks with ciders in the side garden that afternoon, then wandered back over to Mississippi Ave. to figure out where to eat our last meal in that area, since we’d be leaving for the Crystal Hotel across the river in the morning. During our wandering, we happened on Mama & Hapa’s Zero Waste Shop. I am fascinated with the idea of zero waste, although I’ve given up on the effort to achieve it personally. Our local food coop is working toward the goal of bulk bins with zero waste. Anyway, I could not leave without buying something so I bought this dental floss and two refills.

Dinner that night was inside for a change, but we felt safe enough. We had a small pizza and a green risotto at Lovely Fifty Fifty and I swear to you, the vegetarian food last few days in Portland made me seriously consider going pescetarian. I won’t give up seafood until it is unavailable to me but I could eat a lot more vegetables and be happy. Then we decided to share one scoop of salted caramel ice cream, and that scoop was grand. I wish I could remember what was in the risotto. Basil and umami, for sure.

Do forgive me, because I know how much I preach about consumerism and slow living, but I went a little crazy shopping in Portland. I did, however, manage with difficulty to refrain from buying the black truffle salt and bergamot bitters at The Meadow, although I bought a packet of hot dark chocolate mix that made our following mornings with coffee special. Photos are of a few shelves in the shop. There were tasters for the bitters and I have to say that I was very, very tempted.

We started the morning at Blue Star Donuts, and hobbled our way up and down Mississippi Avenue for a few blocks in each direction. The Meadow was the first stop. We drifted through GiftyKitty which was as cute as and a bit more artsy and twisted than the name implies. At PDXchange, we both bought rings and I bought this absolutely awesome coffee mug, even though I had sworn a solemn oath not to buy any more coffee mugs. I had planned to buy a new ring in Portugal and didn’t, so that was my excuse to buy this beautiful silver labradorite ring.

A few doors down, Flutter was aptly named because its mix of new and vintage definitely made my heart twitch. I was very good here, only buying a long length of lace from a $10 basket, a little of it shown here hanging down around the light bulbs that I bought at Sunlan the day before. Susan was also very good, because she really really really wanted this parasol, and it was SO SUSAN, but she left it behind. It was awesome inside and out.

We then hit Rock Paper Scissors, a stationery and card shop with some art supplies, and Susan bought a few pencils and I bought a couple of felt pens and a few sheets of printed lokta paper.

At this point, we were D.O.N.E. So we ate a margerhita pizza at Tartuca at a streetside table. Nearly everywhere we ate had outdoor seating, extremely helpful when a particularly contagious Covid strain is making the rounds. This was one of several vegetarian meals that were amazing.

We collapsed for several hours and then walked up N. Williams Ave. in search of banh mi. The restaurant that we were looking for didn’t sell banh mi anymore, so we kept walking and discovered Dick’s Primal Burger, and Susan ordered a wild boar burger and mine was venison, goat cheese, and mushrooms. It was the best burger I have ever eaten.

The next day we would be getting our art on at a day workshop in Jill Berry’s studio.

Monday was a day for exploring. I had been to the Portland Japanese Garden before, but Susanne had not, and I sure did not mind revisiting that wonderful place. However, I decided that I could no longer stand my hair so first we got that taken care of. After the Japanese Garden we went to Oblation Papers and Press and Dick Blick’s, and of course another trip to Powell’s. I took advantage of not having to pay sales tax or shipping for a few items at Blick’s, but I was good only because I did not have much room in my luggage.

^^^View from the room

^^Haircut

^^^Roses at the International Rose Test Garden

View of downtown Portland and Mount Hood in the distance from the Japanese Gardens

^^^”Forest of Dreams: Ainu and Native American Woodcarving” exhibition. This “Statue of Fusa Sugimura,” by Takeki Fujito, was carved from one piece of wood including the base.

^^^Susanne

^^^iris

^^^koi

^^^So much here is about shadows and light

^^^A bite to eat and tea at the Umami Cafe

My friend Susanne and I headed out to Oregon on June 22 to attend the Focus on Book Arts conference at Pacific University in Forest Grove. We decided to spend a few days in Portland first. We got out there early and took the MAX light rail line and walked the rest of the way to a sweet AirBNB in northeast Portland on the edge of the Mississippi Arts District, something I will not do with heavy luggage again, although I would stay there again. The neighborhood was full of Craftsman houses and creative gardens and the historic Peninsula Park Rose Garden was only a block or two away.

We had heard of an awesome store named Cargo, so we called a Lyft and went shopping on Saturday afternoon. While we were there, we bought snacks and take-out dinner from the Japanese deli within, called Giraffe, and then drank a smoked marzen and pear cider at the brewpub next door, Hair of the Dog.

^^^Entrance to Cargo

^^^Happy Susanne in front of Cargo

The next morning we walked to a coffee shop for bagels and caffeine, then strolled around this historic park:

^^^Peninsula Park Rose Garden

My friend Cat picked us up from our AirBNB at 11 and we ate brunch at Gravy, then walked around on Mississippi Avenue.

^^^Lovely dying tree in front of our AirBNB

^^^Mississippi Avenue sidewalk

^^^Cat and I at Gravy

^^^Cat, Susanne and I somewhere on Mississippi Ave.

^^^Susanne, Donut Bitch, in front of Blue Star Donuts.

Cat dropped us off at McMenamin’s Crystal Hotel, where we dumped our luggage and immediately went to Powell’s City of Books, our happy place.

^^^The Crystal Hotel

^^^The Gillian Welch “Revelator” room

It’s kind of funny that we got the Gillian Welch room since the one concert that I attended with my friend Cat was a Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings show.

^^^”TriPPPy” Cider at Al’s Den in the basement of the Crystal Hotel, and the last photo with long hair.

We ate take-out from the Whole Foods deli across the street the rest of the time we were in Portland. I don’t usually shop at Whole Foods, but this time I was thankful that it was next door. Plus we had all those damned doughnuts to eat. It was just terrible, forcing me to eat doughnuts like that. I got a chocolate donut with CBD and the server seemed really concerned that I might not know what CBD is. Uh, I feel like I am pummeled with information with CBD constantly, so I am not that out of touch, thanks anyway, now for your own safety, remove your body from between me and that doughnut.

When Susanne dropped me off at the Crystal Hotel in Portland on Sunday evening on her merry way south, I wanted to go out. I really did. But I was so tired, and it was so hot outside and the room was so cool and comfortable. So I let myself collapse on the bed with a copy of Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn, with an occasional peep out of my window to see the street life below.

This time my room was “Wrecking Ball” by Emmylou Harris, which is funny because Emmylou is an alumna of UNCG, where I went to college and now work. Each room at the Crystal is decorated on the theme of a song by an artist who has performed at the Crystal Ballroom.

I had one day to spend in Portland. Going to Powell’s Books is a requirement for me, so after breakfast in the Zeus Cafe downstairs, I headed there for a couple of head-swimming hours.

I decided to take public transit out to Washington Park to see the Portland Japanese Garden that afternoon. It’s a tad pricey at $14.95 adult admission, but well worth it on a mild sunny day. I wandered up and down the paths for a few hours, sitting occasionally on a shaded bench listening to a water feature or watching the koi.

When I returned, I drank a Crystal Terminator Stout on the sidewalk besides Ringler’s Annex (also part of the Crystal), and then I took advantage of the saltwater soaking pool in the basement for the first time. I will never skip this again. I wish I could go back in time and do it the two times I stayed here before. Then I went to Al’s Den (also part of the Crystal), and had a bite to eat while listening to an Irish band. In other words, I ate and drank everything during my day in Portland at the Crystal, and I was happy with that. I heartily recommend it, unless city noise really bothers you (there are earplugs), or you just can’t survive without a TV, or sharing a bathroom in the hallway is extremely objectionable to you (they are clean and I’ve never had a problem with it).